A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Appendix B: Buffalo Public Schools Parent Center

Program/School, LEA, City, State	Program Description		Student Characteristics
	Parent Involvement Activities/Strategies	Grades Served; Enrollment	Race/Ethnicity	% Poverty1 and Title I Status
Buffalo Public Schools Parent Center Buffalo Public Schools Buffalo, NY (Urban)	Personal improvement services include seminars and classes on parenting skills, literacy, education, sewing, art, computer literacy, ESL; more than 100 parents attend. An average of 45 students and parents each week attend computer classes for families after school; bus brings entire family to center and provides child care if necessary so parents and children can participate together in individualized tutoring and instruction. Center features two computer labs with 90 computer workstations. Families who cannot visit center can also borrow one of 140 computers in the center's take-home computer program for 5–6 weeks; parents attend orientation on how to install and operate computers. After-school tutoring program provides parents and children with individualized homework tutoring. Child care services available. Title I parents receive priority enrollment. Funding Sources2: Title I, Even Start, partnerships with several local organizations Evidence of Success: Excluding take-home computer program and field trips, the parent center serves about 250 families each semester. All center activities serve about 3,000 parents each year. On a survey of the 1994–95 Take Home Computer Program, 44 percent of parents reported that the program had a "significant" effect on their child's motivation toward learning; 52 percent reported that it had some effect. All parents reported noticeable or significant improvements in their children's math and reading skills.	Birth–12 48,000	53% African American 34% white 10% Hispanic 3% American Indian, Asian	59% FRL

¹ All schools and districts included in this Idea Book receive Title I funding. This column indicates whether a school has implemented a schoolwide program.

² Administrators in many schools cannot separate the costs of parent involvement efforts from other reforms and activities. This is especially true in schools that have implemented schoolwide programs (as have most schools in this appendix). However, administrators reported that, in addition to their school or district general operating budget, the funding sources listed here provide a major source of support for their parent involvement efforts.
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[Atenville Elementary School]

[Buhrer Elementary School]