“I am so, so proud of your mom,” McPherson said, wrapping theMcPherson had grown close with the families who filled the library every week for the Coates Family Academy,
So at Coates — a school that has students from 43 different countries of origin and 37 household languages, according to its principal — the Family Academy starts with the basics. Parents are encouraged, and often expected, to be partners in their children’s learning. They learn that they have a right to visit their children at school and that they can ask questions about what happens in the classroom. Instructors explain the importance of attendance on big test days and the value of PTAs.
In late May, Brian Galindo walked to the front of the Coates library and slipped a necktie over his clothes. He sat down across from another parent and began a mock job interview. The rest of the class giggled.Galindo, 49, was originally hesitant to come to the academy. But after a couple of classes, he was hooked: He loved seeing other parents like himself learning together each week.