Howley Preschool, LLC

Abstract

The private Howley Preschool, LLC, in Trenton, New Jersey, has worked in partnership with the City of Trenton Board of Education, under the New Jersey State Department of Education, in its Abbott Preschool Program for close to two decades. This Program was one outcome of Abbott v. Burke, the most significant education litigation for poor and minority schoolchildren in the United States since Brown v. Board of Education. This chapter describes in detail the 18-year journey of Lisa Cipriano-Rogalski, Howley’s Academic Director, in supporting pro-social behavior with an emphasis on family engagement, and the peaceful classroom, in that preschool setting. Data presented include the ongoing guidance received from Dr. Blythe Hinitz in the establishment of the Anti-Bullying program as a central policy at Howley, assessment and research on that policy, and Cipriano-Rogalski’s collaborative efforts to share her program locally, nationally, and internationally (Fig. 2.1).

Appendix: Parents as Essential Partners

• Lisa C. Rogalski 

Howley School LLC

Communication

“Parents need ongoing communication as to what is happening and being implemented in the classroom as well as suggestions for ways to communicate with their own children on the topic.” (Froschl & Sprung, 1999).

• I. Ways Teachers Encourage Communication

  • A. Send newsletters

  • B. Parent meetings

  • C. Invite parents to visit classroom during anti-bullying lessons

  • D. Make parents comfortable to discuss matters of a sensitive nature

• II. Embracing and Empowering Families

  • A. Family Night was conducted as part of the school-wide anti-bullying behavioral intervention initiative.

  • B. The workshop was conducted in a creative and participatory method, not only hands-on didactics, but also provided real insight and involvement in their child’s learning.

• III. Parent Meetings

  • A. Teachers encourage active participation by activating the prior knowledge of parents

  • B. This gains information needed for the charts that were completed as part of the Lessons being taught to parents

  • C. These are the same lessons taught to the children

  • D. Instruct parents how to extend these lessons with their child at home

• IV. Concepts Taught

  • A. Work It Out Table

  • B. Mad, Sad, Glad

  • C. Family Booklets

  • D. These three areas were taught to show the relational impact each can have on the emergence of bullying behaviors

• V. Parents Work It Out!!!!

  • A. Parents were provided verbal instruction and then divided into groups to actively participate in each of the informative modules

  • B. “Family Booklets” required the parents to draw and color their family members in booklets that were provided to them to emphasize unity.

• VI. Parents Work It Out!!!

  • A. Mad, Sad, Glad module was utilized to show parents emotions that can contribute to the onset of negative behaviors and its effect on learning outcomes during school and at home

  • B. Work It Out Table module was utilized to provide suggested interventional strategies as guidance to parents

• VII. Parent Involvement

  • A. Parents took genuine interest in the subject matter and clearly enjoyed collaboration with the teachers

  • B. Surveys were provided at the conclusion of the meeting for process improvement, feedback, and overall reactionary comments

  • C. All responses were unanimously positive and evidenced a great deal of appreciation, sentiment, and acute awareness of the need for such collaborative teamwork efforts

• VIII. The children are our future but we must guide the way

  • A. With future involvement with the parents of our students, we look forward to laying an important foundation and building block to continued collaborative efforts for these parents and their children as students of Howley School

  • B. It is our hope that these parents and students experience continued consistencies towards positive learning relationships with other learning institutions in their future learning pathways