Parents As Teachers
Many believe that the strongest educator a child will have is their parent. This philosophy is core to Waco ISD’s Parents As Teachers (PAT) program, designed to equip families with tools to ensure our youngest community members are Kindergarten ready. Anita Henderson, the Director of the program, explained, "Waco ISD Parents as Teachers is an early childhood home visiting program, which provides services to families who have children prenatal to school entry, and live within the Waco ISD attendance zone. We strive to assist parents in the realization that they are their child’s first and most important teacher, while providing strategies to strengthen families in early childhood development and increase school readiness and success." The program is comprised of high-quality home visits, monthly group connections that focus on bringing families and children together, and creating awareness and connectivity to community resources that would be advantageous in a child meeting their developmental milestones.
PAT strives to meet each child and family’s individual needs so that the child exits the program ready to integrate into Waco ISD schools, recognizing familial achievement as crucial to the future success of students. Anita shared, “We have been privileged to watch families reach goals such as obtaining GEDs, graduating from MCC or TSTC, obtaining a driver’s license, buying a car, and many other achievements that help them reach major lifetime goals.” As families in the program are working toward a goal or are in crisis, PAT assists the family by locating available resources through many community based organizations.
This spring, 36 children graduated from the program and are entering Waco ISD Pre-Kindergarten programs this fall. While COVID-19 impacted planned graduation ceremonies, PAT celebrated each child through a car parade ceremony where each child received resources that would be beneficial as they enter the classroom in August.
Parents As Teachers is enrolling now for the 2020-2021 school year. If you are interested in the program or are seeking more information email anita.henderson@wacoisd.org