Atlantis Charter School, working in collaboration with parents and caregivers, will maintain an existing Family  Learning Center to support student achievement and access necessary health and social services.

See what's happening in the Family Learning Center.

The Family Learning Center (FLC) is a major component of Atlantis. Its staff plans, organizes and provides a variety of activities that create opportunities for our families to directly participate in student achievement, family enrichment and access to necessary health and social services.

THE PROCESS

Atlantis has created a Family Learning Center with two full-time staff: a Director and an FLC Assistant. The Family Learning Center Director develops a year-long plan of family enrichment activities and services. The FLC collaborates with the Atlantis faculty and staff, parents, students, and the Greater Fall River community to offer a dynamic array of presentations ranging from parenting skills training to “fun activities,” such as the Community Health Awareness Day and Family Wellness Walk. This process works to help many of our parents overcome previous negative experiences in their own school lives. In addition, by attending programs in the evening, parents demonstrate to their children that they feel education is important and lifelong. Lastly, it provides many opportunities for “quality time” between parents and children, fostering a home-school continuum.

THE ASSESSMENT

The primary means for assessing performance toward this goal has been through workshop evaluations, survey reports, and year-end data reports. Additional information is obtained through staff and parent focus groups, volunteer tracking, and attendance logs.

PROGRESS TOWARDS MEETING OBJECTIVE

During 2007-2008 the Family Learning Center (FLC) restructured the school-wide Parent Group, organizing a variety of parent committees headed by parent leaders. The FLC staff met on a bi-weekly basis with the parent leaders, and every other month with the school-wide parent group throughout the year. The aim of this change was to place parents at the helm, with the guidance of the FLC, to plot the course of enrichment programs for the children and families of Atlantis.  

An Information Resource Library is maintained in the Family Learning Center to provide families and staff with information in those areas and topics often brought to the Director’s attention. The list of topics include Pervasive Developmental Disorders, therapeutic services, parent literacy, resume building, health insurance assistance, and school uniform subsidy.

The Family Learning Center wants to assist and support all families in establishing home environments that encourage learning and overall wellness. As such, the FLC provides educational workshops on parenting and/or knowledge of child development. In addition to the materials available through the Information Resource Center, the FLC disseminates three monthly publications and provides articles on parenting during various events during the academic year.

Presentations made available through the collaboration of the FLC, Atlantis staff and the school-wide parent group to Atlantis families include:

Educational Parent Workshops: Internet Safety, Anti-Bullying presentations, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Family Math Night & Family Feud, Transforming the Difficult Child, Student Attendance Intervention, Divorcing Parents and Changing Families, Fall River Gang Awareness, School Violence Awareness, The Brain Show, Family Science Night, Disability Awareness, Legislative Support for the Charter School Movement, Parent Volunteer Certification, Parent Leadership Training, The Wonders of Reading Aloud, Student Savings Program, Bingo for Books, Student and Family Orientations, Family Reading Night, The NED Show, Parenting Skills Training, Student Events Committee, Recycling Programs, and Community Service Learning Projects.

Fun/Healthy Parent and Family Activities: Family Craft Nights, Photography Club, Family Campfire and Hayride, Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, Student Dances, Santa’s Workshop, Fundraising Events, Monthly School Spirit Days, Spring Wine Tasting, Family Night with the Providence Bruins, Community Health Awareness Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, 10K Family Wellness Walk, Fitness Monopoly, Birthday Book Program, Atlantis Haunted House & Halloween Celebration, Food Drives, MDA Hop-A-Thon, Pennies for Patients, Make a Difference Day, Family Movie Nights, Breakfast with Santa, and Field Day.

PARENT PARTICIPATION

At Atlantis Charter School parents are strongly encouraged to be involved in their child’s learning and in the management of the school. The Atlantis’ Home and School Involvement Compact sets clear academic and social goals for the students, responsibility and involvement goals for the parents, and both academic and responsibility goals for the teachers. Every parent, student, and teacher agrees to strive to meet these goals and signs the Compact.

The ACS families volunteered 3,728 hours during 2007-2008. Forty-one percent of ACS families volunteered at least six hours and eight percent volunteered over twenty hours. The remaining Atlantis parents volunteered between 6 hours to 19.5 hours. Attendance at School-Wide parent group meetings ranges from 15 to 84 parents.

Currently, two parents are members of the Board of Trustees. Other parents participate in committees such as the Golf Tournament Committee and a variety Family Learning Center Committees. Over one hundred parents and caregivers help in each of the ACS Service Learning activities to assist local organizations.