Alejandra Ceja, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (Initiative), will participate in a panel discussion on the importance of meaningful engagement with the Hispanic community during a Hispanic Family Engagement Symposium at the 2015 National PTA Convention and Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, June 25 at 9 a.m. ET.
The symposium is designed to strengthen engagement and support of Latino families, and ultimately, create a better learning environment for Hispanic students, who currently make up nearly one in four students in our nation’s public schools.
During the symposium, National PTA will announce a “Commitment to Action” for Hispanic families that includes:
- Educating PTA and school leaders about effective and meaningful engagement of Hispanic families through informative webinars;
- Expanding the Diversity Toolkit for local PTAs;
- Incorporating resources in the Every Child in Focus campaign;
- Identifying culturally competent improvements to current programs.
- Increasing the number of Hispanic PTA leaders by launching a PTA family engagement network to focus on training and supporting leaders on effective family engagement strategies and strengthening family-school partnerships; and
- Cultivating new partnerships and grow existing efforts with others serving Hispanic families by collaborating with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and continuing to work closely with nonprofits and government entities in an effort to reach Hispanic families.
In September 2015, the Initiative will celebrate its 25th anniversary, a historic milestone that will be commemorated with the leveraging of public- and private-sector commitments to action that invest in quality education programs and strategies for Hispanics.