Institute Offers Free ESL Classes and Parenting Workshops

A Spanish language Parenting Institute, designed for parents of children up to age six, will be offered through a partnership of the and .

The institute, which comprises six workshop sessions, is being funded by the Gottesman Family Foundation, which last year provided $100,000 as start-up funding for programs to benefit Summit Public Schools students who are immigrants or the children of immigrants.  

The grant is being used to fund the Parenting Institute, as well as ESL classes for parents, also in partnership with , and four college scholarships for graduating seniors of Summit High School – two being presented to members of the Class of 2012, and two to Class of 2013 graduates.

The Parenting Institute has been organized by Vanessa Rueda, bilingual guidance counselor at and . The workshops will be presented – entirely in Spanish – by psychologist Ana Rojas, who is the parent of a student at and the at Wilson.

“As you know, every parent’s job is to help their children develop independence, inquisitiveness, intelligence, and excitement about learning, and the Parenting Institute workshops address the foundations of all of these areas,” said Felix Gil, principal of the Summit Primary Centers at Jefferson and Wilson. “The information covered in the workshops is readily available from various sources in English, and now Summit’s have the opportunity to obtain this information as well.”

Gil said parents were notified of the availability of the workshops through the Summit Public Schools, Overlook Hospital, and other community organizations, and through the efforts of Spanish teacher Celine Benet, who also serves as a liaison to the city’s Hispanic community.

All of the workshops will be held at The Connection, 79 Maple Street, and will begin at 6:30 p.m. Child care will be available at no cost. Following is the schedule:

• Tues., Jan. 10, 2012 – Using Rewards  
• Tues., Feb. 7, 2012 – Communicating With Your Child       
• Tues., March 13, 2012 – Setting Effective Limits
• Tues., April 3, 2012 – Implementing Rules, Responsibilities, and Routines
• Fri., May 4, 2012 – Teaching Your Children to Become Independent Problem Solvers

To register for the Parenting Institute, call Jane Wallbridge at The Connection, 908/273.4242, X 129; Celine Benet, Summit Public Schools, 908/967.3549; or Vanessa Rueda, 908/273.1494, X5590.

—By Cathy Fernandez, Summit Public Schools