First Week Recap.

Hello again everyone,

We completed our first week of tutoring at Maria Shelter on Wednesday. Thus far, student turnout is small due to scheduling conflicts with some of the parents in the shelter, but we are optimistic that this will change. For now, though our small group is quite wonderful and eager to learn.

We are encountering an issue this week with one of our students. When his family moved into the shelter, he transferred into a school in the attendance area. When he did this, he was put into a class that wasn't working on the same lessons as he was at his old school. Now, we find ourselves in a situation where in order to help him do his division work, we have to teach him division first. To top it off, he is working in Everyday Math and the way we know how to teach division in different from the way they teach.

Many people don't realize that in Illinois, students have the right to attend the attendance area school they went to before they became homeless. The McKinney-Vento Act outlines this and other rights of homeless students. It has been researched that every time a child transfers school, they lose a full semester in the transition; not only that, but the transferring of new students can have a detrimental effect on students already in the class as well. In the situation of my student, it also means that he wouldn't have to try to catch up in a class that is on a different path than the one he is used to. Many people also don't know that in order to get to their school of origin, the Homeless Education Program will provide them with transportation. In this case, we would provide CTA cards for him to get back and forth to his school of origin from the shelter, as well as provide CTA cards for his mother to accompany him. If she were younger a yellow school bus would be provided, or, if she was older, a CTA riding permit.

I am going to speak with his mother this week about maybe getting him back into his school of origin, but the damage may already be done. I do believe that he is a very sharp and intelligent young man and there is no doubt in my mind that he will succeed in school, but he doesn't need obstacles like this unnecessarily blocking his path to academic achievement.

-Luis

Hello Everyone and Welcome!

My name is Luis H. Valadez and I (along with Stanee Willis) am the Program Coordinator for the after-school tutoring program at Maria Shelter in Inglewood. The program is provided by Chicago HOPES (Heightening Opportunity and Potential for Educational Success), an organization dedicated to combating the negative effects of child homelessness on education. We serve Chicago Public Schools Students K-12 in seven different homeless shelters across the city. Other sites include Thelma's in Ashburn, Cornerstone in Uptown, Ubuntu in Brighton Park, Tab House 1 South in Grisham, Tab House West in East Garfield Park, and Great Hope Family Center in Pilsen.

My fellow coordinators and myself will be posting regularly about our programs and experiences and I encourage you to read and respond to this and the other program blogs. I encourage you to check out our organization Chicago HOPES as well. I am also a poet and writer with my first book what i'm on (University of Arizona Press) coming out in March.

We look forward to everyone's comments and input.

Sincerely,

Luis Humberto Valadez