shoreline_unified_family_center
SCHOOLS: Weekly cafecitos at West Marin School are funded by a grant from the Marin Community Foundation that expires at the end of the year; the school is applying for an extension. David Briggs

The Marin Community Foundation has invited two Shoreline Unified elementary schools to apply for one more year of grant funding from a pre-kindergarten to third grade success initiative, a crucial source of support for programs like West Marin School’s family center. Since 2009, when the foundation’s five-year funding cycle for the initiative began, the family center has helped under-resourced and non-English speaking parents engage in the school community. Ten schools, including Shoreline’s West Marin School and Tomales Elementary, were selected for funding on the basis of having students that were not as successful by third grade compared to other schools in the county. The end of this school year marks the fifth and final year of that funding, and advocates for the family center have called on the foundation and the school district to renew their support. “Our parents need this space because there is nothing else like it for them here,” said Lourdes Romo, West Marin School’s family advocate and the force behind the family center. “They feel welcome here, so they participate more in the school.” The center runs out of a former storage shed that was transformed in 2012 into a warm, classroom-style space decorated with paper flowers and crochet weavings made by parents, many of whom only speak Spanish and some of whom live on the remote reaches of the Point Reyes peninsula. The family center has evolved into the main hub of interaction between the school’s more isolated parents and teachers, administrators and other parents. “It’s very good,” said Defensa de la Cruz, a regular at the center’s weekly Wednesday morning cafecito gatherings. “It helps me a lot.” At a meeting Monday night, the Marin Community Foundation said those schools already receiving the grants would be able to apply for a one-year extension by March 31. “We’re going to do one more year,” said West Marin Principal Matt Nagle, who is in charge of filling out the application for his school. “But that doesn’t close the door in my mind for them offer us another five years.” The foundation has recognized family centers as an important way to improve family engagement, one of six key criteria that the grants are intended to address. Last year, Shoreline’s two elementary schools received nearly $300,000 total from the foundation. School selections and funding amounts will be announced after June 15.