Early-learning program honored
Bentonville’s Parents as Teachers affiliate gets blue ribbon
BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville School District’s affiliate of a national program to help parents become their children’s first and best teachers has earned blue ribbon status, the first in Arkansas to achieve such a distinction.
Officials with the district’s Parents as Teachers program were notified Oct. 21 that their affiliate had qualified for the blue ribbon award from the program’s national office. They will be recognized at the Parents as Teachers national conference in Dallas next week.
“It’s a big deal to achieve this quality endorsement,” said Jill Bailey, Parents as Teachers model lead for Arkansas. “They worked hard, and Bentonville Public Schools and their families should be very pleased they are part of a program that works hard to be the best they can be.”
Arkansas has 10 Parents as Teachers affiliates. The Bentonville School District’s affiliate employs three parent educators who work with parents to help them provide their children with developmentally appropriate learning activities. Program goals include early detection of developmental delays and health problems, preventing child abuse and neglect, and preparing children for success in school.
The Bentonville program serves 56 families with 60 children in Benton County, most of whom live in the district. The program, which is free to families, receives its funding through one federal and one state grant, which are worth a combined $157,250, said Deb Kee, the district’s child enrichment services director. The district provides office space and some in-kind services but does not put any money into the program.
Clients are families that meet at least one of several “at-risk” characteristics,
such as parents who have low incomes, do not have high school or GED diplomas, or are under 18 years old.
The Bentonville affiliate participated in the field testing of the Parents as Teachers quality endorsement and improvement process. That process will be rolled out to the rest of the program’s affiliates starting next year, Bailey said.
While all affiliates must meet 17 requirements, the improvement process calls on them to meet at least 75 percent of 100 additional quality standards, Kee said. The Bentonville affiliate achieved 94 percent of those extra standards.
The blue ribbon designation is valid for five years, assuming the affiliate continues to meet certain requirements.
Scott Hippert, president and chief executive officer of Parents as Teachers’ national organization, said in a letter to the Bentonville affiliate that the blue ribbon helps in part by assuring contributors, community organizations and
participants that the program is a “wise investment.”
Galen Havner, a former principal and central office administrator with the Bentonville district, helped get Parents as Teachers to the city in 1994. Havner had seen what the program did in an Oklahoma district where he previously worked.
“I noticed the big impact it had there,” Havner said. “It makes a huge difference.”
The Bentonville affiliate started with two parent educators, he said.
“It was so new; those two hardworking people would literally walk the neighborhoods, and when they saw a bunch of toys in someone’s yard, they’d knock on the door and see if there were any kids eligible to join the program,” Havner said.
These days the program has a waiting list.
“We don’t have space right now, but it changes every week,” said Natasha Kile, program coordinator. She estimated the average time spent on the wait list at one month.
All parent educators serve
children no older than 5, but priority enrollment is given to those younger than 2 to ensure three years in the program before a child enters kindergarten, according to the program’s parent handbook.
Rebecca Powers, a Bentonville School Board member, enrolled in Parents as Teachers after moving to the city from Cabot about 10 years ago. She was a single mother with four children, two of whom fit the age criteria for the program.
“It was impeccable,” Powers said. “They brought in all kinds of learning for toddlers. They thought of everything when they came in.”
Powers now serves on the program’s advisory committee. She said she’d like to see the district provide some money to the program.
Michael Poore, the district superintendent, said he was proud of the program’s accomplishments. When asked about the possibility of the district putting some money into it, he would say only that the district is considering expanding its preschool capacity.