GRANADA HILLS : Woman Assists School District’s Korean Parents

When a Korean American student told his parents that youths at his San Fernando Valley high school were bullying him to buy and sell drugs, the worried parents turned not to the school’s principal but to Soung Ae Kim.

Kim, president of the Valley Korean Parents Assn., understands the discomfort immigrant parents often have in dealing with the unfamiliar American education system, especially if they are not confident in their English skills. The mother of two called the principal herself and helped smooth the path for the student’s eventual transfer to another school.

Kim, 45, of Chatsworth formed the parents association nearly four years ago with the original goal of recruiting more Korean American parents as volunteers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. At the time, she was a community representative in the district’s Volunteer and Tutorial Program.

Since then, the association’s purpose has broadened to include disseminating information about school policies and programs to Korean American parents, serving as a go-between when problems arise, and lobbying school officials to be more sensitive to the needs of Korean students and parents.

Daisy Oh, a Granada Hills parent, said she has benefited from the association’s monthly seminars, which have covered everything from college applications to gang and drug problems.

“You can get some information that you really don’t know,” said Oh, who added that she has learned about magnet schools and how students should prepare for SAT tests at the meetings.

Despite its pluralistic name, the organization is virtually a one-woman operation run by Kim, a member of the district’s Asian Pacific American Education Commission and whose married name is Rubin. In addition to helping families with specific problems, Kim coordinates the seminars and has taken it upon herself to speak with school officials about being more sensitive to the needs of Korean students and parents.

Principals “should give Korean parents more of a chance to be involved in a school activity,” Kim said, and the district should hire more bilingual teachers and administrators.

Parents, for their part, should overcome their shyness around mainstream Americans and volunteer in their child’s school, Kim said.

The association’s next seminar will be about magnet schools, and will be held at the United Korean Methodist Church, 10408 Balboa Blvd. in Granada Hills.