Teachers Open Door to Understanding : Education: Instructors at a school near Oxnard go on their own time to visit the homes of their mostly poor and immigrant students. There they foster trust and participation from parents.

The sight of primly dressed Wanda O’Kelley striding through the dirt lanes of a housing project was bound to attract the attention of Nyeland Acres residents.

Curious toddlers poked their heads out of modest doors and windows to stare as O’Kelley marched by, then quickly disappeared when she spoke to them in rapid-fire Spanish. Other children, the older ones, waved to O’Kelley and gathered around her. To them, she is no stranger.

O’Kelley, a fourth-grade teacher at Rio Real School in El Rio, just outside Oxnard, is one of about a dozen instructors who have spent their own after-school hours this past month visiting the homes of their 700 mostly poor students.

The teachers, joined by Principal Garry Galvan, fan out into neighborhoods once a week, walking door to door, knocking and politely introducing themselves.

It is a crusade aimed at increasing family involvement in education by meeting--on their own turf--the mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other guardians of their pupils, the educators say.

Just as important, Galvan said, is to instill in these families a sense that school is not an alien authoritarian institution but a welcoming center where parents can feel comfortable bringing up concerns about their children, Galvan said.

“Our message is, ‘We are accessible,’ ” Galvan said. “ ‘Please come out to the schools. Please get involved.’ ”

Last year, when Galvan and his staff held coffee klatches at churches and recreation rooms to jump-start parent participation at Rio Real, the results were disappointing.

So Galvan and O’Kelley, an 11-year Rio Real teacher who frequently accepts invitations from students to attend their family picnics and birthday celebrations, devised the walking tour idea last month. The tours are not mandatory for teachers, Galvan said, but about half his staff has taken part so far.

Already, as a result of the visits, two parents have volunteered to become classroom aides and another agreed to participate in the PTA, O’Kelley said.

Last week, Galvan and O’Kelley were joined by David Siebler, a fourth-grade teacher along for his second week, and fifth-grade teacher Lenora Weinerth, out for the first time.

Their first stop was a neighborhood in a Nyeland Acres housing complex that is home to a large migrant Latino population.

At the first door, Maria De la Cruz answered, initially looking bewildered, one child on her hip, two more peeking from behind her legs. But then Galvan started speaking in Spanish.

He told De la Cruz he was there to introduce himself and his staff, and to let her know that she should feel free to stop by the school if she had questions about the education of three of her children: Giovanni, Eric and Vanessa, all students at Rio Real.

De la Cruz listened politely but did not invite the educators in. After asking De la Cruz to sign a paper verifying their visit, the group thanked her and walked down a dirt road to the next home.

Sometimes no one answers the door, Galvan said, but most often, someone does. Many, like Maria Contreras, are grateful for the interest in their children.

Contreras had just finished cleaning houses all day when the group arrived at her door. After rushing to change her clothes, Contreras ushered everyone to a seat in her tidy front room, including Rio School District Supt. Yolanda Benitez, who had joined the teachers.

Contreras and her daughters, Laura, 11, and Griselda, 9, busied themselves slicing watermelon and honeydew melon to offer the teachers, along with chips, dip and orange drink.

After passing around the comida , the food, Contreras went around the room and took each teacher by the hand and thanked them profusely, in a mixture of Spanish and English, for educating her two daughters and son, 14-year-old Javier.

“You helped our Laura. Muy bueno, “ Contreras told Siebler, who taught her daughter in fourth grade.

Siebler was deeply affected by the visit.

“In the past, I’ve always gone to someone’s house when there is a problem,” said Siebler, in his 10th year of teaching. “This is the first time I’ve gone just to say, ‘Hi.’ When you’ve gone in and met the parents in a positive way, it opens the door for when you have some concerns.”