Schools Seek Grants for Home Visits

Five Costa Mesa schools are applying for grants in a new state program that sends teachers to their pupils’ homes for a visit.

Part of a pilot program funded by the state, the home visit program would send teachers out to parts of Costa Mesa where parents have had difficulty, often because of language barriers, participating in their children’s school activities.

The program was piloted in Sacramento, where parents and teachers have reported such phenomenal success--increased parent participation, better grades and rising test scores--that the Legislature decided to expand the program to other California public schools.

In October, Gov. Gray Davis authorized $15 million for the program.

Schools with fewer than 1,000 students can apply for $25,000 grants; larger schools can receive $40,000. In January, the state Department of Education asked schools to send notice if they planned to apply, and 2,500 did.

The funds will be used to pay for teacher training and to compensate teachers for the home visits at $30 an hour, the same base rate as summer school classes, said Lisa Dillon, an administrator with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Costa Mesa makes up part of the district.

“This program does not mean you do home visits with every single child in your class,” Dillon said. “What it’s designed for is that you might target four, five or six students and meet with them and their parents at home a few times a year.”

In order for a school to be eligible, more than half of all teachers and parents must volunteer to participate.

School district officials are so enthusiastic about the program that they plan to go ahead with some kind of home-visit program even if they don’t get a state grant.

“We’re still committed because we know it’s a good concept,” Newport-Mesa Supt. Robert Barbot said. “But we’re anxious to get the grant; we’re crossing our fingers.”

The Newport-Mesa district, which encompasses Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, serves students from vastly different backgrounds. About 57% of the 21,000 students are white and 36% are Latino, but white students predominate at the Newport Beach schools, while many of the Latino students attend Costa Mesa schools.

Interest in the home visit program had percolated on several fronts, Barbot said. Administrators had watched Sacramento’s experiment with keen interest, and community parent groups also kept abreast of the project.

The rave reviews from Sacramento parents convinced many in Newport-Mesa that home visits are just what they need too.

“We have many of the same issues right here,” said Laura Avella, one of the parents asking the district to sign on for the program. “Our children are not succeeding the way they should be. The academic level in the schools is too low, and it absolutely must be raised.”

Many parents in her community do not speak English fluently, she said.

“They fear the language,’ she said. “And although this district has really opened its doors to the parents, many really need the school to reach out to them.”

In addition, many parents lack cars or work long hours, making it hard for them to manage a visit to school.

The five campuses seeking the grants--Pomona, Wilson, Rea and Whittier elementary schools and TeWinkle middle school--were chosen in part because of such barriers.

“We have kids who have to take care of everything at home, while both parents are working,” Barbot said. “In many cases the parents are working 12 to 14 hours a day each.”

Home visits are intended to bring the community and schools closer together while accomplishing more concrete goals, officials said. For example, teachers will show parents how to help their children with homework.

Teachers also have expressed enthusiasm about the home visits. All the teachers at Wilson volunteered to take part; at Whittier, Principal Sharon Blakely said 28 of 32 teachers signed on. “Teachers have been extremely enthusiastic right out of the gate,” Blakely said. “We really have teachers who care and want to make a difference.”