As part of Cityscape School’s mission to work in partnership with families, a collaboration between the AVANCE North Texas Program and Cityscape was recently created.
The collaboration provides parents with classes, tools, and opportunities about early childhood education and will support them with parenting skills and child development.
Parents of Cityscape’s Early Childhood Center students meet every Thursday morning at ECC to participate in AVANCE’s Parent-Child Education Program (PCEP).
Parents can attend these classes to learn about the development of their infants and different sensory activities for their children.
Jenny Mercado, a mother in the PCEP program, says she’s learned a lot and seen a positive impact since starting the program.
“These classes have helped me to find ways to have quality time with my child,” says Mercado. “We’re teaching him how to develop himself emotionally and academically.”
ECC’s families, with children aged 0 to 4, will benefit from this free program through the various community resources that AVANCE brings:
- Poison Control
- Therapy Works
- Amigos sin Fronteras
- Impact Communities
- Molina Health Care
- UT Southwestern
- H.O.P.E.S
- & many more!
In addition, the AVANCEs program takes a personal approach with families since the goal of this partnership is to guide parents and serve as a prevention program for early childhood neglect and abuse.
The AVANCE coordinators visit the families individually to provide tailored support, educate them, and establish each family’s objectives and goals. The coordinators then connect the families with the community that best meets their needs.
PCEP at AVANCE acknowledges the importance of mental health in Hispanic families. This is why the program created a curriculum that focuses on mental health called “Well Together.”
Nancy W. Quirindongo, Director of the AVANCE program, says different factors contribute to the reasons why Hispanic families don’t seek mental health help.
“The stigma associated with mental health in the Hispanic population, misdiagnoses owing to cultural differences, fear of legal status, and language barriers all prevent people in need from seeking help,” said Nancy W. Quirindongo.
The Well Together curriculum is administered by Parent Educators—members of the Hispanic community who have been specially trained by Mental Health Specialists to provide basic mental health education and case management without being professional health care providers.
Parent Educators are skilled at meeting families where they are and creating a safe environment that fosters openness and receptiveness to improving their mental health.
Maria Pajazetovic, Early Childhood Director at Cityscape, welcomes families to join the program as space is still available!
“We hope many Cityscape families and parents in the community can benefit from the AVANCE program, which is FREE,” said Mrs. Pajazetovic. The program will help our students at the Early Childhood Center and children in our community have a great start in their educational years to come.” Cityscape Schools welcomes more early childhood families to the AVANCE program! We look forward to continuing to help and grow our community.
