Agency Details:

Para Los Niños mission is to foster academic success for every Latino student through parent and community involvement.

PLN currently has two programs:

• Aprendamos Juntos (Let's Learn Together) integrates child and parent learning to boost academic success, build children's emotional development, and support parenting. OSPI standards are incorporated into the school readiness component. The program involves two sessions, which meet weekly during the school year. It is offered in three elementary schools (in White Center and Sea-Tac), and is run in partnership with the Highline School District and Highline Community College. The program divides participants into four groups: very early years, pre-kindergarten, school-age, and parents (focusing on ESL and skills for navigating the school system).
  
  
• Descubriendo Nuestra Cultura / Discovering Our Culture is a summer institute for low-income children (pre-kindergarten to sixth grade) from Latin American immigrant families. The institute is led by bi-lingual teachers who educate children on the Spanish language and Latin American history and culture. The institute meets every weekday in July. This program is fun for the children, and involves a high level of parent participation.

Description:
PLN is a grassroots community organization founded by members of the community it serves—the growing immigrant, Spanish-speaking population in South King County.

Para Los Niños serves South King County and the Highline School District, which includes Burien, White Center, SeaTac and Des Moines.



History:
In 2003, a group of Latino parents gathered to talk about education. As a result of this meeting, Para Los Niños was born with the following priorities: to support the education of Latino children, with a focus on early childhood development; to maintain and promote their culture and language; and to teach English as a second language in order to develop leadership and civic engagement for parents in the community. To support these priorities, the founding group of parents knew they needed to address the particular barriers they faced as immigrants.

The barriers are many. They include economic challenges, language and cultural barriers, and discrimination. In addition, school systems function differently in our parents' home countries than in the United States. Therefore, a lack of information and understanding of how the educational system works in the United States presents an additional challenge as well as creates isolation from the broader community.

In response to these particular challenges, Para Los Niños was organized. With input from the community, it developed programs that met the needs of the community. These programs range from providing school readiness and ESL education to helping parents develop the skills and motivation for community involvement. In all its work, Para los Niños and its programs represent the desire of a community change that can support all immigrant families in their complex journey through the educational system in the United States.



Contact people:


Sharone Navas, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Geno Amador, Assistant Director, (email)


Main office number: (206) 241-7900

Address:


15410 Ambaum Blvd SW Burien, WA 98166 (See a map)


Web Site: http://www.plnwa.org

Miscellaneous Information

Liability
	Yes
Does your organization welcome court-ordered community service volunteers?
	No
Does your organization have volunteer positions for youth 12-18?
	Yes

Last updated on September 22, 2009