School-Family-Community Partnerships

"The factor most correlated with higher achievement was the school's effort to engage parents, families and communities in the school, outweighing even school leadership, teacher quality and curriculum."
From, "Striving to Achieve; Helping Native American Students Succeed."

To boost student achievement, schools, families, and communities must work together to create a network of support and a framework for action. Sharing successful models already in Montana communities as well as evidence-based practices, helps make meaningful partnerships between communities and schools a reality. We collaborate with GEAR Up, Office of Public Instruction, and AmeriCorps/VISTA to provide a framework for schools to meet federal mandates.

Resources include: Solid Foundation, Family Resource Centers, Families and Schools Together (FAST) and Mending the Sacred Hoop.

Montana Children's Trust Fund Supported Family Resource Centers

Belgrade
THRIVE established the Belgrade Parent Place as a place for parents to receive parenting classes, support groups, resource library materials, home visiting, and community resource referrals. Parent Place offers Love and Logic and Parents as Teachers classes, family activities, and the "Dynamite Dads" support group.
Contact: Kathy Rich, Parent Place (406)-587-3840, krich@allthrive.org

Billings
The Family Tree Center offers services to Yellowstone, Musselshell, and Fergus Counties. The center will offer Nurturing Parents programs, child development classes, effective discipline and guidance classes, free respite day care, support groups, supplementary services classes, a lending library and resource and referral services.
Contact: Mary Gilluly, Exec. Dir. (406)252-9799, marygftc@qwestoffice.net

Chippewa Cree Tribe
The Chippewa Cree Tribe's Nehiyaw Family Resource Center offers comprehensive services for the benefit of families and the community. The Nehiyaw Family Resource Center will offer parenting classes, child development skill building, access to informal and formal resources, age-appropriate activities for parents, grandparents, and children, traditional family activities, and will foster community support.
Contact: Elaine Topsky, Director (406)395-5814, etopsky@yahoo.com

Eureka
The Sunburst Community Service Foundation's Parent Place offers parenting education classes with the Nurturing Program, play groups, one-on-one parent coaching, a family resource room, community resource and referral, and "Family Night Out" events. The Parent Place offers a "warm line". The Parent Place also coordinates a volunteer program to provide coats, boots and other needed items or services for area families.
Contact: Julie Fleck, Program Director (406)297-0197, www.sunburstfoundation.org

Glendive
Dawson County Healthy Communities Family Resource Center offers a wide-variety of community-based and prevention-focused programs and activities to strengthen and support families. The center offers Love and Logic parenting classes, support groups for young parents, self-help parent support groups, Nurturing Fathers programs, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support groups, youth development, social connections, resource and referrals, partnered respite care, and home visits have been established. Services will also be offered in Baker, Miles City, and Sidney.
Contact: Kathy Ackerman, Process Coordinator (406)377-5213, dchealthycomm@yahoo.com

Livingston
Community Health Partners Learning Partners Family Center's mission is to strengthen and support families in south central Montana. The program will offer home visitation services, parent education, social support of families, early childhood education, primary health care access, and a family resource center. The services are aimed at enhancing and expanding services to meet the unique needs of familes who began parenting as teenagers.
Contact: Cassie Burns, Program Director (406)222-2931, burnsc@chphealth.org

Missoula
The Parenting Place provides a combination of home-visiting, respite child care, parent education classes and parent/child visits to a highly underserved population of at-risk families who are currently involved in pre-release or parole programs through the Missoula Correctional Services. The Parenting Place also offers technical assistance to connect with other pre-release centers and prisons in Montana. The Parenting Place has begun formation of a statewide coalition to synchronize parent support efforts for families affected by incarceration.
Contact: Teresa Cowan, Exec. Dir. (406)728-5437, teresa@parentingplace.net

The Missoula Healthy Start is a collaborative coaltion whose mission is to work collaboratively to improve the lives of young children in Missoula county by supporting the physical, social, emotional and cognitive health of young children prenatal to six, enhancing supports, information and resources for families and professionals, and raising community awareness of the importance of early childhood development.
Contact:Susan Barmeyer, Coordinator (406)728-5437, healthystart@parentingplace.net

Polson
The Family Matters Family Resource Center along with the Flathead Reservation & Lake County Coalition for Kids, Inc in the partnership Project with Polson School District #23 (PPP) provides family and community based programs to at-risk, school-aged children and their families. Services are offered to preschool children and their families through the "Cherry Blossoms" and "Little Cherries" programs. The Family Matters Family Resource Center offers Love and Logic Parenting classes, Nurturing Program's parenting education, skills and classes, Parents as Teachers, respite care, a lending library, a youth mentoring program and parent/child activities.
Contact: Julie Berry, Director (406)883-7316, julie@frlc-coalitionforkids.org

Sidney
District II Alcohol and Drug Program offers community-wide parenting classes using the "Nurturing Program:. A computer-based program "Parenting Wisely" is offered and located at the Family Resource Center located in the Richland County Library. The center also offers a resource and referral service, and a lending library. The ultimate goal is to foster positive family relationships by continuing to strengthen families in Richland County.
Contact: Jerry Schlepp, Administrator (406)433-4097, rwelnel@hotmail.com