Seattle, WA
Seattle Public Schools
Melissa Mak, ELL Department Lead
Hawthorne’s Quarantine Academy
Parents reported that they missed the monthly schoolwide family engagement activities and coffee chats that were held pre-COVID. They asked the partnership team to conduct family-friendly activities with ideas to do at home with their children. The school’s partnership team discussed ways to meet parents’ requests. Working with community partners, Hawthorne launched the Quarantine Academy—a series of six monthly online meetings with families and students. Topics included:
(1) Bringing Mindfulness Home conducted by a community partner to help students reduce stress and learn mindfulness strategies to increase success and satisfaction in class.
(2) Birds & Bees & Kids–Deeper Dive conducted by a health educator to help parents talk with their children and youth in an easy and fun way about challenging topics, including. about growing up and sex education.
(3) Family Cooking Night conducted by a community partner who, with the school, provide the ingredients for families to cook spaghetti with red sauce, broccoli, garlic bread, and strawberry dessert. Families picked up the ingredients at the school, and everyone cooked together to enjoy a family dinner.
(4) Family Capoeira Night conducted by a community martial arts program. Children and parents learned various physical and mental exercises to increase achievement, leadership, and a sense of community.
(5) Family Drawing Night conducted by a community artist. The PTA purchased art supplies that students and families picked up from the school. With the artist’s guidance, students and family partners created self-portraits.
(6) Virtual Movie Night for which students received a school tote bag with various movie snacks to enjoy with their families at home while watching the movie.
The Quarantine Academy reinforced the school’s commitment to ensuring a positive school climate for all families and strengthening academic skills and positive attitudes of all students. Over 450 students and 450 parents and other caregivers participated, along with more than 75 teachers and community members. One parent’s reaction: It was a fun way to stay a bit more connected to the Hawthorne community. Another reported: “Our family thoroughly enjoyed the drawing class. The artist-instructor was fun and engaging.” Another noted, “The cooking meeting was fantastic.”
Read more about Hawthorne’s Quarantine Academy in Promising Partnership Practices 2021.
