Causes: Community & Neighborhood Development, Economic Development, Family Services for Adolescent Parents

Mission: Piqe's mission is to connect families, schools and community as partners to advance the education of every child through parent engagement. Our vision is to create a community in which parents and educators collaborate to transform every child's educational environment, both at home and at school, so that all children can achieve their greatest academic potential.

Programs: Piqe's signature program is the parent engagement education program. True to the organization's mission, the program educates parents on how to foster a positive educational environment for their children both at home and at school. The program, which lasts nine weeks, is free to parents. Parents who participate learn how to create a positive and lasting educational environment at home using a number of proven academic success tools: dedicating a home study location and time of day for homework; creating ongoing dialog with their kids' surrounding their academic successes and challenges; discussing children's college expectations; and more. Creating a bridge between home and school is also emphasized. Parents learn about how grades are used for college admittance; what classes are important and needed for children planning to attend college; how to navigate the school system, and other information vital to academic success of their children. Classes are taught in one of 16 different languages by professional piqe facilitators, who are members of the communities they serve. The class series culminates in a parent group meeting with the school principal, followed by a piqe graduation ceremony. Parent graduation is a celebration that is typically very powerful to parents who may not have a formal education, and an opportunity for children to see their parents as graduates themselves. In the past 25 years, piqe has served more than 583,000 low-income parents from 16 diverse language communities in 36 counties in california. An additional 150,000 low-income parents have been served in nine other states; arizona, texas, minnesota, montana, virginia, washington, new mexico, ohio and wisconsin. After attending the parent engagement education program, schools may enroll parents in this follow-up program to ensure that educational principles learned are not lost and are applied consistently. This is accomplished by a monthly telephone call to each parent from a class facilitator or trained coach. More than 60,000 parents have participated in this optional program. Parents report that the program provides a contact they can rely on to continue the dialog about their student. In addition, a monthly report is sent to the principal citing the number of parents contacted and any issues or concerns raised by parents. The costs of this program are covered by the host school or public/private funds.

teachers' workshop on effective parent engagement:this six-hour workshop, designed by piqe in collaboration with the stanford research institute (sri), helps teachers and administrators work with parents on how to support their children's education. The workshop covers several themes, including: the need for parents to become involved in their children's education; effective strategies for parent involvement; the role of the parent and of the teacher in influencing student performance; parent-teacher interaction and conferences; and the design of a parent involvement action plan by teachers and administrators.

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program (stem):piqe's stem curriculum educates parents on the importance of helping their children build a strong foundation in math and science. Parents also learn fun and interactive ways to teach their children about these concepts in their everyday lives. This two-lesson curriculum works to demystify stem concepts, which often times are thought of as being too challenging and complex. The stem program encourages parents to ensure that their students are taking the correct classes in school, enrolling in accelerated programs, researching internship opportunities and seeking additional help when needed.

family financial literacy education: piqe created its financial literacy program in 2006. Through interactions with piqe families, staff realized that there was a strong need to help families learn more about saving accounts, credit and finances. The financial literacy program, a collaboration between banks and piqe, has helped 2,000 families gain a greater understanding of their finances since its inception. The six-hour program stresses basic money management techniques and how to create wealth through asset accumulation. Subjects include basic banking services such as checking and savings accounts; budgeting; financial planning; establishing and using credit; the importance of maintaining good credit; preventing identity theft; and loan options. Parent leadership program: piqe's parent leadership program helps parents gain the confidence and skills required to be inspirational advocates for their children's education. Piqe provides training to establish leadership development and promotes parental involvement in the decision-making process. After three additional training sessions, parents will learn skills to actively participate in the school system, have knowledge of public policy issues in education, and clearly understand the difference between traditional parent involvement vs. Parent leadership.