It is early March outside Rocklin Elementary School where the landscape is showing off its pristine greenery, and the trees are covered with white blossoms. The colors are vibrant even in the shadows of twilight. Rocklin Elementary is the oldest school in town, but it is well maintained with light blue walls and dark blue trim. The school mascot, a hand-painted bulldog, is emblazoned on the front entrance wall.
On this Tuesday evening there are less than a dozen cars in the parking lot. The air is still, and it’s quiet. A yellow school bus pulls alongside the school sidewalk; the bus hisses as it comes to complete stop. The doors fling open. The shrills and laughter of children are soon joined by the noise of adult chatter. One by one, the children and the adults file out of the bus like a group of families ready to enjoy their favorite theme park. The commotion soon dissipates as the children frolic into the main hallway of the school.
Guadalupe Hernandez has two teenage daughters and two elementary school-aged boys. She also has two toddlers, which she keeps close to her, as she exits the bus. Tonight, Guadalupe brings her entire family to the school campus to participate in a new education program, the Rocklin Family Tutoring Center. Here, Guadalupe’s children will get help with their homework while she uses a computer to work on her English lessons. It may seem like an ordinary program offering ordinary classes; however, the Rocklin’s Family Tutor Center program aspires to be more than ordinary.
While most Rocklin residents are unaware of the economic disparity in the community, the Rocklin Unified School District works with students from low-income families and homeless families every day. Most often, these children come from homes where English is a second language or not spoken at all, which makes it difficult for them to keep up with today’s rigorous education standards. The parents of these families also struggle to be productive members in the community. The language barrier and their lack of education and work skills make it difficult for them to succeed.In past years, the Rocklin Unified School District provided a federally funded after-school program to help children with their studies and offered a weekend learning center to help their parents. However, the underlying dilemma — a lack of parent involvement in the children’s education — was undermining their efforts. A new approach was in order. The school district asked these parents how it might help them and learned that the parent’s economic predicament and their cultural understanding of the education system was hindering their involvement. Thus, the Rocklin Family Tutoring Center was created.
Two nights a week, Shari Anderson, the English Learner Program Specialist for the district, works with two teachers, a computer technician, four instructional aides and student volunteers from the local schools to create a unique environment. This environment is designed to invite participants to seek help with homework and participate in educational activities. Further, it will foster new learning experiences, which for these participants could be as simple as watching how staff and volunteers interact with the children.
The sun is waning as Guadalupe leaves her two toddlers in the daycare classroom. She and her older children walk along the main hallway and turn into a classroom wing lined with bright blue posts and planters with lush green shrubs. They enter room 15. A table is purposely positioned at the entrance. A small counter sign reads “Welcome! Bienvenidos!” The room is furnished meagerly with cabinets and a sink on one wall, a couch at the far end of the room and a coke machine standing alone to the right of the entrance. During the day, it's the teacher’s lounge; tonight, it's the study area for the center. Three large tables are loosely situated in the middle of the room. Each table has various educational games, puzzles, cards and pencils scattered along its Formica-like surface. Some children begin to enter the room. There may be as many as 75 adults and children at the center tonight.
Ms. Salazar, Ms. Pierce, and Ms. Carrasco greet their visitors with big smiles and a happy “Hola.” Some staff does speak Spanish, but most try to communicate with the little Spanish they know. Guadalupe’s boys are quickly put to work by the staff. Her oldest daughter is a high school volunteer. She leaves for the computer lab, which is located in a nearby classroom. Guadalupe follows.
The computer lab is well-equipped, with computer stations in the middle of the room and along the walls. The lab is nearly full of parents looking intently into their monitors. One mother is taking a typing lesson while a father next to her is searching the Internet. Maria Dominguez, the computer technician, ensures everyone is attended to before she begins preparing popcorn for the movie the children will watch later. This evening Norma Sanchez, a college student from Sierra College, volunteers through one of her teaching courses. “I want to be a teacher,” she says. “[I] want to help the parents help the children.” Fluent in Spanish, Norma translates as I ask Guadalupe what she thinks about the Rocklin Family Tutoring Center. Guadalupe says she likes the program because it helps her children, and adds that she likes the bus transportation because she can bring her family. Transportation is important to these families because many don’t own cars. 
There is a great sense of collaboration amongst the staff of the Rocklin Family Tutoring Center. They make it a point to discuss how things are progressing at every meeting, if a child is having difficulty, or if there is a better way to serve the parents and children. The program is new, but through the experience of the staff and their willingness to listen to the needs of the parents, the program is evolving to meet those needs. There is a sense of confidence and enthusiasm that is undeniably present. "[The program] is a model to help parents help their kids” says Diane Prince, an aide at the center, and she “hopes to make a difference.”
The Rocklin Family Tutoring Center shares the vision that the program represents more than homework and computer lessons , it's about teaching life lessons. “Children can improve in academics and parents can learn skills to improve their lives and strategies to better assist their children in becoming successful" says program specialist Shari Anderson. However, she goes on to say this program can only be sustained through government funding, which creates an unsure future. For now, she envisions when these families who are attending this program come back to help run the program for new families. "That would be something rewarding to see," says Shari. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
