skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Boise Community Schools Model Supports Families Outside Classroom

play audio
Play

Thursday, September 12, 2019   

BOISE, Idaho – Children are back in the classroom, but the students who are worried about food, clothing or housing have an extra test to learning.

That's where Boise's Community Schools Program is stepping in, going beyond the bounds of the classroom to provide health and social services to families.

All schools involved in the program are Title I, with large populations of low-income students.

The Boise School District's Whitney Elementary is one of six schools in the district involved in the program.

Principal Amy Pinkerman says Whitney has a dental clinic, food pantry, clothing closet and mental health services.

"Having all of those resources provided at the school empowers families to be able to be the best parents they can be, and in return students are able to do their very best," she states.

Pinkerman says staff members have trauma-informed training, which helps them better care for students and also identify why a student may not have the stamina for a whole academic day.

The program began in 2016 and is generating interest outside Boise, including in Caldwell, Kuna, Lake Pend Oreille and Marsing.

With a large student refugee population, many languages spoken and a varying degree of access to technology, Pinkerman says communication with families sometimes is a hurdle.

But Whitney has services for parents too. It partners with the College of Western Idaho to provide English language classes and has parenting classes to help with at home teaching skills.

Pinkerman says the goal is to engage parents.

"We identify and value that parent involvement as more than just attending the PTO meeting or coming to a parent-teacher conference,” she states. “Parents come and ask for help on parenting.”

Pinkerman says partnerships are key to holding up community schools and notes that Whitney relies on local counseling agencies and even dollar stores to provide this model.

She says the hope is that teachers are able to focus on teaching, students on learning and parents on meeting the basic needs of their children.

"From those perspectives, you have all of these partnerships that are providing the resources in order for those three entities to be able to do what they need to do," she explains.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021