Coming Together For Kids: Milwaukee Program Creates New Partnership

By Anne Waukau
WEAC Media Consultant

When Daniel De Vougas was 5 years old, and his brother Gabriel De Vougas was 8 years old, their mother was satisfied with their progress at a Milwaukee private school.

"But I grew up in Milwaukee Public Schools and remembered how I enjoyed walking to the neighborhood school, so I decided to take a look at our local school – Hi-Mount Elementary," said Hope De Vougas (pictured).

"Considering all the negatives I had heard about MPS, I was amazed at all the wonderful things I saw, such as the community and parental involvement," De Vougas said.

After meeting the principal and staff and touring the school, she decided to take her two sons out of the private school.

"I wanted them to attend Hi-Mount because I felt like I would be welcome and would be allowed to be a part of the school," she said.

That was five years ago, and De Vougas said she hasn't regretted the decision once. In fact, she was so moved by the community and parental involvement that she eventually became the parent coordinator for the school.

Hi-Mount is one of many MPS Schools benefitting from the School/Family/Community Partnership Initiative. The initiative is spearheaded by the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association and is an outgrowth of the WEAC Vanguard Project.

Funding comes from WEAC, MTEA, NEA, businesses and local schools.

"Milwaukee Public Schools has a very large number of success stories to tell, and I'd like to believe that Hi-Mount Community School is one of those stories," said Principal Spence Korte. He credits his entire school staff and the local residents and businesses with the program's growth.

"For a school to be functional, it needs to be owned by the people who use the services," Korte said. "People need to own their school in the same way that they own their neighborhoods, and their churches and their political views."

De Vougas and parents agreed.

Tyna Rule said she brought her son, who is in kindergarten, to Hi-Mount because of the school's reputation. "It was really involved with the community," she said.

At first, Renee Glembin, said "no way" would her child attend a Milwaukee public school. But then she came to Hi-Mount and realized the reports she heard in the media were wrong.

"For the most part, the problems I anticipated or feared have been unfounded," she said.

Glembin now chairs the school's Community Relations Committee and is very involved in the school.

De Vougas said that is the goal of the staff at Hi-Mount.

"Our goal is to let the parents, teachers, community members and businesses — anybody who has a vested interest in this school — be involved in school decisions," De Vougas said.

That includes the local Community Baptist Church of Greater Milwaukee and St. Catherine's Congregation where the school has off-site kindergarten classes.

"They accepted us with open arms and let us run our program there," she said. "This is our second year and it has been very successful. They've let us be ourselves and they've been very supportive."

Here is a partial list of other projects:

• An open house, where businesses donated prizes for a raffle.
• Collaboration with Carter Development, which runs day care centers throughout the city.
• Early screening for children with the help of Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute which sends a team of doctors and nurses twice a year to screen children from infancy to age 3.
• Joining Ameritech's Super School program, which enables parents to take a computer course and then take a computer and a printer home for six weeks. The company put in a fiber optic cable and gave the school a $60,000 grant.
• Inviting Washington High School juniors and seniors to tutor students.

"We have formed a partnership and a relationship with people who want to be involved in the community and it really helps to work with those who want to make the connection," De Vougas said.

"It's productive and fun and each year we are proud of those relationships," she said, adding, "It's worth it. You can see it in the kids. Our kids love coming to school."

Posted October 15, 1997