Sunset Park Even Start Family Literacy Partnership

The Sunset Park Family Literacy Partnership is a collaboration between Community School District 20 of the New York City Department of Education and Lutheran Family Health Centers. This collaboration has completed almost nine successful years in the Sunset Park Community of Brooklyn and has become a vital part of the lives of participating families, the school, and the community. The program serves families whose children attend P.S. 503 and P.S. 506. Sunset Park Even Start responds to the intensive educational and family support needs of the families in these schools by providing an integrated array of family literacy services to 40 families per year, including approximately 110 children from birth through the age of seven. Even Start’s Adult ESOL and Early Childhood classes are scheduled concurrently with the schools’ half-day pre-k classes to maximize participation. The parents are divided into two ESOL classes – morning and afternoon – based on their English language proficiency. Eight hours per week per class are devoted to center-based programming, including six hours of ESOL, one hour of Parenting, and one hour of Interactive Literacy.