Grass-Roots Teaching

Can a public school program empower the surrounding community? That's the goal of Linkages to Learning in Montgomery County.

"TREVON, CAN I SEE YOUR BOARD, HONEY?"

The fourth-graders seated on the rug in front of Jacqueline Filiault are still young enough to accept endearments: sweetie, precious, mi amor. A teacher could fall in love with such polite, hardworking

children, and it seems Filiault has fallen hard, as she gently pushes her students along. On a winter afternoon, there are about 17 children in this classroom at Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring, and there are almost as many levels of ability.

An assistant teacher leans toward Trevon, a slight boy with curling lashes, whose head is bent low over his white board. Most of the other kids have already held up correct answers to the math problem and are wiping off the dry-erase marks with their sleeves, ready to go again.

The assistant watches as Trevon writes barely legible numbers onto his board.

"Are you done? Okay, show her."

He flips his board around so Filiault can confirm his correct answer, and the class goes on to the next problem. This time, Trevon is one of the first to get it done. Filiault beams at him, and he smiles, his face twitching slightly. The boy's psychiatrist of three years, David Zwerdling -- Dr. Z, as he is known here at Broad Acres -- is still adjusting his medication. Zwerdling is trying to make sure Trevon has enough to stay focused despite his Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder, but not so much that the medication's side effects overtake him.

For a boy who just a couple of years ago wouldn't talk and was described as "unresponsive to redirection," Trevon is making good progress, Zwerdling says. And though the boy's file reports possible below-average intelligence, Zwerdling believes this probably underestimates Trevon's abilities, which could be masked by his other deficits.

IN 1991, THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL CONCLUDED THAT ISSUES SUCH AS POOR HEALTH, emotional problems, language barriers and a general fear of an unfamiliar system were preventing low-income and immigrant families from seeking out services that were available to them. Often, by the time the families found the services, their problems had worsened and were more difficult to resolve. And even then, parents and children often missed appointments because they lacked transportation or child care. To improve accessibility, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, the Montgomery public school

system and various social service providers launched Linkages to Learning in 1993, an innovative program that brings everything under the school roof.

"Instead of having to deal with urgent needs, you could do prevention; you could help people as things come up," says Sharon Strauss, who manages the program for Montgomery County. At Broad Acres, Linkages offices are housed in a portable building attached to the school. If children don't show up for a counseling appointment, Linkages staff members can simply fetch them from class, or call or visit them at home.

The Broad Acres program was the third to come on board, in September 1997, and there are now 28 Linkages sites serving 3,500 children and their parents at county elementary and middle schools, with an overall budget of about $6 million. About $5 million comes from the county, which contracts with community-based nonprofits such as YMCA Youth and Family Services, which employ the school-based staff. Grants, faith groups and other community organizations and businesses provide the rest of the funds. All students and their parents at Linkages schools may use the services, which are free, except for minimal mental health fees charged for some children in the state insurance program. "Tons of research and data shows positive results for this kind of approach," says Anne Vor der Bruegge, who manages the Carlin Springs Community School model in Arlington, a pilot program similar to Linkages. "All the things a family might need, you address in a coordinated way."