Gaithersburg program offers after-school help to students and their parents

Kimberly Vasquez of Gaithersburg is a Rachel Carson Elementary School student whose parents speak very little English, she said. She is as fluent in English as most first-graders can be but sometimes needs a little help in translation.

So on Tuesday evenings, Kimberly heads to an after-school program run by volunteers, teachers and school staff members several miles from the Kentlands school.

About 25 students and, at times, their parents converge at the rental office at Governor Square apartments on Muddy Branch Road for homework help and to practice math, play word games and borrow books.

"They read out loud before you read to them," Kimberly said of teachers and volunteers.

Assistant Principal Cathy Schinn refers to the sessions as "happy hour."

The outreach at Governor Square began in 2008 after parents and staff members discussed how to create an environment that would encourage families to participate in academic and after-school activities. Several parents told of their experiences growing up in immigrant families, which prompted questions on how to better engage such families at the school.

They decided to bring the tutoring program to Governor Square, Schinn said. The school's PTSA contributed books and other materials, and the school bears no cost, Schinn said.

In addition, Gaithersburg and Bar-T of Gaithersburg, Rachel Carson's before- and after-school child-care provider, have helped with transportation to back-to-school nights and family functions, she said.

Marjory Belance of Greenbelt, property manager at Governor Square, allows the school to use the rental office and party room for free, she said. The complex has a lot of children and "not a lot of places for them to play," she said. "The fact that they're willing to do this -- I wish I had it where I live for my daughter." The Rachel Carson community has been very generous, Belance said.

The program includes more than the Tuesday evening sessions at Governor Square.

"This started as a way of developing relationships, and it turned into this much bigger thing," Schinn said.

On Mondays and Thursdays, parents and Spanish-speaking volunteers gather at Rachel Carson to answer telephone calls from Spanish-speaking parents who have questions and concerns. "When I have moms or dads who can't interpret the homework, I translate for them," said volunteer Denise Perez, 53, of Germantown.