PARENT UNIVERSITY ONLINE

The Alliance for Public Schools has always believed that our public schools are central to our community well-being and realize how stressful facing the temporary closure of this community resource is for families. In an effort to support families and supplement teachers’ online instruction, we are compiling available resources for parents to utilize with their children while schools are closed.

Below you will find some of the best curated resources available to parents. In collaboration with the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, we will be adding useful sites, tools, and modules from our Parent University program that can be accessed online.

As we navigate this unprecedented time, we welcome suggestions on how we can better support parents during the school closures. Please feel free to contact us via email or connect through Facebook or Twitter. To stay up to date with the latest information impacting public schools, visit our blog.

The Tampa Bay STEM Network has created a list of engaging opportunities and resources provided by the partner organizations of the Network, including the Alliance!

This online resource is often used to supplement school-based instruction. It is a great resource for parents and their students to support learning at home during school closures.

The Alliance for Public Schools proudly participates with the Tampa Bay STEM Network in this national network to improve K-12 STEM education. Communities from across the country have developed a list of resources available for parents and students.

This online community, usually focused on peer to peer support for teachers, has compiled one of the most comprehensive lists of parent resources available.

Renaissance myON^® Reader allows students to choose what they want to read in a digital environment, while motivating them to become better, more confident readers. Through partnerships with community organizations, myON Reader is available to children in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

These online resources include games, videos, brain games and links to more in-depth resources that can support the project-based learning assigned by teachers during this time of distance learning.

This site contains a wonderful collection of materials in various forms, virtual tours, podcasts, videos and more drawn from a vast national collection that covers topics from art to zoology.

Google has partnered with over 2,500 museums around the world to provide virtual tours. Peek inside the Museum of Modern Art in New York City or the British Museum in London and explore famous works of art, exhibits and more. Search “National Parks” to find tours from the National Park Service.

Discovery Education hosts field trips centered around engaging themes and can be accessed live or watched later in a recorded format. The site includes supplemental learning materials available for download.

As the provider of the 211 resource guide for families, United Way Suncoast has created a growing database for families about resources that can be accessed during this difficult time. United Way Suncoast serves Hillsborough, Pinellas, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. For all other locations, visit United Way’s 211 locator.

Access school district information and resources including Grab-and-Go food locations for student breakfasts and lunches.

Find feeding locations for all LaunchEd students throughout Orange County.

Find information about feeding locations and the student food and nutrition program in Pinellas County Public Schools.

This page gives information about the school breakfast and lunch program in Volusia County Public Schools.

The Department of Education has compiled a list of state level resources, food related resources and other private or non-profit sites that provide additional information and supports for families.

The closing of schools has been stressful for everyone- students, educators, AND parents. We reached out to one of our favorite teachers for some words of wisdom to help parents of teenagers during this trying time.

Patrick Boyko is a Hillsborough County high school teacher. He was the 2014 Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and is considered an expert in all of the subjects he teaches: “Holocaust Studies” and “Wars of the 20^th Century.”  He has also created and written curriculum for a class taught to freshmen at his school titled “Introduction to Leadership.”