This is the second story in a three-part series sharing how Catholic schools use communications capacity building grants from the Crimsonbridge Foundation to welcome, engage, and serve Hispanic students and families. The first part of this series explores the lasting impact of investing in cultivating inclusion and belonging at the high school level.
Since 2018, the Bridges for Schools program has supported schools and dioceses with resources, technical assistance, and funding to build their capacity toward better engaging and welcoming Hispanic and Latino families. Recognizing that every school’s priorities differ based on their respective community, Bridges for Schools grants are tailored to each school’s self-identified needs. Crimsonbridge’s newly launched Bridges for Schools website features a Resources page for schools with ideas and best practices from our partner schools in areas such as bilingual videos and websites, student and family engagement, representative imagery, and more.
Investing in bilingual websites and promoting family engagement
Bilingual websites can help bridge initial accessibility gaps and promote inclusion for prospective and current families. Of the 50 schools that Crimsonbridge has partnered with since 2018, more than 25 have added Spanish language videos or text to their website using Bridges for Schools grants. St. Martin of Tours School, located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, created a Spanish microsite, adding an “En Español” tab to the main menu to provide support and resources ranging from tuition and financial aid forms to afterschool childcare information. To complement the online information, the school began offering in-person Spanish-language open houses, which they advertised during mass and faith formation classes. In its next phase of work, St. Martin of Tours will host monthly Spanish-language informational meetings for parents, to support family retention and engagement.
All Saints Catholic School, located in Manassas, Virginia, has an “En Español” feature on its admissions page that provides a simple, 4-step registration process and designated forms accessible in Spanish. The school also used Bridges for Schools funding to provide a stipend to a Latino Liaison, who built bridges between the school and two nearby parishes and redesigned the school open house to include presentations in both English and Spanish. The Latino Liaison serves on the school’s Welcoming Committee, to ensure that family members who speak Spanish are engaged once students are enrolled.
Building community using the Madrinas Model
Fostering strong interpersonal relationships is an integral aspect of schools’ goals related to enrollment and family engagement. Sacred Heart School, an Award of Distinction school located in Washington DC, and Holy Family Catholic School, located in Woodbridge, Virginia, have both launched Madrinas programs in their school communities. The Madrinas Model, an outreach program created by the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education, is designed to increase Latino enrollment by strengthening the connection between Latino families and the school while fostering a culture of support for children’s academic education and spiritual formation. A Madrina, often a bilingual family member of a student, serves as an ambassador for the school to the Latino community, assisting in marketing, recruiting, and mentoring new families.
Through these ambassador programs, prospective families learn about the schools from a member of their community, who acts as a trusted source. With the help of Bridges for Schools, Holy Family provided its Madrinas with a stipend to speak at mass and offer translation services at school events like open houses, PTO meetings, and parent-teacher conferences. The school reported a noticeable increase in the participation of Latino and Hispanic families at school events thanks to the relationship-building efforts of the Madrinas. At Sacred Heart, Madrinas focused on connecting the school and the parish, inviting families from the parish to visit the school and consider it as an option for their children. Sacred Heart also invited a school parent to share why he chose to send his daughter to the school and featured his testimonial in a bilingual promotional video.
For more best practices, stay tuned for the third part of this series, which will share our Top Five Tips for welcoming and engaging Hispanic and Latino families in Catholic schools!
