Mission of Family Connections
Our vision is that involved parents and well-prepared children will be able to participate successfully in their families, communities, and schools.
In our innovative program parents participate in preschool classes with their children, ages newborn to five. Children experience an array of educational opportunities that prepare them for the future. Parents attend weekly parenting seminars, covering a range of topics, with an emphasis on positive discipline.
The school was founded in 1993 by Little Hands: A Parent-Child Center with support from the Sequoia Adult School. Initially the school was located in a one-bedroom apartment in East Palo Alto. In 1996 it moved to the Belle Haven School in Menlo Park with rent paid in-kind by the City of Menlo Park. Due to its success, the program expanded into two new locations in 2002 - one in East Palo Alto at the Girls Club of the Mid-Peninsula and the other at the InnVision Homeless Shelter in Menlo Park (a provider of services for homeless families).
In an effort to lift barriers between poverty and education the school charges no tuition. Family Connections is funded through the Sequoia Adult School, county and federal sources, foundations, corporations, individual donors, and three major fundraisers each year -- An Evening with Children's Authors in the fall, a rummage sale supported by the Rotary Club of Redwood City in the spring, and a Rotary Club sponsored car raffle in the summer.
Parents and children enjoy reading together at Family Connections
Parents and Children enjoying a field trip to Chevy's together