Aldine ISD’s Multilingual Department Offers Parent Leadership Academy

Disponible en: Español

Families will learn how to empower their child’s academic and social-emotional achievement.

The Aldine Independent School District’s Multilingual Programs Department will launch a six-part Parent Leadership Academy this school year. The next session is Wednesday, February 16, at the Donaldson Child Nutrition Center. All sessions will run from 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. View the flyer below for more details.

Since November 2021, the group meets once a month, parents will explore strategies to help their English learners be successful in the classroom. The Academy will feature various sessions and speakers highlighting how parents can empower their student’s academic achievement and their social-emotional well-being.

Dr. José Luis Zelaya

Working with the families will be Dr. José Luis Zelaya with Texas A&M University’s Center for Urban School Partnership. He is also the CEO of Dr. Zelaya Educational Consulting. His company serves emergent bilingual students, newcomers, long-term English learners (ELs), and college-bound scholars. Zelaya is passionate about sharing the generational power of higher education and highlighting the importance of systems of support through his personal story, which has been His message has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Washington Post, Univisión, Fox News, and The New York Times.

Zelaya grew up in the trash fields of Honduras before moving to Houston at the age of 13. He hoped to find his mother and younger sister, who were already living in the U.S. Zelaya, his mother, and his younger sister moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Houston, where they lived with 14 other people. They slept on a mattress in one corner of the apartment. His mother immediately enrolled Zelaya in school. She wanted her son to focus on education rather than work to help provide for the family. The most memorable feature of his first moment in school was a seventh-grade middle school teacher named Mrs. Wright. She would open her classroom on Saturdays for him and other students who needed extra help and encouraged Zelaya. At the time, Zelaya didn’t understand what “college material” meant, but he graduated and attended Texas A&M University, where he earned his doctorate in urban education.

“She (Mrs. Wright) planted a seed in my life that flourished into who I’ve become now,” Zelaya said. “I now have the opportunity to provide a different lifestyle for my wife and my daughter. Education did that. Education transformed my life.”

Family education is how Zelaya is paying it forward. The Parent Leadership Academy will provide parents and family members strategies to best support their child’s academic attainment and development.