Concord PTA: Building Community Beyond Bake Sales 

Concord International Elementary is a diverse school made up of families from many cultures and backgrounds. There are five primary languages spoken: Spanish, English, Vietnamese, Somali, and Khmer. The rich cultures and diversity are what makes Concord such a special place but brings up challenges to creating connections. The PTA received a grant that they used to hire community organizers who spoke each language to help increase language access and build trusting connections among the families of Concord. Our project was to work with the PTA and the hired community organizers to build a platform for the PTA, the families of Concord, and the community organizers collect and share resources. We developed a space for the community organizers to collect and document who the families of Concord are, their language preference, and ways they need support or wish to participate with the school. We created an online “bulletin board’’ website with important resources and announcements available in the main languages spoken by Concord families. We published it online and gave access to the community organizers to edit and update it as needed. We also compiled a document of local resources for the community organizers to be able to look to when connecting with families and their needs. The resources include a list of services, both community-run and discounted services, including access to food, utilities, internet, transportation, and more. We linked where to sign up and receive more information on each service, along with information about who qualifies. We shared these resources with the organizers and PTA and they will be able to update and share them with Concord community and live on after our quarter ends.

Read the full report here!