About
The Starkville School District established the Department of Family Centered Programs in 1994 in an effort to strengthen families of the students served by the District. The department provides services to families and children leading to stronger schools as well as the community. In addition, Family Centered Programs has established strong linkages with community organizations in order to provide the services needed by these families. Since its inception, Family Centered Programs has managed numerous school-based and community-wide programs for all age-groups including children and youth programs funded by federal, state, local and private foundation grants. Some of the programs currently managed by Family Centered Programs include adult basic education, family literacy, parenting classes, respite programs for parents of young children; a family resource center, mentoring, and homeless education support. A strong emphasis is placed on using evidence-based practices and curricula in our programs and services.
In 2013, the department expanded programming by establishing the Families Strengthening Families project, which is funded by the MS Department of Human Services Children’s Trust Fund. Highly structured Parent Cafés were created to provide opportunities for families to meet together to discuss parenting issues relevant to their circumstances with the aid of a trained facilitator. Families have a caring and mutually supportive environment to discuss the challenges of rearing children, to exchange parenting ideas/strategies, to learn about community resources, and to realize positive change in their families.
