(JACKSON, MS, April 4, 2022) The National Office of Parents for Public Schools (PPS) is pleased to announce the newest member of its national staff, Ms. Martha Montufar. Martha joined the national staff in March 2022 and will serve as its Director of Programs and Training.
As PPS continues its growth and expansion, Martha comes to the organization as a certified professional translator and helps to further expand our efforts of ensuring equity for public school families and students. As a result of her being both bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish, PPS will be able to provide additional resources, services, and programs for Spanish-speaking parents. With Martha aboard, PPS is now able to offer our Parent Engagement Program (PEP) – Parent Leadership in Spanish and has plans to offer PEP-Early Childhood Development in Spanish in the near future.
Martha brings to PPS extensive expertise, including her previous work with PPS San Francisco as its Bilingual Program Manager and many years as a consultant in Parent Engagement, Early Childhood Education, Community Building and the Arts throughout Northern California.
Additionally, she worked with the Alameda County of Education (ACOE) as the Coordinator of Parent Engagement. While at ACOE, Martha was the coordinator of its first Parent Engagement Program and worked as a collaborative member in a statewide study to prove that parent engagement is the key to student achievement.
Working as the Director of Programs and Training, Montufar will be responsible for overseeing the development of programs and complementary training. She will work closely with the National Executive Director to develop program strategies to deepen the impact of PPS programming across the network of chapters as well as research grants and funding opportunities. When asked about her commitment to parent engagement, Martha stated, “When I relocated to the United States, I realized I had to learn how to navigate the United States system of public education. I experienced many challenges navigating this system and advocating for my own children’s academic success. In this new position with PPS National, I know that I can have an even bigger impact helping other families who are experiencing similar circumstances. I have come to believe that informed and engaged parents can become authentic collaborative partners that support student academic success and help schools meet their academic goals. This in turn brings about strong and healthy communities!”
With Montufar’s passion for community building and social change, the National Office is assured to increase parental engagement within local school communities.
Welcome to the National Office, Martha!
About Parents for Public Schools
The mission of Parents for Public Schools is to advance the role of families and communities in securing a high-quality public education for every child. Its network of community-based chapters works to address public education issues at the local, state, and federal levels. Located throughout the country, PPS chapters are responsible for grassroots advocacy that ensures parents’ voices are included when education decisions are made. At the present time, PPS has 12 chapters in nine states. Four chapters are located in Mississippi where PPS was founded, and other chapters stretch from Hawaii to New York state.
For more information about PPS, contact Joann Mickens, Executive Director, at 601-969-6936, or jmickens@parents4publicschools.org; visit our website, (www.parents4publicschools.org), or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PPSNational/), Twitter (@PPS_National) and Instagram (@PPS_National).