Parents Building Power Through the 5C Leadership Institute

Hello Contra Costa County Community,

We have an amazing group of parent leaders here in Contra Costa County. It was my pleasure to work alongside these powerful parents during 5C’s Family Leadership Institute. Over four weeks, 62 parents from six different charter schools in West Contra Costa County received leadership development and organizing training. Two of the parent leaders who facilitated the institute are Ana Buenrostro of Voices and Anthony Durham of Summit Tamalpais. Though they come from different backgrounds and their kids attend different schools, they have this in common: an unwavering commitment to their children’s education and a passion to defend parents’ rights to choose their children’s school. I’m excited to share their story here with you.

Maribel

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When Ana Buenrostro was growing up in Richmond, the schools she attended weren’t great. Her father had to work a lot and her mother couldn’t drive, limiting their available time to get involved with her education.

“They couldn’t be there as much as I would have loved them to, and I think as much as they would have loved to, as well,” Ana said. “So I said to myself, ‘Whenever I have kids, I’m going to be there as much as I can.’”

Ana’s daughter is a third-grade student at Voices, in her second year of in-person school after beginning her academic journey with homeschooling. Ana said her daughter has been steadily improving academically and making progress since she started attending Voices.

Ana Buenrostro

As the family was starting to get comfortable at Voices, Ana learned that charter schools must be approved by a school board to stay open, a worrying fact for her because she was not going to send her child to the underperforming, nearby district school.

“I was feeling a little scared, because what happens if they close?” Ana said. “What am I going to do?”

This year, Ana became a leader for 5C: Contra Costa County Charter Coalition, which is working to uplift family voice in education and civic decision-making processes and unite the county charter community.

Ana was one of six parent leaders helping lead the institute, and through their experience, they moved up the leadership ladder to assisting with organizing and facilitating the institute sessions, coaching first-time parents, and leading break-out groups.

Parent leaders not only learned about the charter approval process but how to organize with other parents and advocate for their schools with elected officials.

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“I didn’t know that you can call them and leave messages and all that,” Ana said of contacting school board members. “So I’m learning. I’m doing what I can do to keep my kid’s school open.”

Anthony Durham

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Anthony Durham, a parent leader from Summit Tamalpais, was also one of the parent leaders facilitating the institute. Anthony’s daughter graduated from Summit in 2022, and he has continued to stay involved even though he no longer has a child at the school because he said he has “a passion for schools in general and charter schools in particular.”

“I just really believe that parents should have a choice in where they send their kids,” Anthony said. “I think charter schools provide a great option, and I would like to see that continue.”

Anthony said that serving as a leader during the institute was “very fulfilling.”

“It was educational for me, to learn the material and gain an understanding and then have to present that to other parents,” Anthony said.

Anthony said it’s important to harness the momentum from the institute and get other parents excited about leading and advocating for quality schools.

“We are going to get more parents involved and then meet with school board members to try to get them to see the whole picture of what charter schools are about,” Anthony said.

Ana said she is also feeling empowered and ready to take action to protect her child’s school as well to ensure she gets a quality education.

“My parents had to go with whatever they had (for my education),” Ana said. “I don’t want my kids to experience that.”

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