ENLACE Family Center Opens

A new grant program at San Juan College will empower the Latino/Hispanic community and San Juan County educators to increase student success, constructing a "pipeline" of sorts to success in higher education. The ENLACE Family Center grew out of a former Farmington Public Schools Bilingual Education Program grant initiative called the Parent Room, established in 2001, which has evolved into the current ENLACE Family Center.

The $200,000 grant, and continued funding for years to come from the statewide Engaging Latino Communities for Education (ENLACE - pronounced en-LAH-say) will enable the community, students and educators to help change the public educational system, leading to increased success for Latinas/os and all students. In Spanish, "enlace" means link or weave together so that the new entity is stronger than its parts.

The Family Center is located at 1930 San Juan Blvd. in Farmington. A community advisory board will be established to help set up partnerships with local schools, churches or groups. Input from the local Latino community will be key to the program’s success.

The Family Center currently offers English as a Second Languages classes, GED classes in Spanish and assists with college enrollment, all as a pipeline to higher education.

Hired as coordinator of this northwest regional office is Mabel González, a former San Juan College student, who recently received a double master’s degree in Latin American Studies and Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies from the University of New Mexico. ENLACE is operating under the auspices of San Juan College’s Project Read literacy program.

ENLACE statewide has had impressive achievements, with more than 83 percent of ENLACE graduates going on to college and a 97 percent student retention rate. More than 9,400 parents were served through family centers throughout the state in 2007.

ENLACE is an initiative that was originally developed to enhance the education for Latinos/as. However, as the program evolved, all students who have been traditionally underrepresented in institutions of higher learning were included.

It is funded by New Mexico state legislature. Other ENLACE centers in New Mexico are located at the University of New Mexico, Clovis Municipal School District, Santa Fe Community College and New Mexico State University.

For more information on ENLACE, call the center at 505-325-1055.