In this email:
1. Students Meet with Police Chief Robert White
2. Pushing for Health Justice
3. ASSET Passes Colorado Senate
4. Rural School and Community Trust features Ending the School-to-Jail Track
5. CSR Colorado - House Visits, Chapter Meetings, Base Building
6. 20th Anniversary Celebration

Jovenes Unidos Meets With Denver Police Chief Robert White
Plan for More Equitable, Less Punitive Discipline in Schools

Last week, Denver Police Department Chief of Police Robert White and Deputy Chief Bill Nagle met with Padres & Jovenes Unidos and other allies to discuss the role of police in schools. Also in attendance were ACLU-Colorado, Colorado Progresive Coalition, Victim Offender Reconciliation Program of Denver (VORP), and concerned parents.

In the youth-led meeting, Jovenes Unidos called on the Denver Police Department to re-write the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the police department and Denver Public Schools - and to include Padres & Jovenes Unidos as an equal partner in creating the MOU.

If rewritten, the new MOU will align the roles and responsibilities of police officers with Denver Public Schools' reformed discipline policies, which Padres & Jovenes Unidos helped win in 2008. Once the police's roles and responsiblities in Denver Public Schools are consistent with the 2008 discipline policy, our schools and community will be poised to create more just and fair discipline outcomes and End the School-to-Jail Track in Denver Public Schools.

We commend Police Chief White for his agreement to have all stakeholders at the table - DPD, DPS, and Padres & Jovenes Unidos - to rewrite the new MOU. It represents the possiblity of progress - a chance to keep students in class and learning, not in the juvenile justice system for minor misbehavior. With that in mind, Padres & Jovenes Unidos looks forward to the next meeting with the Denver Police Department, Denver Public Schools, and community allies.

what do we want? HEALTH JUSTICE!
when do we want it? NOW!

Las Promotoras de Salud: Educating, Outreaching, and Building Leaders

Since October 2011, the parent promotora education program at Padres & Jovenes Unidos has educated hundreds of parents, students, and families on the health epidemic facing our community. This epidemic - due to unequal access to affordable healthy food and exercise - needs to be confronted, halted, and changed!

Last week, dozens of parent leaders and members also convened for their monthly meeting to discuss the next steps in improving the health of our community. They continued to demand healthier school lunches and increased access to physical education. The parents plan to work with Denver Public Schools in the coming months to help improve lunch and fitness policies across the district.

Above: Parent leaders and members from the Health Justice campaign at their regional meeting

For more information or to get involved, please contact:
Monica Acosta | monica@padresunidos.or | (303) 458-6545

ASSET Passes Colorado Senate
standard-rate tuition for undocumented college students
advances to house

Yesterday morning, Colorado ASSET passed its 3rd reading in the Colorado Senate by a vote of 20-14. Next, the bill will be assigned to a House committee by the Speaker of the House, Frank McNulty.

Take Action! Let House members know that you support ASSET. Please send an email to all of the members of the State House letting them know why you support Colorado ASSET!

Use the link below to send them an email. The more personal you can make it the better. Tell the legislators why you personally support ASSET - a step toward college access for all!

Click here to send an email to all of the members of the State House.

For more information or to get involved, please contact:
Leidy Robledo | leidy@padresunidos.org | (303) 458-6545

"Rural Advocates Attend Strategy Workshop to Combat School Discipline"



The article below appeared in Rural Policy Matters - March 2012 and highlights the role of Padres & Jovenes Unidos in a series of Action Camps on the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Padres & Jovenes Unidos student-leaders have led workshop presentations in Los Angeles, Raleigh, and will be presenting in Chicago and New York City in the coming weeks.

The Rural School and Community Trust reported the following:

"Padres and Jovenes Unidos (Parents and Youth United) from Denver, Colorado challenged participants to engage in power analysis to analyze the positions and roles of stakeholders on issues to better strategize for change. These young people have not only effected major reforms to district school discipline policies in Denver but are now working at the state level for similar changes for all schools in Colorado. See this month’s related story on their work, “School Discipline Reform Underway in Colorado.”

Read the entire article here.

House Visits, Chapter Meetings, Parent Outreach; CSR Colorado Broadens its Base

Padres & Jovenes Unidos reaches out to parents and community
to educate on literacy via CSR Colorado

DENVER, CO - Through house visits and school-based parent meetings Padres & Jovenes Unidos is educating parents on literacy and CSR Colorado, a collaborative effort by DPS, University of Colorado Boulder, and Padres to advance literacy.

By visiting parents in their homes and holding informational meetings at local middle schools, Padres & Jovenes Unidos reaches out to parents and educates them about the best ways to support their children through Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), an innovative, research-based set of statregies to help improve reading comprehension.

CSR Colorado aims to advance the reading comprehension of middle school students in Denver Public Schools and prepare them for success in school and life. By bringing parents into their child's education, Padres & Jovenes Unidos empowers them to help their children become college-ready - and to claim their right to a college education.

Parents gather at a recent school chapter meeting		Join us for our next CSR Colorado Parent Chapter Meeting
		What:	Parent Chapter Meeting
		When:	Saturday April 14, 10am - 12pm
		Where:	Skinner Middle School, Library, 3435 W. 40th Ave

Please contact our CSR parent organizers to learn more about CSR Colorado and how you can get involved.

Gloria Mendoza-Marquez | gloria@padresunidos.org | (303) 458-6545

Fidel Salazar | fidel@padresunidos.org | (303) 458-6545

You're Invited to our
20th Anniversary Celebration!

June 1, 2012 - Cesar Chavez Academy

$10 per ticket for Community Members and Youth
$200 per ticket for Corporate & Foundation Partners (to be a sponsor)
$1000 for a table of 8 Corporate & Foundation Partners (to be a host)

Call Yamili today to purchase your tickets | (303) 458-6545

You can also purchase tickets through our online fundraising site.
Be sure to designate your donation as "Anniversary Ticket Purchase" so that we can send you your tickets and more information about the event.

Join our fight for justice!

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the Padres Unidos email list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please send a blank email to the list manager at pam@padresunidos.org

Usted está recibiendo este email porque esta suscrito a la lista del email de Padres Unidos. Si usted quisiera borrar su nombre de la lista, envíe por favor un email en blanco al encargado lista pam@padresunidos.org

Padres & Jóvenes Unidos
3025 W. 37th Ave, Suite 206
Denver, CO 80211
303-458-6545
www.padresunidos.org