Apply here to be on the Sunset PAR Team!

Application Deadline Extended to December 3rd!

We are excited to announce that we are collaborating with District 15 , the DOE Office of District Planning and the Sunset Park community in a second participatory action research process.

Did you know that there are four new school buildings opening in Sunset Park over the next few years? Are you interested in learning more about the schooling experiences and needs in our area and making recommendations about what should happen with SP schools?

The D15 Sunset Park PAR Project will develop recommendations around what should happen with Sunset Park schools, with a goal of equitable education and thriving schools for all children in Sunset Park.

We will be using a participatory action research (PAR) approach to build an understanding of what we need as a community to achieve equitable and thriving schools.

Participatory action research (PAR) is an approach to knowledge production where those most impacted by a question, problem, or issue are centered and in leadership of the research process from beginning to end. The process is community-powered and community-accountable. In this project, a team of local community members who will be impacted by schooling changes will carry out the research. We call this group of community researchers: the Sunset PAR Team.

A team of local community members, who will be directly impacted by changes in our Sunset Park Schools, will carry out the work. We call this group of community researchers: the D15 Sunset Park PAR Team.

We are seeking local community members from across Sunset Park and connected to all our schools to join the D15 Sunset Park PAR Team. We are recruiting 12 community members to join as the Sunset PAR Team. Sunset PAR Team members will meet weekly, put in 1 – 5 hours/week on the project, receive a stipend for their participation. No prior experience necessary. There will be many ways to be involved and participate in the project in addition to being a member of the Sunset PAR Team.

The PAR Team will work together to figure out what we need to ask our neighbors to achieve equitable and thriving schools. The PAR team will be a group of people who will meet for 1 – 5 hours a week to:

• create community
• discuss and think through the biggest questions facing our community
• research history of schools and schools zones
• be trained in research methods and ethics
• carry out research (like interviews, surveys, focus groups) at laundromats, playgrounds, church groups, community centers, and other places
• study and analyze Dept of Education data
• compile and analyze community knowledge + DOE data
• lead art projects with children
• share back what we find via community forums
• produce recommendations to inform DOE policy

This participatory process will center families impacted by the school changes and particularly families from historically excluded communities.

NOTE: District 15 will soon be launching a Design Team for the new PS 958 to develop the plan for that school. The D15 Sunset PAR Team will communicate closely with the PS 958 Design Team, but the D15 Sunset Park PAR Team is not working on the design of PS 958.

Click Here Apply to be on the Sunset Park PAR Team and/or Get Involved in the project.