By Dana Williams
Since its creation in 2004, Project Enroll Now has aimed to encourage other Malverne parents living in School District 12 to do the same.
The initiative began after three Malverne moms, Josephine Bottitta, Gina Gentilella and Maria Obiol, wanted to discover the reasons why Malverne parents were sending their children to private and parochial schools instead of Malverne public schools. After the three met each other through acquaintances as well as Mothers of Malverne, or MOM meetings, they decided to conduct a survey to find out why many Malverne parents in District 12 were not utilizing public schools such as Maurice W. Downing and Davision Avenue Elementary Schools, among others in the district.
It took the trio, who are also the not-for-profit corporation's co-founders, nearly three months to mail more than 3,000 surveys out to Malverne residents living in District 12 and to review all of the responses. The collective effort helped them to eventually realize that more initiatives should take place to inform Malverne residents about all of the positive teachers, programs and activities that are offered in Malverne Schools.
"What we found out through the survey is that people were completely misinformed about the schools," Bottitta explained, whose oldest son Justin, 7, is a second grader at Downing Elementary School. "We then decided that we should do something about this."
For the past three years, the members have focused many of their efforts to promote District 12, which also serves residents of Lakeview, West Hempstead and Lynbrook, on Malverne parents with young children. Project Enroll Now has organized many play dates for children entering kindergarten in Malverne Schools.
"The children in the play groups would go bowling together and play tennis together," Bottitta said. "The kids and parents got to know each other ... and it helped to bring people in the Malverne school community together."
With the slogan "Malverne Kids for Malverne Schools," Project Enroll Now has now played a major role in helping to increase enrollment of hometown children in the Malverne School District. What keeps the members motivated to promote Malverne Schools is the hope that they can continue to bring the sense of community togetherness that exists in the village into the school community as well.
"We stick with Malverne because we live here and the schools here are excellent," said Obiol, whose oldest son Jack, 5, started kindergarten at Downing Elementary this school year. "We are just a group of parents who are trying to keep people in our community connected with the schools in our community."
The members also said they embrace the diversity that exists in the district, and the fact that students in Malverne can be in the same classroom as students from places such as Lakeview and Lynbrook, encourages them to promote Malverne Schools even more.
"The students in the district are receiving a great education and experience," Obiol said. "Residents pay school taxes ... and we should be utilizing and taking advatange of the opportunities in our school district."
Last Saturday, Project Enroll Now, which now has more than 100 members, held its annual Fall Fundraiser to help raise money for the different school and community initiatives that the corporation supports. The corporation donates money to the Malverne High School Scholarship Fund and co-hosts community concerts, among other efforts.
There was an array of items for sale at the fundraiser ranging from scented candles to gourmet foods. While shopping for holiday items, attendees also received a chance to learn more about Project Enroll Now's purpose.
"This organization is great because it gets the word out to the community about the great schools in our community," said Malverne resident Monica Kaczorowski, who sold her homemade cookies in support of the organization. "My kids go to Malverne High School ... and it's always great to support the schools."
The corporation is also planning play dates for Malverne kids who will be entering kindergarten at Davison Avenue or Downing Elementary Schools in September of 2008.
For more information visit projectenrollnow.pbwiki. com.
