Testimonials from Community Organizations
The following testimonials are made by community organizations on behalf of The Center for Parenting Education:
"As a parent and a school administrator, I have had a personal and professional interest in parenting education programming for more than thirty years. Further, I have been involved in the teaching of parenting classes every year of my career since 1981. Over all of these years of interest and involvement, I have never felt so confident in parenting education services as I have been since becoming directly involved with the Center for Parenting Education.
The quality and diversity of programs, coupled with strong leadership and excellent instruction, have led to tremendous services and opportunities for parents in our region. In my role as Superintendent of Schools for the Hatboro-Horsham School District, it is important to know where to turn in order to secure excellent programs and support for our parents. The Center for Parenting Education provides this desired level of excellence. I cannot encourage school districts and parents enough to embrace the services that can be readily available through the Center."
William A. Lessa
Superintendent of Schools
Hatboro-Horsham School District
"I have taken some time to think carefully about the myriad of experiences that we in the Department of Pediatrics have benefited by having The Center for Parenting Education close by. There is such a constant clamoring for all of the information that you bring to us. As pediatricians, we are constantly besieged with requests for “best programs” and interesting ways of having our younger families meeting others in their communities. Suffice to say, nobody does it better than you.
When the web-based learning programs developed, the buzz amongst my colleagues was that this was a very well thought out and useful program that would ultimately link parents with similar problems and situations to each other. In the process of child-rearing the biggest hurdle is not the physical capability of performing the act but becoming lost in a world where a young mother may feel isolated and alone. The exceptional work that you have done over these many years is a tribute to the spirit of the program and to the quality of the information that it offers to our community of families. You have my deepest respect."
Steven A. Shapiro, D.O.
Chairman of Pediatrics
Abington Memorial Hospital
"The Center for Parenting Education provides invaluable services and support to the families that Abington Memorial Hospital serves. Its programs, which supplement the health care provided by our physicians, meet the needs of area parents and children by
contributing to the health of individual families , and, thereby, strengthening our communities.
The Center for Parenting Education has demonstrated an impressive record of achievement. In the 13 years since its formation, it has developed into a “full service” parenting education center, offering many varied programs that serve parents of children of all ages. They have also established themselves as an important component of the auxiliary health care provider network in our area and have developed key relationships with other social service providers.
Abington Memorial Hospital’s Community Health Services work closely with The Parenting Center in providing certain programs within the hospital, in marketing its programs to the diverse population we serve, in printing its literature and in providing other in-kind support to The Parenting Center.
As a leading maternity hospital, we have strong prenatal educational classes and believe that parenting education is a vital component in the continuum of support to families. We see it as our responsibility to work cooperatively with parenting experts at The Center for Parenting Education in order to provide on-going programs to families after the birth of their children.
The Parenting Center, in general, serves as a complement to the current health care system. Our physicians utilize The Parenting Center as a resource for their patients. From birth, obstetricians/gynecologists refer mothers who are feeling isolated and in need of general parenting information. Pediatricians suggest attending programs to parents who need additional skills, while family practitioners and psychologists encourage joining groups
which connect parents with others in similar family life cycle stages.
In the current medical and health care environment, these specialists, often over-burdened with enormous caseloads, can no longer address the parenting questions and issues that parents have. Having The Parenting Center as a resource gives physicians the knowledge that their patients are getting the full range of programs they need.
The Center for Parenting Education also has a history of reaching out to parents who may not be able or willing to attend programs at its site through communication strategies such as their newsletter, newspaper articles, and programs conducted at other sites in the community. The most recent and most innovative initiative to reach more parents is their online programming, which allows parents to access their excellent information and support via the internet. These programs, which are creative, parent-friendly, and informative, represent a major new direction for the effective dissemination of parenting education by building upon younger parents’ comfort with technology and the internet.
The Parenting Center is responsive to community needs and creative in finding new ways to meet those needs. It is stable and determined in its unrelenting pursuit of ways to support families. I find the leadership and the facilitators at The Parenting Center to be professional, responsible, reliable, capable and dynamic individuals who passionately believe in their mission. They support parents and families in part by stressing the vital role that parents play in the lives of their children, in the health of our communities and in the future of our society. We believe that this small non-profit organization is making a large positive difference in the lives of individual children and families in our community."
Beth Ann Neill
Director, Public Relations and Marketing
Abington Memorial Hospital
and
Marianna Calabrese
Director, Community Health Services
Abington Memorial Hospital
"The Center for Parenting Education provides quality programming at an affordable cost to area parents and families. Knowledgeable parenting educators conduct workshops with integrity and sensitivity, welcoming different viewpoints and experiences. Parents who have attended the Center’s book preview/discussion group programs at our library have consistently commented on their usefulness. We are proud of our ongoing partnership with this valuable, family-oriented organization."
Carolyn DuBois – Head, Children’s Department
Abington Township Public Library
"The Parenting Center has been a welcome support to the Junior High. They were thoroughly motivated to work with the Guidance Department and develop a new workshop that addressed a wide variety of pertinent issues. The workshop provided analysis into factors that directly impact the success of adolescent students in school and life. Topics included effective discipline techniques, building self-esteem, promoting responsibility, and improving communication.
The Parenting Center is clearly committed to helping families. Their knowledge base is thorough and their communication of it reflects their deep desire to improve families resiliency. They maintain a wide repertoire for providing assistance. Given the challenges of raising a child in today’s environment, the local community is fortunate to have the Parenting Center as a resource."
Dr. Matthew Wexler
Coordinator of Pupil Services
Abington Junior High School
Abington School District
"The Center for Parenting Education has my full support. I appreciate their professionalism and dedication. When I was Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Abington Memorial Hospital, two young ladies approached me with their new idea. They planned to start a Parenting Center to help families raise their children. They would teach them in the methods of avoiding problems or solving those that did occur. I was impressed at how they planned to train their facilitators, with the help of Lakeside Educational Network, to attain a high level of expertise. Their philosophy of child rearing was compatible with mine. I agreed that it was a needed service in the community and I offred the support of the Department of Pediatrics and Abington Memorial Hospital.
In the ensuing years, they have far exceeded my expectations. They have programs that serve the needs of many parents. They have reached out to the community with many of their programs. They have worked with the school systems of our area. I especially like working with them in the "First Steps to Grandparenting" program at the hospital.
Over the years, they have made important contributions to the communities and families that are served by Abington Hospital. They are an invaluable resource for my patients. Many parents and students have benefited from their programs. They continue to improve and expand their programs. They have been diligent in husbanding their funds and maximizing their resources. I hold Audrey Krisbergh, the Director, in the highest regard. I respect her and all the dedicated members of her staff. They are the model for all organizations with a similar mission.
It is my pleasure to recommend the Parenting Center without reservation to provide programs for any community organization."
Joseph J. Cirotti, M.D.
Abington Memorial Hospital
Department of Pediatrics
"The parenting educators were phenomenal. They were on target on every level. They understood our parents. We were impressed from the first moment they started their presentation. Thank you so much."
Donna Young
Program Director
Safe Harbor, Abington Memorial Hospital's Program for
Grieving Children, Teens and Families
As coordinator of the Employee Wellness Programs for Abington Memorial Hospital, I have had the pleasure of working with the Center for Parenting Education, which provided a series of parenting education workshops for our employees. We found the staff from the Center to be professional, responsible, reliable, dedicated, and very knowledgeable about the topics they presented.
The participants were impressed with the content and helpful tips presented; the Employee feedback indicated that they learned a lot of very valuable information that will help them to raise their children well. The employees commented that they felt better equipped to be a good parent with the understanding of the needs of their children and how to use that knowledge in a healthy way.
The Parenting Educators offered valuable tools in a caring, warm and accepting atmosphere. All attending felt comfortable and at ease and very excited to put into practice what they had learned.
We thank them for their time and expertise.
Marilyn Mitchell
Coordinator of Employee Wellness Programs
Abington Memorial Hospital
"I have known Audrey Krisbergh and her leadership team at The Center since 2006. They were hired by Intuit to help build a new web-based product designed to teach young children fundamental money skills and habits. Their particular focus on the project was to support parents with information about typical child development and healthy parenting skills and approaches.
The Center is highly qualified to design, develop and deliver an extensive in-person and online parenting education curriculum. In their work with Intuit, they demonstrated a wide-ranging depth and breadth of parenting knowledge and expertise as well as a great degree of flexibility in helping devise new ways to support parents online. As highly effective team players, the Center assisted us in our product development process by providing valuable insights into how parents think and what they need.
We received exceptionally positive feedback from parents who participated in the parenting aspect of the new product offering and the Center staff consistently produced a high quality and thoughtful product and demonstrated at every turn a high degree of professionalism.
I would highly recommend without reservation The Center for Parenting Education for developing both in-house and online programs to suit the complex needs of parenting in today’s society."
Denise LaBuda
Director
Quicken® Kids & Money
"Please extend my thanks and appreciation to your staff on behalf of the Office of School and Community Engagement of the North Penn School District, for presenting a wonderful program for our families and staff entitled “Promoting Responsibility: A Key to Success” as part of our free FACE time (Family and Community Engagement) workshops series.
Approximately 50 parents and staff were quite engaged in the program that was presented; it was organized very efficiently, with time for feedback and questions throughout the evening. The handouts were very clear, concise and relevant to the topic, with suggestions that parents and staff could readily use.
The audience was made to feel very comfortable, and examples offered by the presenters were very real and appropriate.
Thank you again for offering such quality programming for our families and our community. We look forward to working with you and your staff in the near future! "
Linda Abram-
Family and Community Engagement Specialist
Office of School and Community Engagement
North Penn School District - a Family Friendly District
“Over the years the Center for Parenting Education has been a vital partner with the Office of Children and Youth. They are one of the best resources of their kind for parents and families in Eastern Montgomery County."
Fred Blankenburg
Family to Family Conferencing Specialist
Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth
"This is the third year that Abington Friends School has held it's Parenting in the 21st Century Conference and the first year that we have
teamed with The Center for Parenting Education to facilitate two of the
workshops. Those workshops turned out to be the most popular of those that we
offered and were quickly filled to capacity. Those workshops also received high
praise from all of the participants. A few of the evaluation comments from
participants:
- "Creating an Attitude of Gratitude" was a wonderful workshop. They
presenters gave many practical examples that I am looking forward to trying
right away.
- The workshop presenters had great energy and chemistry that fed the
audience and led to a terrific participatory experience.
- The workshop leaders for the "Tools for Effective Discipline" workshop
provided extremely helpful information. I would have sat in the room all day to
listen and learn from their knowledge and experience.
- I am hoping to attend more workshops given by these presenters. They
were extremely knowledgeable and professional.
We loved teaming with your organization. The feedback on the two workshops given by
your presenters were across the board extremely positive. Thanks for agreeing to team with us."
Debbie Green
Director
Abington Friends School Early Childhood Program
"Thank you for an excellent program on Self-Esteem. It was informative, educational and entertaining. We appreciate The Parenting Center sharing their talent with our parents."
Roberta Fortune
Mary Mother of the Redeemer
Home and School Association
"Thank you so much for your great presentation. We appreciated your insight and advice. We all felt it was the best meeting we have had in a long time. We plan to continue discussing the topic at our monthly meetings– kind of like a continuing support group!"
Laura Shea
Mary Mother of Redeemer
Preschool Parents
