1. Spanish Speaking
Education Network
Spanish Speaking Education Network
Working on behalf of the Spanish–speaking community.
416–999–6111
ssen.ca
Success
Integration
Education
Communtity
What Parents Are Saying
Communication Workshop:
These types of workshops empower us to deal with
everyday problems and keep our children safe.
I’m very interested in listening to topics that I’venever
heard of before. For me, it’s worth coming back.
Mental Health Workshop: “This is excellent information
which help parents understand the variety of personalities,
and that student from all ages can suffer from depression.
Thanks for given us the time to ask questions.”
Teaching our Toddlers at Home: “I loved this workshop; It
was very well presented and interactive. I learned how to
motivate creativity among my children. Now I have more
ideas to work with them at home.”
Made possible by the generous support of the
Ontario Ministry of Education
2. About Us
The Spanish Speaking Education Network (SSEN) is
a grass-roots organization, conceived in June 2005,
whose primary purpose is to work together towards
the academic success of our youth, and promote the
academic success and integration of Hispanics in the
both education system and Canadian society.
The Spanish speaking community has been identified
as one of the largest communities living under the
poverty line. Their yearly income range is between
$18,000 to $30,000 per year. This fact qualifies many
Hispanic students into the highest predicament in the
socioeconomic rank among all communities, and directly
impacts the educational performance of many Hispanic
students, preventing them to succeed in their schooling.
Recently, the situation has worsened. According to the
research presented to the Toronto District School Board
in 2006 by Robert Brown, the dropout rate increased
from 35% in 2004 to 40% in 2005.
For these reasons, the Spanish Speaking Education
Network (SSEN) began a campaign of awareness. The
first initiative of this campaign was the organization of
the Congress of Education in Spanish. Aimed towards
parents and students, the causes that drive Latino-
American students to desert the school system were
discussed. The Congress is now in its fourth year. SSEN
also implemented a pilot tutoring program for students
in grades 1 to 8. The program now tutors students from
grades 1 to 12, and has been renewed on an ongoing
basis.
Our Mission
The Spanish Speaking Education Network represents
the interests of the Hispanic community in the education
system, develops programs and policies to promote
better and greater integration of the Spanish-speaking
community in Canadian society.
Our Objectives
To facilitate and conduct seminars, workshops and
specialized programs for parents in order to ensure they
are confident and active participants in their children’s
education.
To insure that both parents and students are fully
informed about the education system and the programs
and services available to support them, by creating an
information bank, maintaining a bilingual website, and
publishing handbooks in Spanish.
To promote parent and community engagement for
the best utilization of all community-based programs,
oriented to alleviate the socio-economic challenges faced
by Spanish-speaking families.
To ensure a well-structured academic support for
students, through tutoring and mentorship programs.
To advocate for the equitable allocation of available
resources for educational programs, within the Spanish-
speaking community.
