Community college students with children have access to many resources that can help them on their educational journeys. This year, Cuesta College is hosting a student parent support group as an opportunity for parents to connect with each other and to encourage community bonds.

Elise Caloca is the student completion coordinator at Cuesta. Caloca teamed up with the faculty in Child Development and Family Studies this past summer to do some research on student parent needs. She quickly realized that student parents represent a demographic at the college that requires much more visibility and support. Caloca hopes that the support group can serve these students as a valuable asset in their education journey.

“Really, the core of this support group is for our student parents to know that they’re not alone at Cuesta,” Caloca said. “It can feel really isolating, and we hear that it’s a different experience for them to come on to campus, especially with little ones. What we really want to do is to build community and for our student parents to get connected to resources both on and off campus.”

In addition to meeting other student parents, Caloca and other facilitators will provide parents with information about various organizations that offer a wide array of support.

“I’m optimistic that student parents will find resources that they need, at least for themselves and their families,” she said. “If they find out that they can do something with their financial aid form that gets them more money, if it means finding child care, if it means finding more food resources, clothing, really basic needs, whatever it is—that’s really the outcome that I would love to see. Whatever it is a student parent needs, and whatever it is a child needs.”

Michele Gordon-Johnson is a full-time faculty member in the Early Childhood Education department. She was a parenting coach for 12 years and she also works closely with the Parent Connection of San Luis Obispo.

Gordon-Johnson explained that by tapping into resources, parents can get help with juggling the challenge of holding both the long-term vision for their family and the immediate needs of the child while working toward their educational and career goals. “I want to share what I know about community resources with our students because I’m not seeing that they’re making the connections,” Gordon-Johnson said. “Parenting is a priority, and it needs to come first.”

Cuesta College staff wants to encourage student parents to come forward and identify themselves as parents so that faculty members can work with them and help them with their particular needs. For instance, a recent bill that was signed into law in 2022 mandates California community colleges to offer priority registration to all student parents.

“They need priority registration because they have to line it up with their child care, or when grandma is able to watch the child or they need to take fully online classes,” Gordon-Johnson explained. “So there’s a real compelling reason why student parents should be one of the first groups in line. Now with that new mandate, we are tracking our student parents so that they can be offered that priority registration.”

Another important resource is The Pregnant Scholar, which provides information for students including laws about parental leave, student loans, financial aid, extracurriculars and athletics, working at school while pregnant or parenting and more.
Gordon-Johnson hopes that the student parent group can help students make those vital connections to this kind of important information. Additionally, she hopes that the group will foster a sense of compassion, belonging, connectedness and welcoming for Cuesta’s student parents.

The next group meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24 on Zoom from 6-7 p.m.

For more information regarding the student parent support group and other community resources for parents, contact Elise Caloca at [email protected] or Michele Gordon-Johnson at (805) 776-3302.

Another important event for parents is the First Generation College Celebration event Nov. 5 at Cuesta’s North County campus and Nov. 6 on the SLO campus. This year’s celebration will be focusing on and highlighting first generation student parents. For both dates, food will be served from 12-2 p.m, and there will be a campus adventure time from 4:30-7 p.m. during which there will be hands-on activities for the children and Cougie will be there. All ages are welcome, and children are encouraged to join in the fun.