HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – The Harrisonburg City Public School Family Resource Center and Welcome Center has been helping families and students in the friendly city since the early 2000s, but constantly changed location .

The Welcome Center, formerly the Admissions Center, started in a trailer in the parking lot of the old Harrisonburg High School, moved to several other schools in the city, and has now secured a 10-year lease on S. Main Street.

The building is in the process of becoming a “one-stop shop”. The Welcome Center is on the first floor and soon the Family and Community Engagement Service will move from the central office to the second floor.

“The Welcome Center is a service that is provided to all of our families but very specifically designed for our families who need language support,” said Laura Feichtinger McGrath, Director of English and Title III Services at HCPS. . “They can get language support for the entire registration process for the whole family.”

Feichtinger McGrath said registering a child for school involves a lot of paperwork, which can be overwhelming for families who are not native English speakers. All kindergarten and kindergarten registration is done at the Welcome Center.

Once the family and community engagement department moves upstairs, Feichtinger McGrath said it will have Tigrinya, Swahili, Arabic, Kurdish, Ukrainian, Russian, Spanish and English speakers under one roof.

“[Our family liasons] to provide a bridge between our families and our schools, and our schools to our families to help families negotiate the school, but also to be able to support the whole family that supports our students,” said Feichtinger McGrath.

The Family Resource Center is not done growing yet. The building used to be the Sentara Sleep Center, so it has several small rooms with restrooms that worked perfectly to serve as a student health clinic.

“If a family arrives and doesn’t have their shots yet, they can get them and also get in touch with someone who can help them find a primary care doctor,” Feichtinger McGrath said.

The health clinic is in its infancy and is working to find community partners. The goal is to have it open in 2023.

Feichtinger McGrath said he would also add a clothes closet. She said the people who work at the Family Resource Center want it to be a space to meet the needs of all students and their families.

“If you need clothes, we have them. Do you need English lessons? We have that. Do you need computer lessons? We have that too,” Feichtinger McGrath said. “Our plan is complete.”

The HCPS Family Resource Center is located at 640 S. Main Street in Harrisonburg.

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