El Ranchito de los Niños – Keeping Brothers & Sisters Together

We strive to create as “normal” of a home as possible at El Ranchito. This includes our children playing sports, being a part of a variety of extracurricular activities, creating family traditions, having birthday parties with all their friends and lots of sleepovers.

One weekend, some of the older boys had a friend, Jake, spend the night. When Jake’s mom picked him up, they were driving home and Jake was very quiet, appearing almost sad. Jake’s mom asked, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you have a good time?” Jake quickly responded, “I had a great time. But mom, it’s just so sad that they don’t have a mom or a dad”. His mom’s heart broke as they both sat in silence for a moment. Jake seemed to be deep in thought and then said, “But they do have each other and they love each other so much. Mom, you can see Jesus in those kids.” Tears welled up in his mom’s eyes, sad that the kids aren’t with their parents, proud of her son’s wisdom and happy that our kids have each other.

It breaks our heart to see kids in pain, the kids that don’t have their mom or dad and the kids that struggle every day not having a traditional childhood. But the love that each of our kids has for their brothers and sisters and the love that is spread in our home amongst our family is heartwarming. It doesn’t make up for all the things that our children have lost, but it’s a glimmer of hope that over time they will begin to heal from the pain of their past. Jesus is truly in their hearts and shines through them each day through the love they share. Because of you, our children have the gift of growing up with their siblings in a loving and stable home.

Education is one of El Ranchito’s utmost values and we hold it as one of our top three priorities, along with teaching our children about God and instilling self-worth. By giving our children the best education possible, we give them a foundation upon which to build their future. An education is a priceless gift that no one can take away.  

It is our responsibility to find the academic strengths and weaknesses of each child and develop a plan for them. We focus on giving them individual attention and support to achieve their goals. With this support, we hope to motivate the child to higher academic performance.  Providing one on one attention, tutoring and private-school education to our kids ensures that they are performing at grade level or above, experiencing success in a learning environment and gaining knowledge and experiences that they can take with them wherever life takes them. 

Education is not all about putting your nose in a book and getting good grades. It is really a way to discover new things, spark a new passion and increase our knowledge. Education introduces you to different cultures, religions and thought processes that you may never be exposed to otherwise. It helps build creative thinking skills, decision making skills, problem solving skills and social skills. Education also provides a stepping stone to the real world, offering many different courses on proper financial techniques, life planning and personal development. 

We at El Ranchito feel that education is the foundation in strengthening children and providing them with the opportunities to build a better future. But, the best education for each of these children does not come cheap and it doesn’t end when the bell rings at the end of the day. Providing these children with all that they need to succeed goes beyond just a private education- they need tutoring, school supplies and other resources, so we continue to need and ask for your support. 

The Difference an Investment in Education Can Make 

Many wonder why we send our kids to private school. Private schools provide small class sizes and better student-to-teacher ratio – which provides them with a sense of belonging, something many of them have never known.  The schools we choose have some of the lowest teacher to student ratios in our area, on average 11:1. 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics: 

• Graduation Rate: 92% private school vs. 89% public school  

• Apply to college: 88% private school vs. 57% public school   
• Attend a 4-year college 64 % private school vs. 40% public school 

But, we also know that it’s not just about what school they attend, but the support they receive at home. By allowing our children to live at El Ranchito past the age of 18 and helping them transition after high school, we overcome some of the worst statistics that plague the foster care system:  

• One in four will be incarcerated within the first two years after leaving the system. 
• Over 20% will become homeless at some time after age 18. 

• Approximately 58% attained a high school degree at age 19, compared to 87% of non-foster youth. 
• Of youth who aged out of foster care and are over the age of 25, less than 3% earned their college degrees, compared with 28% of the general population.