Aventura City of Excellence School will host a free parenting workshop Oct. 9 with Florida International University's Center for Children and Families and The Children's Trust Parent Club.

The session, called "Raising Confident, Competent Children," runs from 9 to 10 a.m. in the ACES Middle School Cafeteria at 3333 NE 188th St. Parents who attend the full workshop can earn two volunteer hours. Safe Schools training is not required.

RSVP is required.

The workshop covers six areas the program calls "core building blocks": showing respect, being considerate, communication and social skills, healthy self-esteem, problem-solving and becoming independent. The session focuses on strategies for helping children develop while reducing parenting stress, according to the ACES website.

The program behind the workshop has a countywide track record. The Children's Trust Parent Club at FIU was named Program of the Year at The Children's Trust Champions for Children Awards in April 2026, FIU News reported. Since launching in 2019, the program has reached nearly 30,000 families through more than 3,600 workshops across Miami-Dade County.

Dr. Katie Hart, director of the FIU Center for Children and Families and director of The Children's Trust Parent Club at FIU, said in April when the program received the award that the workshops aim to give parents practical tools. "Every workshop is a chance to give parents something they can actually use, tools grounded in science that work in real life, at home, the very next day," Hart said.

All Parent Club workshops are available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. In-person sessions include on-site child care, snacks and giveaways, according to FIU.

FIU's Parent Club also offers free online workshops in October, including "Toddlers and Tantrums" on Oct. 8, "Let's Talk Tech 2.0" on Oct. 15 and "Understanding ADHD" on Oct. 29. Those webinars are open countywide.

Parents can register for the Oct. 9 ACES session through the school's website.