October News
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
The Latinx community makes up a substantial part of our community and a considerable percentage of CISA caseload students. Latinx students experience significant educational equity barriers. Both charts below from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s report Changing the Odds: Progress and Promise in Atlanta highlight the Atlanta Public School average proficiency score for a critical reading milestone for 3rd grade students and a critical math milestone for 8th grade students in comparison to different racial/ethnic groups (2019). These academic milestones are directly linked to graduation rates and future socioeconomic mobility.
At CISA we want to see our Latinx students thrive but understand that they face significant cultural and socio-economic barriers to success. Through our LatinXcellence Program, we offer bilingual, culturally responsive, and culturally sustaining educational programming. We advocate and collaborate with educators on lessons and curriculum that affirm, empower, and support bilingual, multiracial, and multicultural Latinx students. We give parents tools to help their children succeed and provide cultural awareness and competency training to schools and school-affiliated organizations. We also advocate for language justice for students and their families by creating literature and resources for Spanish speaking families, providing instruction and tools for schools to communicate with non-English speaking caregivers, and develop programming that promotes English-language development for families. Along with those supports, we offer immigration services in our social service provision, migrant success coaching, and college access coaching.
National Attendance Awareness Month
Throughout the month of September, Communities In Schools of Atlanta is highlighting National Attendance Awareness Month to draw attention to chronic absenteeism in schools, a debilitating problem that has persisted in schools beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting our students and our community.
Chronic absenteeism hits hardest among students of color, those living with disabilities, and those living in underserved communities. Among African American students, 46.4% were chronically absent from school last year. For Latinx students, 29.6% were chronically absent and 47% of students with disabilities and students on free/reduced lunch were chronically absent from school (Zickgraf, 2023). The reasons are numerous, from lack of access to transportation to a decline in youth mental health to childcare needs for siblings. Millions of kids are missing critical lessons in schools, impacting their future educational outcomes. Communities In Schools of Atlanta Site Coordinators stress the importance of attendance to their caseload students and stick with them day after day to make sure they have the support and resources they need to get to school, stay in school and graduate.
They also celebrate and monitor student attendance through these special initiatives:
NBA Events (Never Been Absent): Each month, Site Coordinators host NBA events, where students who have not missed a single day of school during the month receive an award.
NFL Events (Never Found Late): In addition to perfect attendance, Site Coordinators also recognize students through NFL events. These events reward students who may be consistently present but struggle with tardiness.
Home Visits: For students who have missed three or more consecutive days of school, Site Coordinators conduct home visits to engage with families and address any barriers to attendance.
Individualized Attendance Plans: For students with chronic absenteeism, such as those who attend school only once a week, Site Coordinators develop personalized step plans to encourage a more realistic and consistent attendance pattern.
Attendance Tracking: Attendance is carefully monitored through the ADAM report, which is pulled from Infinite Campus—a district database that houses student grades, attendance, behavior, and other important metrics.
CISA knows that with a Site Coordinator present in schools, students do not get left behind but are given the opportunity to receive life-changing support.
CIS of Atlanta Speaks out on School Gun Violence
School gun violence is on the rise and Communities In Schools of Atlanta has partnered with national school gun violence prevention nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise on a unique pilot program that puts students at the center of the solution to ending school shootings. Rose Scott sat down with CEO Frank Brown, Sandy Hook Promise Chief of Programs Crystal Garrant and Atlanta Public School 11th grader Jhakia to talk more about this program, finding tangible solutions to ending systemic violence in our schools, while centering the next generation’ s voice.
Mayor Andre Dickens Announces Historic Investments in Education
Communities In Schools of Atlanta CEO Frank Brown accepted a generous award offer from the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office for $1.5 million dollars over the next three years to continue our work as the nation’s leading dropout prevention program. With this award amount we will be able to expand our reach to 6 more schools within the Metro area.
Celebrating Site Coordinator Shaunya Reeves
Shaunya Reeves is a Site Coordinator at Hollis Innovation Academy working with students from 3rd to 8th grade. Shaunya says she is driven by a deep belief in the potential of every child.
Shaunya recalls one 8th grade student, Enricoe, who truly touched her heart. With only two months remaining in the school year, Enricoe was failing almost all his classes, but Shaunya knew he could turn his grades around. Her daily support and steadfast belief in him motivated him to succeed. Enricoe would come to her, proudly showing every good grade as his outlook began to change. He went on to graduate with A’s and B’s.
Shaunya is just one of 80 committed, caring CIS of Atlanta Site Coordinators who help at risk students reach their potential. Their impact on the students they support is profound and immeasurable.
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