As I mentioned during my prior Dear Community Letter, we were happy to announce that we successfully completed the GOT IT (Saturday School) program where we were able to provide a variety of educational programs to juniors and seniors. I also mentioned that we had remaining funds ($2,100) in the budget to spend on educational programs for the upcoming school year. To utilize the remaining funds, we’ve launched the “Building Literacy” program through The EdD Series. Details regarding the program are below:
The EdD Series Presents: Building Literacy As an education non-profit, The EdD Series works with emerging organizations, schools, as well as stakeholders to improve the quality of education for minority students in low socioeconomic neighborhoods and schools. The EdD Series would like to work with J.W. Faulk Elementary School to promote student literacy and character development through the purchase of a children’s book for all students in grades Pre-K and Kindergarten. In addition to the purchase of the book, The EdD Series would like to involve prominent leaders in the Northside community to read the book(s) to each class as he/she encourages students to read.
The Objective: to increase literacy skills as well as students love for reading in grades Pre-K and Kindergarten.
The Plan: The EdD Series will provide all students in Kindergarten and Pre-K with a book to promote literacy skills as well as character development.
The Book: The following books have been chosen due to their content and reading level. Availability will determine which book(s) are chosen for purchase:
All Are Welcome – Alexandra Penfold and Suzane Kaufman
I am Human: A Book of Empathy – Susan Verde
I Promise- Lebron James
The Cost: There will be no fee for the child nor the school. The book will be provided by The EdD Series to all students in grades Pre-K and Kindergarten
The Date and Time: We’re currently working out timelines, but will be determined soon by the principal at J.W. Faulk.
Thanks for your continued support, and we’ll continue to keep the community updated as things progress.
Through your generosity and support, we were able to complete GOT IT (Saturday School) successfully. GOT IT (Saturday School) was able to support numerous seniors and graduating juniors through multiple effective educational programs. First, GOT IT provided food and instruction to twenty-five seniors as they earned their required CPR credit for graduation. GOT IT then provided three Saturdays of instruction and food to students in grades 9-12 with emphasis on students in grades eleventh and twelfth. Due to the additional academic support, GOT IT provided to graduating juniors and seniors, Northside High School graduated 135 students on Friday, May 18, 2021. We hope to extend educational services as well as develop other educational programs in the 2021-2022 school year due to the success of the academic programs in the 2020-2021 school year.
During the 2020-2021 school year, $940.97 was spent on funding academic programs, which still gives us over $2,100.00 to spend on the educational programs for the 2021-2022 school year. Our goal is to continue providing students with academic support to ensure they have the skills necessary to: obtain basic or above on the end-of-course assessment, pass each core class with a 70% or better, and graduate from high school on time. GOT IT will work on planning for the upcoming school year once we have identified the academic needs of the students in grades 11th and 12th. Again, thank you for your support as we continue to develop a community that is educational resourceful, supportive, and strong for all.
The past ten months have been filled with uncertainty. COVID-19 has changed the lives we once led and has redefined our actions and routines. As we continue to navigate our new normal, one thing is for sure; The EdD Series team is still dedicated to increasing the graduation rate among students at Northside High School. You may recall during our last update, that we had cancelled our planned Saturday School program in March 2020 and rescheduled for September 2020. Unfortunately, these plans did not work out due further Covid-19 restrictions.
The EdD Series team is currently working to fulfill the GOT IT program’s mission as we work to find safe, educational options that will promote academic growth and excellence. We are currently working on the relaunch of GOT IT as we create alternate plans that will decrease class sizes for social distancing and provide virtual options for students, parents, and teachers. Our timelines are currently unknown, but we’re hopeful we can complete our project in 2021. We are dedicated to diversity and inclusion as we engage students using hands-on manipulatives.
Since we are a team driven by social, emotional, and academic growth for all students, we want to reassure our community that our planning has students in mind as we work to give students a voice and an educational platform where they feel safe to learn. We will continue to monitor COVID-19 data as we will use this data to make wise, informed decisions on how to proceed with GOT IT planning. We ask that we have your continued support and understanding as we make adjustments to a program that will make a positive impact on our community.
As a team member of The EdD Series and program leader of G.O.T. I.T., it has been my pleasure to plan and prepare for several juniors and seniors at Northside High School. Our goal is to ensure we increase the number of students who graduate from Northside High School. We will achieve this goal by providing students with additional support through individualized teaching. Before school closure due to COVID-19, we were ready to serve over thirty students by recruiting teachers, contacting parents via email, phone, and mail, and having one-on-one meetings with students who were invited to Saturday Enrichment. We also planned with our local financial partners to receive additional funds and volunteers.
Although we were prepared to begin on Saturday, March 14, 2020, the programs scheduled dates were canceled due to COVID-19. While we were disappointed with school closure and the life-altering effects the coronavirus has had on our community, we are excited about re-launching G.O.T. I.T. in September. Our plan for G.O.T. I.T. includes student and school data review, restructuring of classroom sizes, purchasing P.P.E. supplies, and redesigning food distribution. More than ever, we feel G.O.T. I.T. is needed to reassure our community that we are unified in providing the educational resources necessary for our students to be successful within the K-12 classroom. As we continue to plan for the re-launch of G.O.T. I.T. we will strive to ensure the teaching is diverse to promote equity and equality while fostering empathy and emotion. As team members, we will eliminate bias that is found in lesson planning as we focus on giving students a voice.
Again, we are excited about the progress G.O.T. I.T. has made, and we look forward to serving our community and students to improve the high school graduation rate.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the supporters of Graduate On Time with Individualized Teaching (GOT IT) Program. Your support of GOT IT has allowed this educational program to become a reality. Without the generous support of the community and the leadership and guidance of the 24 -Hour Citizen Project, this program would not have been possible. We are fortunate to live in a caring and compassionate community whose hearts are dedicated to advancing students academically. We are also fortunate that there is a deep understanding of and commitment to the work of closing the achievement gap in our community.
This program will help us more efficiently and effectively accomplish our mission to engage our community in improving the high school graduation rate for Lafayette Parish. Through the efforts of the faculty, staff, and volunteers from Northside High School and Carencro High School, we will be able to assist graduating seniors who have not passed their end -of -course exam(s). This service will improve the number of students who are graduating from high school within our esteemed district.
Again, we sincerely appreciate the donors and community supporters who help make it possible to change the state of education within our community.