Deputy Academics Officer Dr. Gyimah Whitaker and Montreal Bell, director of Federal Programs, co-presented an update on the Bridge to Success plan, Fulton's three-year comprehensive plan and transformational investment to mitigate the disruption of COVID-19. Dr. Whitaker specifically discussed the dropout prevention program called In-School Academies, which came to fruition while staff were exploring how to design an intervention to address chronic absenteeism and prevent students from dropping out. Beginning in November 2019, staff examined the district's existing approaches to the challenges students faced and the practices which could increase the rate of graduation for students with complex needs who remain enrolled at their home school. The result was the creation of the In-School Academy innovation.
In-School Academies are intensive targeted programs which offer: 1) credit recovery, 2) full-course completion, 3) work-based learning, and/or 4) targeted interventions. This multi-pronged approach allows students to receive the offering best suited for their situation, learn at their own pace, and do so within schedules that can accommodate work or other needs. Early data shows this approach is successfully meeting the needs of our students. Among the many highlights Academics is monitoring, data shows unique environments can serve two profiles of students - the student who wants to accelerate on the path towards graduation, and the student who wants to regain the opportunity to graduate on time with his or her peers. While the focus on dropout prevention is at the heart of this administration, Dr. Whitaker believes In-School Academies will assist us in regaining that pre-COVID traction, decreasing the number of student dropouts, and increasing our graduation rates even more.
Ms. Bell's presentation focused on additional program updates, including priorities that were addressed with federal funding from the American Rescue Plan. A survey of community members, parents, and school and district-based staff posted on the FCS website in September indicated stakeholders' priorities are: 1) safe environments for face-to-face instruction, 2) recover from learning disruption, 3) establish transformative approaches to literacy instruction, 4) develop leaders through high quality professional development, 5) expand existing program options for students, staff and parents, and 6) ensure district operations. This feedback will be used to determine if changes need to be made moving forward.
Please visit fultonschools.org/bridgetosuccess to learn more about the Bridge to Success plan and stay abreast of program updates. Additionally, stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback regarding the Bridge to Success by emailing ARP_ESSER@fultonschools.org.
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