Skip to main content

Decatur City Schools Foundation Receives Boeing Grant to Impact Graduation Rates

Lisa Jones, DCSF; Daniel Beggs, Boeing; Jesslyn Reeves, DCSF; Don Snow, AHS

Boeing has awarded the Decatur City Schools Foundation a $55,000 grant to provide teacher professional development that will ultimately increase graduation rates and the college and career readiness of Decatur City Schools students.

Decatur City Schools (DCS) and its School Board have initiated a strategic plan that contains aggressive goals for increasing student achievement measured by data such as test scores and graduation rates. The Foundation supports this effort and is working with supporters such as Boeing to provide funding for programs that make a direct impact.

Connect: Finish Strong (CFS) is a dropout prevention program focused on enhancing teachers and administrators’ skills in data analysis, leadership, math, reading, and academic interventions; providing support of students identified to be at-risk of dropping out; and strengthening engagement of all DCS high school students.

In particular, the Boeing funds will be used to implement professional development for 225 high school teachers and administrators at Austin and Decatur high schools. The grant will fund training in data analysis, reading, and math.

The DCS system serves more than 8,600 students in Decatur, Alabama. The district is composed of 2 high schools, 3 middle schools, and 12 elementary schools. The current graduation rate is 86% and of the total enrollment, 67% qualify for reduced or free lunch and 57% are minority students (Source: Alabama Department of Education, https://www.alsde.edu/). Studies show that students in these demographic categories are at higher risk of dropping out of high school.

The importance and resulting impact of Connect: Finish Strong can best be demonstrated by looking at the numbers of lives to be improved. The program will immediately affect more than 2,200 students and 225 faculty members in the DCS high schools. More than 450 students will participate in the personalized intervention activities each year.

For more information on the Decatur City Schools Foundation and programs it supports, visit www.decaturcsf.org.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Funding from 3M Keeps the Wheels Turning for Career Tech STEM Initiatives

3M has awarded a grant to Decatur City Schools Foundation that will provide resources for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education f ocused on career-­ and college-­readiness for more than 500, 6th­– 12th-grade students. The Foundation is committed to working with Decatur City Schools to ensure that students graduate ready to enter the workforce or continue their education. In August, Decatur City Schools combined the Career Technical Education (CTE) efforts of Austin and Decatur High Schools at one center on a portion of the campus previously occupied by Austin High. The center is known as The Career Academies of Decatur. The center provides students the opportunity to explore the type of career or secondary education that they may want to pursue through the use of CTE pathways. STEM career pathways, such as Engineering and Machine Tool Technology, are popular with area students. Introducing students to a variety of career pathways beginning ...
13 comments
Read more

Representative Collins Provides Community Grant Education Funding for ACT Prep

This Fall, Decatur’s high schools started their second year using John Baylor Test Prep to help students get ready to take the ACT. For the past three years, every 11 th -grade student in the state of Alabama has taken the ACT as a way to measure the effectiveness of education among the state’s school districts. While the test for standards is changing this year, the ACT remains an important exam for many students in our district. Often a student’s ACT score determines whether or not the student is eligible to attend the university of their choice. After acceptance, their score will help the scholarship office decide whether or not to grant the student scholarship money to attend. With the high cost of attendance for both two- and four-year institutions, scholarship money can be the deciding factor in whether a student will seek post-secondary education. John Baylor Test Prep provides students with online access to test-prep sessions for the ACT, Pre-SAT, and SAT—all of whi...
4 comments
Read more

Foundation Working with High Schools to Create Alumni Directories

DECATUR, Alabama (November 30, 2015) – Decatur City Schools Foundation has launched an Alumni Directory Information Solicitation for Austin High and Decatur Schools. The Foundation is working with Harris Graduate Connection to create a directory for each school. Foundation Executive Director, Jesslyn Reeves said, “We are not starting an Alumni Association, we are simply wanting to communicate with and engage DCS alumni about our schools and the Foundation.” The directories will assist the schools in their communication with alumni. Harris Connection has worked with the Foundation and Decatur City Schools to gather graduate information and will compile up-to-date directories. These publications will only be made available to alumni, the Decatur City Schools, and the Foundation. Harris Graduate Connection does not charge the Foundation for their work. The mission of the Decatur City Schools Foundation is to enhance excellence in education for all students in Decatur City Schools....
Post a Comment
Read more