Students impacted: 383
Volunteers: 50
Duration of partnership: 2 years

As a top-performing Title I school, Puckett Elementary was perceived as having a sufficient level of community engagement and school achievement. However, results of the new accountability model for testing revealed that the lowest-performing students needed something more to be part of the school’s overall academic success. Groups emerged with a blend of parents, staff, students, and community leaders to build student achievement by focusing on four areas: Welcoming Environment, Volunteer Recruitment, Communication, and Parent Support with Student Work. 

Activities:

• Free summer program for incoming kindergarteners
• Take-home electronic devices for letter/sound and numeracy skills practice
• Book giveaways and reading tutors
• Parent trainings for future students
• Remind App to improve communications between school and parents
• Teacher Support Team meetings
• Monthly parent workshops in literacy, math, science

Impacts:

• Student reading levels improved at end of first semester.
• Lower-performing students in first and second grades improved grades and screeners.
• Anecdotal survey data indicated that parents were more confident in the work their children were doing, support for teachers increased, and parents became more engaged in school activities