Saint
Laurence Episcopal Middle School Feasibility Report
For
the
Cassin
Educational Initiative Foundation
And
The Nativity Network
11/30/2004
Table of Contents
Content Page Number
Mission
Statement 2
Phase
One 3
Phase
Two 4
Phase
Three 5
Results 8
Funding 8
Metro Atlanta 8
Paulding County 9
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta 10
Sponsorship by the Diocese of
Atlanta 12
Recruitment 13
Transportation 15
High School Placement 16
Conclusions 18
Paulding
County and Dallas, GA 19
Nativity
Model 21
Finances 22
Appendices
Incorporation Appendix
A List of
Advisors Appendix B
501 (c ) (3) Appendix
C
Business Plan Appendix D
Six Year Budget Appendix E
Strategic Plan Appendix F
Bishop’s Letters (3) Appendix
G
Local Newspaper Article Appendix
H
Planning for Paulding Appendix
I
Foundation List and Matrix Appendix J
Boiler Plate Appendix
K
Letter—Holy Innocents’ Episcopal
School Appendix L
“Common Year” Appendix M
Feasibility Budget Appendix
N
Monthly Feasibility Reports Appendix O
Demographic Reports Appendix
P
Policies Appendix
Q
Power Point Presentation (work in
progress) Appendix R
Saint
Laurence Education, Inc.
Feasibility
Report
Overview
“Remember God calls us to do things we never thought we could do ourselves. Maybe our next project should be to organize an Episcopal school for those in our community that cannot afford it. We have hundreds of children in the Acworth, Powder Springs and Dallas area that could never afford a private school, much less and Episcopal one. That is well within our ability because we are rich with resources. We have many teachers, administrators and managers who have the know-how and the expertise to develop such a program. What a statement that would send to our neighbors and what an example it would be to the church.”
These words delivered by Deacon Scott Kidd in a Sunday sermon at St. Teresa’s Episcopal Church in fall 2001 were the inspiration for St. Laurence Episcopal Middle School.
This project has evolved in three phases from that time to the present. Phase One spanned from conception to pre-tutoring. Phase Two was from the time the tutoring program began to the beginning of the formal feasibility study. Phase Three includes the five months of the formal feasibility study. In reality our feasibility study for St. Laurence Episcopal Middle School began after Rev. Kidd’s sermon in 2001.
Early on our focus was an Episcopal middle school for children from low-income families in Paulding County, GA. Community and diocesan leaders reinforced the need for this school from the introduction of the idea.
While researching this project we discovered the Nativity Network and found that model to overlap our vision almost exactly. Immediately the value of plugging into Nativity became apparent. Current thought has the school starting at a church in Hiram, GA in 2006 and moving to a permanent facility the following year. (See page 20 for the definition of the Nativity Model.)
Mission Statement
Saint Laurence Episcopal
Middle School’s mission statement is to provide a firm educational foundation for
low-income middle grade youth that will them to excel in high school and
continue with further education.
Ultimately this will free them from the poverty cycle and allow them to
give back to their community; thereby living out God’s plan for their lives.
Phase One
Deacon Kidd’s sermon
delivered on September 30, 2001 inspired middle grades’ teacher and St.
Teresa’s parishioner, Debbie Betsill, with the fire to pursue this dream. Alen Brown, a sales and marketing representative
in the educational field, joined forces with Debbie in late fall, 2001. At this time the idea for the formal project
was presented to The Rev. Michael Billingsley, rector of St. Teresa’s. He gave his enthusiastic support and steered
Alen and Debbie to The Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander, Bishop of the Diocese
of Atlanta. At a February 2002 meeting, he gave his blessing to the
project. Shortly after this meeting
Betty Larson, a middle school teacher in the Marietta City Schools, became the
third leg of the stool for the project with Debbie and Alen.
The balance of Phase One was spent researching the feasibility and execution of this project. This included
The Phase One time frame
was October 2001 through January 2003.
The methodology during this time began with proceeding through channels
in sharing the vision for the school with The Rev. Michael Billingsley and St.
Teresa’s Outreach Committee. Based on
Debbie’s twenty-seven years of teaching experience a tutoring program was
conceived as a springboard for the school and a tool for helping children from
low-income families with homework.
Continuing through channels the next stop was a visit with Bishop Alexander who recommended visits with local Episcopal schools and contact with NAES. This was to research the process of creating an Episcopal school. We also visited The Emmaus House Study Hall, an Episcopal after school tutoring program in a low-income neighborhood.
In the meantime Rev. Kidd suggested meetings with St. Teresa’s parishioners and with a legal expert, who suggested incorporation. Rev. Kidd also recommended formation of a board of directors. When asked to name the project, he offered the name St. Laurence since he is a patron of the poor.
The Outreach Committee played a central role in helping to establish the tutoring program. A member stepped up to lead the project. The Committee agreed to fund the required liability insurance. Additionally they provided guidance. St. Teresa’s had an Outreach program at East Paulding Middle School. Alen and Debbie therefore met with school system officials to determine how best to proceed with the tutoring program. Ultimately the meetings led to contact with The Department of Family’s and Children’s Services, which led to the Boys’ and Girls’ Club in Dallas. (See Appendix B for List of Advisors.)
Phase One also included researching basic demographics on Paulding County.
Phase One ended January 2003.
Phase Two began with a tutoring
program at the Paulding County Boys’ and Girls’ Club in February 2003. Tutoring constituted an outreach to Paulding
youth. Equally as important it allowed
evaluation of the community for the school.
Continued work toward the creation of the school included
·
Tutor and mentor
training
·
Acquisition of liability
insurance
·
Meeting with Dallas
Housing Authority
·
Joining Paulding
Collaborative for Children and Families
·
Initial meeting with The
Honorable Sandra Miller, Juvenile Judge for Paulding Judicial Circuit (Judge
Miller is currently on our advisory board.)
·
Initial fact-finding
meeting with families of potential students of proposed school. This took place in the Dallas Housing
Authority.
·
Assistance from Deacon
Carla Hungate to organize priorities and utilize her experience in non-profit
organizations and grant writing.
·
Contact and direction
from the National Association of Episcopal Schools, NAES.
·
Acquisition of first
grant for funding of tutoring program from Episcopal Charities.
·
Membership in the Paulding
County Chamber of Commerce.
·
Discovery of and contact
with the Nativity Network.
·
Adoption of corporate
logo.
·
Designation of
non-profit status, 501 (c ) (3) (See Appendix C)
·
Expansion of Board of
Directors and establishment of the Advisory Board.
·
Meeting to further
develop relationship with school system
·
Introductory contact
with Planning for Paulding initiative
·
Continued dialog with
Bishop Alexander
·
Fact-finding and Best
Practices research through trip to four Nativity schools in Boston.
·
Survey of parents with
children in tutoring program to ascertain interest in school. 100% of those responding to the question
indicated an interest in sending their child to the school.
·
Visit from Fr. Jack
Podsiadlo, S.J.
·
Tutor appreciation
picnic and visit of bishop to tutoring program.
·
Development of website
and initial marketing material.
The Phase Two time frame
was February 2003 through May 2004. First a firm legal and professional
foundation was laid for the tutoring project and future school. Corporate
identification and marketing tools were created. Then through the tutoring
program and continued dialog with community and diocesan leaders, St. Laurence
project coordinators began to communicate the vision of a school to a wider
audience.
The tutoring program
evolved as networking occurred within the community and diocese. God showered a wealth of knowledge and
advice on the team through these contacts.
St. Laurence joined several community and Episcopal organizations and
through them discovered the Nativity Network.
Additionally St. Laurence received a grant from Episcopal Charities and
donations from individuals for the tutoring program.
In a desire to obtain
mentorship from the Nativity model, St. Laurence coordinators, Debbie and Alen,
traveled to Boston to visit four schools.
Seeing the vision as a reality inspired greater faith and passion. The potential for more than one school in
the Atlanta area became evident. Fr.
Jack Podsiadlo’s early May visit reinforced our drive.
The end of Phase Two was
marked by a volunteer appreciation picnic at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club which
Bishop Alexander attended in May 2004.
Phase Two ended May 2004
Phase Three
The Blueprint
Although funding for the
formal feasibility started July 1, 2004, Alen and Debbie began this phase on
June 1st. With much of the
grassroots and foundational work from previous phases showing support in a
board sense, the coordinators focused more specifically on raising awareness in
Paulding County and The Diocese of Atlanta as well as issues raised after Fr.
Jack’s visit and concerns of the Nativity Network board.
This work includes
·
Meetings with local
leaders, politicians and professionals for funding, suggestions and growth of
our board.
·
Meetings with Paulding
County churches and civic organizations to discern potential support in the
areas of funding and focus groups.
·
Membership in
professional organizations that offer guidance in this phase.
·
Initial fact finding
session with Episcopal connection in African American college complex in
Atlanta. The purpose was to evaluate
the possibility of incorporating graduates of Clark College into an intern
program.
·
Technology and business
infrastructure foundation laid, such as, payroll, database and presentation
software.
·
Initial fact finding
trips to potential high schools for graduate enrollment, curriculum
requirements and affective issues surrounding placement of low-income students
in these schools.
·
Development of
partnerships between St. Laurence and organizations that enrich the lives of
future students and their families.
·
Development of more
sophisticated marketing literature and materials.
·
Initial forays to
churches and organizations in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta to raise
awareness and funds.
·
Visits to civic
organizations for awareness raising, funding and in-kind donations.
·
Board retreat for focus
on spiritual, business and bonding activities. This includes professionalizing
board policies and update of by-laws.
·
Deeper involvement in
organizations that promote community development, i.e., Planning for Paulding.
·
Attendance at
conferences for learning and awareness, such as, Nativity Network and Federal
Faith-based Initiative for Community Development.
·
Assistance to the
Episcopal diocese in their feasibility study on a church in Paulding County.
·
Evaluation of data to
determine feasibility of project and timing.
·
Attendance at grant
writing workshops.
·
Research into contact
with local corporations, such as Lockheed and Wellstar
·
Contact with each parish
in the Diocese of Atlanta through a letter from Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander,
Bishop of Atlanta.
·
Discussions with Holy
Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church on location of school for first year of
operation and Ruritan Club that operates adjacent fields.
·
Television and newspaper
articles resulting from presentation to County Commissioners.
·
Discussion of options
for transportation with providers.
·
Development of an
ecumenical faith group to assist Planning for Paulding initiative of which St.
Laurence is a member.
·
Meetings with prospective
high schools for placement of our future students.
·
Initial discussions with
Dallas Elementary for relationship building and future referrals.
·
Contract with grant
writer for list of foundation matches, boilerplate and grant proposal.
·
Completion of business,
strategic implementation and financial plans.
·
Formation of focus group
to determine needs of the community.
·
Obtained volunteer
services of treasurer and research analyst.
Methodology
Phase Three began June 1st
with the formal feasibility study and will end November 30th with
completed feasibility report.
The coordinators started
this phase by acquiring needed materials for marketing and baseline
infrastructure of St. Laurence Episcopal Middle School. This phase also included the hiring of a
fulltime Feasibility Coordinator through the grant from the Cassin
Foundation.
As we proceeded with the
presentations and with the advice of our board, it became evident that action
plans were needed on several fronts.
Professionals to help with development of these plans appeared in such
an amazing and timely manner that the coordinators felt the working of the
Spirit. These plans are now
complete. See Appendix D-F. A serious amount of time was devoted to
these plans and they laid the foundation for the school. Consequently coordinators, board members and
sponsor group leaders are much more prepared to deal with questions from
potential funders. However, the plans
point to the need for more time to aggressively seek funding.
Throughout this phase meetings
continued raising awareness, funds and providing coordinators with professional
mentoring and community input. Debbie and Alen delivered these presentations to
an array of organizations and individuals in Paulding County and the Episcopal
diocese.
Joining professional
organizations, attending conferences and entering into partnerships have
brought a wealth of knowledge and expanded potential that will allow St.
Laurence to live more into our total vision.
During this study a plan
for the Graduate Assistance Program began to unfold with visits to four
potential high schools, and an awakening of awareness that bringing two very
different cultures together presented unique challenges. Additionally
coordinators visited with the Episcopal chaplain of the African-American
college complex in Atlanta to discuss interns for the future school.
The bishop, now a member of
our advisory board, sent a letter of introduction to rectors of all
ninety-three churches in the diocese.
This launched efforts of coordinators into the diocese for raising
awareness and funds. As this
feasibility time draws to a close, the coordinators attended the annual
Diocesan Council as exhibitors. During
Council the bishop announced to those attending that the name of the planned
parish in Paulding County is St. Laurence after the mission created by St.
Laurence Education, Inc. The number of
people expressing awareness of our mission and vision at this gathering was
greatly encouraging. The idea of multiple schools in the Atlanta area is
exciting to many people.
Creating a focus group
centered in the African American community and continued efforts within
Paulding County have produced grassroots support within the community. Several funding opportunities have presented
themselves. Local media have embraced
this project. See Appendix H.
Planning for Paulding is a
grassroots organization formed recently to bring various segments of the
community together for problem solving in the county. See Appendix I. Coordinators
sit on the Quality of Life and Education Alliances. As a result of St.
Laurence’s engagement in the Quality of Life Alliance, an ecumenical base was
created to represent the faith community. In the Education Alliance
coordinators represent the private school sector keeping St. Laurence in the
discussion of the future education plan for Paulding. St. Laurence’s consistent presence at these alliances led to an
accepted invitation to sit on the steering committee for Planning for Paulding.
There is a great deal of potential that could result from these efforts, such
as, volunteers and funding.
A professional grant writer
contracted by St. Laurence compiled a comprehensive list of foundations that
match St. Laurence’s mission.
Additionally a boilerplate was created and with it an application for
funding completed. See Appendix J and
K.
Facility plans progressed
with a presentation to the Congregation Council at Holy Cross Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Hiram, GA. The use
of their facility for our first year is under consideration. This is another example of the Spirit
leading this St. Laurence project in an ecumenical way. Across the spectrum of faiths and community
organizations, the idea of St. Laurence Episcopal Middle School has received
enthusiastic support.
Phase Three will end
November 30th with completion of the formal feasibility study report
to The Nativity Network and the Cassin Foundation. With this work accomplished Phase Four would encompass the
start-up period and Phase Five the opening of the school.
Results
While there are many
results to discuss, the first focus centers on the concerns of the Nativity
Board, namely Funding, Recruitment, Transportation, and High School Placement.
Funding
Metro Atlanta
“The Committee understands
that Dallas is about 35 miles from the center of Atlanta. Is it seen as part of the Atlanta metroplex
to attract foundations and corporations based in Atlanta? Or do these foundations and corporations
limit themselves to the city limits of Atlanta itself?”
Unlike most northeastern
cities, the growth pattern of Atlanta sprawls across an expansive geographic
area. Metro Atlanta encompasses at least fifteen bustling counties including
Paulding. Coordinators are confident
and individuals have assured them that Atlanta-based foundations and
corporations will fund efforts in Paulding County and in counties with future
Nativity schools at this distance.
There are several large corporations who distribute grants, but
who require an employee to champion the cause.
We have identified several of these, and found a champion for each of
them, including: General Electric Energy, Waffle House, Lockheed, Wellstar, The
Weather Channel, and the Atlanta Braves.
Atlanta also has a plethora of sports franchises that have
potential. A concern for the Paulding
community, as explained in the Planning for Paulding Initiative, is that
seventy-five percent of their residents leave the county every day to jobs
outside of the county. This works to
our advantage and allows us to reach these organizations outside the county
through these employees.
Individuals in the greater
Atlanta area will form sponsor groups.
A sponsor group has a goal of $12,000 annually. This covers the cost of a single child’s
education for a year, minus salaries.
Utilization of sponsor groups will encompass all facets of the
development plan.
Another avenue into the
metro Atlanta funding is via our recent partnership with Cobb Microenterprises,
and their director, Patricia Harris.
Ms. Harris is prominent in the Atlanta African-American community. She is very experienced and successful with
fund raising and had agreed to become a member of our Advisory Board. She also has an impressive national presence
and is a strong advocate for helping the entire family break the cycle of
poverty. Saint Laurence is an inroad
into Paulding County for Cobb Microenterprises, and she envisions a potentially
strong partnership between our two organizations. Through the development of further partnerships, she has shown
that there are many other possibilities for funding which focus on a holistic
approach for Community Development.
Grant writer, Allene
Edwards who was recommended by and works with Cobb Microenterprises, supplied a
matrix with information on one hundred twenty foundations with whom St.
Laurence matches in mission and vision.
The majority of these foundations are in Atlanta, and all but a few are
in the Southeast. Several people have
pointed coordinators to the Community Foundation. Through Allene, Patricia, and Planning for Paulding, Debbie and
Alen have learned that utilizing this avenue it is possible to access
organizations that are not normally approachable directly, such as the Annie E.
Casey Foundation.
Beyond actual dollar
funding, substantial in-kind donations and professional expertise were offered
to St. Laurence. Two examples include
assistance received from executives from General Electric in creating a
Strategic Implementation Plan and professors from Kennesaw State University in
creating solid Business and Marketing Plans.
An unforeseen benefit is that these individuals have caught the fire of
Saint Laurence to the extent that the General Electric group has asked to help
execute a fund raising plan and network a golf event.
Paulding County
“Are there funding sources
in Paulding County itself that can be attracted to support the school?”
Feasibility coordinators
have identified several strong, local corporate givers. It is through the Paulding component of
metro-wide companies, for example, Waffle House, Sam’s Club and Wellstar, that
St. Laurence will gain access to those funding potentials. Some contacts in metro Atlanta include those
at the corporate level of the Paulding subsidiaries and/or franchises.
Research has shown that
Paulding County is an area of substantial individual wealth. Skip Teaster, the CEO of the Paulding
Chamber of Commerce and a member of the St. Laurence Advisory Board, helped in
identifying potential funding sources in the county. To paraphrase a statement he made at a meeting with
coordinators: There are a lot of folks
with wealth in our County; they just have yet to realize that their
philanthropy is an important aspect to our community development.
Individuals will also form
sponsor groups. Planned sponsor groups
include the faith, business and civic communities. For example, St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church has contributed
the first donation to the Paulding Faith Sponsor Group. Potential for business and civic sponsor
groups lay in organizations such as the Paulding Bar Association and the Dallas
and Paulding Rotary Clubs.
Planning for Paulding, the
Paulding Collaborative and the Chamber of Commerce will allow St. Laurence to
access foundation and government funding. Trends in funding show that much of
the money available through the government now focuses on Community
Development. For example, a small grant
was awarded to our tutoring program last year from the Collaborative. The
partnerships developing to help St. Laurence’s target population, both children
and their families, will lead to community development funding for St. Laurence
and the community as a whole.
To date St. Laurence has
received in-kind donations for the tutoring program such as professional
services for its summer program at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Partnership with this club has opened many
doors to community involvement and in kind donations from other sources. Another example is that the Ruritan Civic Club
has given St. Laurence permission to access their fields without charge. These
fields are adjacent to the proposed first year facility. There are many
partners within the Paulding Collaborative and faith community that will
provide services for both the tutoring program and the future school. The St. Laurence team will aggressively
pursue all in-kind potentials, for example, food, printing and office
supplies.
The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
“If, as the Bishop of
Atlanta, Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander, states in his letter of sponsorship,
the school will be incorporated as an Episcopal School in the Diocese of
Atlanta, how does this play out with respect to financial support from the
Diocese and from individual congregations?”
The answer to this question
plays out in a variety of ways. Contacts with many metro Atlanta corporations
are through individuals in the diocese known to board members and staff. Feasibility study coordinators are building
a network of corporate contacts that range from individual employees to
influential past and present executives. Of these, there are many Episcopalians
connected with prominent Atlanta companies.
Through diocesan churches
individuals have already contributed to St. Laurence. Coordinators also envision sponsor groups forming in a variety of
manners. St. Teresa’s will form a sponsor group within its congregation. Convocations and subsets thereof will
provide another potential for sponsor groups.
An example of the last is that the two Episcopal churches in Rome, GA,
which are two of the seven in the Northwest Georgia Convocation, may form a
sponsor group. Rome offers The
Darlington Schools and Berry College, a perfect tract for St. Laurence
graduates. In that the president and
administrators of Berry College are leaders of one of these churches,
possibilities for support range from funding to help with fulfilling the
graduate support program’s goal. These are just a few examples of methods of
forming sponsor groups.
Similar to efforts with
corporate metro Atlanta, groundwork for making successful in-roads into
foundations through the diocese is based on networking. This has already begun. Upon request Debbie and Alen have furnished
The Rev. Geoffrey Hoare, rector at one of the major downtown Atlanta churches,
with the list of potential foundations composed by the contracted grant
writer. He has promised to network
parishioners who are connected to Atlanta-based foundations with St. Laurence.
For example, his parishioners include contacts with The Woodruff, Fuqua and
Quartez Foundations.
Internal foundations also
exist within the Episcopal Church and diocese. Applications for grants are
ongoing. St. Laurence has already
received two grants from Episcopal Charities for the tutoring program. Coordinators will apply for a United Thank
Offering grant, and St. Laurence is currently under consideration as an
outreach of the 2006 Diocese of Atlanta Centennial Celebration.
Members of St. Teresa’s
have embraced St. Laurence with in-kind donations by offering an array of
professional services. This has
manifested itself in services that range from help in development of business
and strategic plans to volunteers for the tutoring program to legal
advice. The outpouring of support is so
powerful that coordinators feel the presence of the Spirit at work.
As early as May 2004 Bishop
Alexander proposed efforts between St. Laurence and a future parish in Paulding
County, suggesting the possibility of a joint purchase of property. Recently Debbie and Alen learned that the
proposed new parish will take the name St. Laurence, after the mission of St.
Laurence Education. (See Sponsorship of
the Diocese of Atlanta for more details.)
Ultimately, coordinators
have discovered that the ideas for supporting St. Laurence are as numerous and
varied as the number of churches in the diocese. As Alen and Debbie approach each church in the diocese, beginning
with the rector of each parish, they will utilize the most effective technique
that is counseled. For example, at
Christ Church Kennesaw, GA, the rector will institute a heifer project. This is a fundraising technique for very
specific project. The heifer project
for St. Laurence will span Lent, 2005.
Whereas, at St. Matthew’s in Snellville, GA a second collection was
taken. The rector at St. Catherine’s in Marietta is approaching funding for St.
Laurence through Outreach. Other
parishes will utilize sponsor groups.
What coordinators have
discovered is that because Paulding County is the eleventh fastest
growing county in the country and the third fastest growing in the state even
though it is not within the beltway, funders seem very interested in community
development in this booming part of the metroplex. Additionally, coordinators
have proposed a network of schools, generating interest in St. Laurence in
other parts of the greater Atlanta area and throughout the diocese. This idea has captured the imagination and
vision of many.
Indeed because Paulding is
just beginning to develop, county leaders are still open to new ideas and have
embraced St. Laurence as part of educational solution in the county. This has allowed us entry into several
foundation community groups and has allowed a platform for the vision of St.
Laurence.
Sponsorship by the Diocese of Atlanta
Faced with a rapidly
growing population in the Diocese of Atlanta, a primary goal of the diocese is
Congregational Growth. In fact a
special fund, The Alleluia Fund, was just approved at Diocesan Council in
November to support this policy. Bishop
Alexander has a strong conviction that growth is mission led.
With no church currently in
Paulding County, this area was already ripe for an Episcopal parish. The mission of St. Laurence Education
catapulted Paulding to the top of the list of locations for growth. As a result a feasibility study is currently
underway for this future congregation.
Because of foundational work already achieved by St. Laurence, the Rev.
Michael Owens who is conducting the feasibility study for the church is working
closely with the St. Laurence Board.
St. Laurence Education represents the mission piece of diocesan growth
in Paulding County.
During a recent visit with
Bishop Alexander, he reiterated several areas of support. (See Appendix G for Bishop Alexander’s
letter.) The primary areas are bulleted below:
·
First and foremost
Bishop Alexander reconfirmed that this project will carry the name St. Laurence
Episcopal Middle School.
·
Current plans for the
new church include employing a fulltime cleric for St. Laurence Church at the
beginning of 2006. The bishop stated
that this individual as part of his/her role will also assist St. Laurence
Episcopal Middle School. Coordinators
envision that person as conducting weekly services and teaching religion
classes. This is similar to the manner
in which clergy is utilized at other Nativity schools.
·
In conjunction with the
effort of building a new parish, the buying of property will take place. This will transpire in the 2006-2007
timeframe. Bishop Alexander reiterated
the desire of the mission and the church to share property. Indeed the school, which will come first,
will very likely serve as the sanctuary on Sundays. This again is similar to support Catholic Nativity schools
receive from their dioceses.
·
The National Association
of Episcopal Schools, NAES, the bishop and other contacts in the diocese will mentor
St. Laurence in building a board for this next phase of development.
·
The NAES is a primary
source for helping with the development of the religious curricula for the
school.
·
The bishop continues to
raise awareness and show support for St. Laurence throughout the diocese. This support was exemplified by a letter
from his office introducing St. Laurence to all ninety-three parish rectors in
the diocese. This has served as an
entry point to request funding from each parish. (See Appendix G for this letter.)
·
More details of diocesan
support are found above in the Funding section.
Recruitment
“The populations of both
Dallas and Paulding County are small in Comparison to the locations of other
schools in the Nativity Network. In
2000, only 46.5% of the pupils in the Dallas Elementary School qualified for
Free/Reduced-price Lunches.”
While we realize that the
numbers for those on the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program are not as dramatic
in Paulding as in inner city areas, as stated above the county is one of the
fastest growing in the country. As
indicated in a subsequent section on Paulding County and Dallas, along with the
growth in population, a growth in poverty is also evident. There are currently 1969 students in
Paulding County on the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program. 327 are at Dallas Elementary. Officials at the Housing Authority in Dallas
report a lengthening of the wait list for public housing each year.
No one in the vast
cross-section of the Paulding community has expressed a doubt that St. Laurence
will lack for students. The spectrum of people interviewed has included those
involved in social services, African-American and other churches, local school
officials, educators, parents of potential students, a wide range of
professionals, politicians, government and community leaders. More than
coordinators can count, the quote, “This is so needed here,” has resounded
throughout the community.
As early spring 2003 the
board of directors of St. Laurence held a community meeting in the Dallas
Housing Authority. At that time the
idea for the school was presented.
Among the group, which included about twenty parents/guardians, all in
attendance indicated genuine interest.
Initial efforts to
determine location and size of our target population began with the onset of
tutoring in February 2003. This was
always one of the aims of the tutoring program. Leaders at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club have perceived the tutoring
program as a feeder for St. Laurence Episcopal Middle School and have embraced
the school enthusiastically. A spring
2004 survey of parents with students in tutoring indicated overwhelming
enthusiasm for a Nativity-type school.
Because of St. Laurence,
St. Teresa’s has initiated an Outreach ministry to Dallas Elementary. Coordinators have used this entrée to build
a relationship with administrators and teachers. This school will provide the majority of students for St.
Laurence. Our efforts were warmly
received with assurance of assistance.
The St. Laurence team is hopeful that this will lead to student
referrals. Paulding County
Superintendent Trudy Sower, with whom coordinators have built a relationship
from the pre-tutoring period, has stated, “If the children you are serving are
better off with you, that’s where I want them.”
Referrals will come not
only from school personnel but also from a plethora of community sources, such
as, Collaborative partners, focus groups, and government departments and
officials.
Alen and Debbie are
currently meeting with a focus group in Paulding centered in the African
American community. The people in this
group are advisors on the needs of the target population and are included in
our list of advisors. The three largest
African American churches in the Dallas area plus the Catholic parish are
represented and approximately fifteen people are members of this focus group.
Impressed by Heroic Leadership coordinators have embraced the idea of
flexibility through God’s guidance. The
St. Laurence admissions policy has stated that all students are eligible for
the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program, and no students with a successful
Individual Education Plan, IEP, are eligible.
However, the reality is that the criteria need to allow for flexibility. Research done on the practices of other Nativity
schools show that not all students are on Free/Reduced Lunch.
Regarding students with
IEPs, overwhelming input has shown that a vast number of these children have
normal intelligence and are from low-income families. Therefore in this area there are many children inappropriately
placed in Special Education classes.
From the focus group to the social worker to the superintendent, it has
been made clear that we need to consider these children for admission on an
individual basis. Our policy states
that we will not take children who are successfully served by an IEP and
it is very likely that children incorrectly placed in Special Ed are not in
that category; we will therefore consider these children for admission. The result is that we have a wider window of
admissions, resulting in more potential students from the county.
Another concern expressed
by the Nativity board is that “only 26% of Dallas Elementary 4th
graders did not meet the expectations on the CRCT examination.” Sadly, when national tests are taken into
account, the state of Georgia is dead last in results. The CRCT is an example of an internal state
test. This instrument does not measure
the achievement of Georgians against students in the rest of the county and
therefore does not represent the whole picture.
Below are the results of
the Stanford 9 Assessment Test, SAT9, which is a national test. The test is administered in the 3rd
and 5th grades. In most
schools in the Total Battery, students scored below average in both grades. In almost half of the schools, test scores
actually declined from 3rd to 5th grade.
The following chart shows
SAT9 Total Battery Scores in percentiles.
50% is the average score for children in these grades across the
country. However, students certainly
would need to score in the 4th Quartile, 75% or higher, to expect
entrance to and achievement in college.
Stanford 9 Norm Referenced Assessment Tests for
Paulding County Elementary Schools—
Total Battery Scores—2000-2001
|
Elementary School |
3rd Grade--Percentages |
5th
Grade--Percentages |
|
Abney |
61 |
48 |
|
Allgood |
48 |
44 |
|
Dallas |
38 |
50 |
|
Hiram |
46 |
53 |
|
McGarity |
44 |
52 |
|
Nebo |
44 |
47 |
|
New Georgia |
42 |
43 |
|
Northside |
52 |
48 |
|
Panter |
50 |
46 |
|
Ritch |
51 |
57 |
|
Roberts |
45 |
48 |
|
Shelton |
62 |
57 |
|
Union |
40 |
47 |
Although the school district
is working diligently to improve the quality of education locally, at the
present time the percentage of students in Paulding schools who did not meet
standards is consistently below even the state average, in a state that ranks
at the bottom. This is across all
subject areas and indicates a larger target population available for St.
Laurence Middle School.
With the realities as
stated above, an aggressive Public Relations and a Recruitment campaign to
raise awareness that St. Laurence will institute, coordinators are confident
that there are more than enough potential students to draw from.
Transportation
“Although those students
living in the Dallas Housing Authority complex will be within walking distance
from the school, how will other underserved, low income students from Paulding
County or even beyond have access to the school?”
Coordinators envision
transportation as a real issue, but not one that will make or break the St.
Laurence concept. There are several
solutions that have presented themselves.
Debbie and Alen are looking at those and are confident that there is an
answer.
Unlike most densely
populated urban areas where many Nativity schools are located, Paulding is not
urban nor is it integrated into the transportation system of metro Atlanta. Seventy-five percent of residents commute
outside the county to work. Therefore
most people own cars. The issue
coordinators discovered from the focus group is that because of the long
commute, people leave Paulding before regular school hours. Therefore, one answer to the transportation
issue is to set school hours based on the input from the focus group.
Like other Nativity
schools, St. Laurence will require parental involvement. Focus group participants agreed that
carpooling is an answer to potential transportation issues and the commitment
to drive a carpool would satisfy this requirement. Carpooling is used extensively in the Southeast because urban
transportation systems are not as well developed as in Northeastern cities.
CHI’s Vision Community
Resource, Inc. is a partner from the Paulding Collaborative whose service
provides transportation for youths and families. Ms. Pam Regulus, the owner, already transports students to the
Boys’ and Girls’ Club for the St. Laurence Tutoring Program. At an August meeting, Pam agreed to
transport children for St. Laurence Episcopal Middle School. She charges by distance and by hour; the
cost is $1.90 per mile plus $10. per hour.
These are very reasonable fees and this method is very cost effective.
Another Collaborative
partner is Wheels to Work. This is “an
interest-free, minimal payment car loan program designed to provide
transportation for low-income working families.” A brochure on this organization is enclosed. Paulding is included in counties served
although the brochure does not list it as one.
This program does require a sponsor to back the individual requesting
the loan and St. Laurence could fill this role. This is in keeping with our vision of taking a holistic approach
in serving our students and their families.
One more option that
coordinators are exploring is Paulding Transit, which consists of a fleet of
vans for community transportation. It
is funded by state and local government grants.
Once again, although at
this time there is no definitive answer to transportation problem, Alen and
Debbie are confident that an affordable, workable solution is certain. This issue will not stop the momentum of St.
Laurence.
High School
Placement
“An essential (part) of the
Nativity Network is the Graduate Support Program . . . . The Committee is concerned about what
happens to students after St. Laurence Education. What opportunities are there for quality independent, religiously
affiliated, charter, magnet and specialty public schools? What kind of transportation will needed to
make these school accessible to the St. Laurence graduates.”
There are a plethora of
high school options for our graduates.
Coordinators visited a sampling of these schools during the feasibility
study. They researched admission and academic requirements for our graduates
plus curricula that will produce readiness for success at the next level.
Westminster is a
prestigious, well-established school in north Atlanta. Its president, The Rev. William Clarkson IV,
is an Episcopal priest. He welcomed the
idea of our graduates attending the school.
Westminster is a very wealthy school with a substantial financial aid
program. In addition to regular school,
our middle graders and graduates can apply for their summer programs.
Andrea Montag, Development
Director at Westminster, strongly encouraged coordinators to research the
Community Foundations. This
recommendation has come from other sources also. Based on the number of referrals to this funding organization,
Alen and Debbie are currently pursuing this avenue because it has gigantic
potential. One such referral stated
that through the Community Foundation, St. Laurence could tap into the Annie E.
Casey Foundation, unapproachable directly by schools with religious
affiliations.