Removing Barriers to Learning

When people learn about the demographics of our school, they tend to draw conclusions. When they hear 98% of our students come from poverty and 80% of our students are English Language Learners, they shake their head and say "I'm so sorry." It's apparent to me the public holds no expectations for our students. They believe poverty is their life of destiny. I quickly continue to talk about our students and how awesome they are. We talk about their academic successes, rigorous and relevant lessons being taught, and how our teachers and students are using technology as a tool for learning. People are always taken back by the positivity our faculty and staff have for our students. Nine times out of ten, people want to know what we do to have the culture of excellence that exists at Jones Elementary. One of the things we do is think outside the box in how we need to remove the barriers to student learning. We know that for our children to succeed, we have to serve the whole child, not just the academic child. Here is Jones Elementary's list of ways we remove barriers to student learning:

1. School Based Health and Wellness Center - students can receive free medical and mental health services. These include vaccinations, acute care, chronic care, well child checks, acute mental care, individual therapy, family therapy,crisis management, and long term mental health services.
2. Parent University of Jones - we want to help parents become better resourced to support their families. Through various partnerships in the community, we offer a variety of classes for parents to attend throughout the school year. These include, but are not limited to: setting up a neighborhood watch program, basic banking skills, internet safety, gang education, health and nutrition, pathways to high school graduation, post secondary education, how to support your child at home with reading and math skills, dealing with life's hurts/habits/hangups.
3. Springdale Family Literacy Program - non-English speaking parents attend classes 4 days per week. They learn English in context of what their child is learning in the classroom. They spend 30 minutes per day in their child's room practicing the language they've learned in their class. They also have Parent Time twice a week which allows them to learn about topics they are interested in.
4. Breakfast in the Classroom - 100% of the students in our school eat a breakfast in their classroom free of charge. We have increased breakfast participation from 50% to 98% the last three years.
5. Systematic English Language Development - we know students need to have fluent, proficient control of the English Language in order to be productive citizens. 100% of our students receive ELD 30-45 minutes daily.
6. Home Library Program - books are not a priority when parents struggle to provide the basic needs for their families. Through some creative efforts and grant writing, our school will take our current home library project to scale. 100% of our students will receive 20-30 books to keep at home. Students choose books based on interest and levels.
7. Community Partnerships - it takes a village to serve the demanding needs of our students. Through multiple partnerships (business, non-profit organizations, civic, religious) we have a wealth of resources for our students. The most valued resource through these partnerships is human....our partners in education spend a lot of time in our school mentoring students, reading with students, and supporting the classroom teacher.
8. Quality after school program - Many of our students face empty houses when school is finished for the day. Through partnerships with the Walton Family Foundation and Camp War Eagle, 100 of our students attend a high quality after school program. The students engage in character building activities, service learning projects, and receive homework help. Before going home, each child is served a meal.
9. Food/clothing - we work with area agencies to provide weekend food bags to go home with the most needy students. Our school district also keeps a clothing closet we can access at any time for students that need clothing and shoes. A non-profit organization called Community Kids Closet holds two clothing drives a year for our most needy students. We keep a resource book handy to help families access rent, utility, legal aid, homeless shelters, and domestic abuse assistance.