From early childhood education through post-secondary achievement, Chatham County’s innovative and inclusive educational systems are a model of academic excellence that enable students to have the knowledge, skills and ability to succeed at their chosen pathways.
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Goals and Strategies
Goal 1:Ensure equitable access of critical life skills including financial, social, and conflict resolution skills are available to parents/legal guardians and taught to all students through the use of technology, community partnerships, and counseling.
Strategies
Strategy 1: Integrate financial literacy into curriculum throughout all aspects of learning to include schools, clubs, and youth serving organizations.
Strategy 2: Facilitate comprehensive child development from birth through age five.
Strategy 3:Expand Georgia’s BEST curriculum (incorporation of soft skills, communication, and leadership skills) in all middle and high schools and consider expansion into post-secondary education courses.
Strategy 4: Implement school safety curriculum (including conflict resolution, peer mediation, bullying, social media, and cyber safety) across the school district.
Strategy 5: Reduce discipline referrals resulting in out-of-school suspensions and address the racial disparity in out-of-school suspensions.
Strategy 6: Expand conflict resolution and peer mediation in all schools for students and teachers.
Strategy 7: Provide equitable access to continuous education.
Strategy 8: Offer budgeting and financial management courses to adults.
Goal 2: Implement career track, internship, and mentorship programs between employers and students; while increasing leadership development programs between community organizations, businesses, and public schools to prepare students for employment and promote upward mobility.
Strategies
Strategy 1: Increase number of opportunities for youth and young adults to access job shadowing, apprenticeship programs, and internships to include “green-friendly”approaches to agriculture and infrastructure.
Strategy 2: Expand and enhance the mentorship programs (peer mentors and adult mentors).
Strategy 3: Explore and encourage expansion of classroom lab opportunities for hands-on experience in middle and high school, to ensure equal opportunities at all campuses.
Strategy 4: Maintain at least 17 career clusters/pathway models of training opportunities that align with career demand and career occupations for all middle and high school students.
Strategy 5: Establish method and process for volunteer engagement with public schools.
Goal 3: Promote parental involvement in schools by teaching parents to advocate for their child(ren), facilitating better communication between parents and school leadership, and eliminating barriers to parent engagement.
Strategies
Strategy 1: Increase understanding and diversification of parental engagement to include assessment of family needs and resources.
Strategy 2: Coordinate service and resources between youth serving organizations for better integration and reduce silos.
Strategy 3: Increase parental understanding of school attendance and ensure enforcement of truancy policies and facilitate broad awareness of barriers to school attendance.
Strategy 4: Encourage employers to provide incentives such as transit vouchers, paid “leave” time for parents to attend/participate in school functions.
Strategy 5: Increase and diversify use of alternative methods of communication with parents; implement school specific use of smartphone notification methods to parents/guardians and community.
Strategy 6: Assess and expand resource allocation so to increase access to affordable quality childcare.
Strategy 7: Expand and maintain cultural diversity, equity and inclusion training and practices.
Strategy 8: Create parental support groups within community and faith-based organizations.
Goal 4: Ensure families and community members have the ability to promote and reinforce literacy and numeracy instruction that takes place in a student’s learning environment.
Strategies
Strategy 1: Promote early reading and vocabulary development beginning at birth.
Strategy 2: Promote reading and numeracy achievement on grade level through early intervention and comprehensive development.
Strategy 3: Increase availability of children’s books that promote reading and numeracy in health care settings, faith-based organizations, non-profit settings, and neighborhoods.
Strategy 4: Provide access for early childhood professionals to utilize community resources for reading and numeracy.
Strategy 5: All children from birth to age five receive ample opportunities for language rich adult-child interactions for critical brain development.
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