Giving Every Child a Chance
to Succeed

We’re helping children enter school ready to learn and graduate prepared for careers, and young people avoid risky behaviors.

Every stage of a child’s life is critical for future success. By ensuring that children are supported their whole lives, through age 21, we can ensure they are successful as adults. But today in metro Atlanta, more than 185,000 children are living in poverty, 27 teenagers drop out of school each day, 17% of eighth-grade students this year won’t go on to high school because they lack necessary math skills, and 16 babies are born every day to teen mothers.

We know students are more likely to drop out of high school if they are not reading well by third grade, lack critical math skills by ninth grade, or have engaged in risky behaviors (such as drinking or using drugs). United Way is the only community organization coordinating services through age 21, because children need to be connected to care and support through each phase of their growth.

Federal grant puts DeKalb pre-k kids on a path to learning

How can you tell if a child will ultimately succeed in school? You might check to see if he’s learned the necessary skills that ensure that he will be able to read, particularly by the third grade. It’s that important.  

United Way knows this all too well. Teaming with local early childhood advocates, the education department led metro Atlanta’s participation in Early Reading First (ERF), a federally funded five-year program designed to make sure children enter kindergarten with the right pre-reading skills.    
By giving money to United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, the government trusted us to deliver for young children – and we did. Through the READERS program, Smart Start focused on 325 low-income, preschool children in 19 DeKalb County classrooms who had risks for reading difficulties. The strategy was threefold: give teachers new ways to help children improve their pre-reading skills, provide them with coaching and early literacy training, and get families to reinforce these skills at home. 

Result: The overwhelming majority of children who participated in READERS were performing at or above-average expectations in each language and literacy skill tested at the end of their first-grade year. 

 

How to educate more teens? Curb risky behaviors

What does helping girls avoid risky behaviors have to do with improving academic achievement in metro Atlanta? Everything, if you ask Girls Inc. CEO Vikki Millender-Morrow.

“I tell the girls their main job is to do well in school. As a society, we’re expecting our kids to graduate from high school and matriculate onto some sort of higher education or higher skill so that they can be self-sufficient. The work we do around life skills, whether it’s preventing adolescent pregnancy, navigating negative peer pressure or staying away from alcohol and substance abuse is really an integral part in helping them stay focused on their education.”  

Being actively involved in the Collaborative Network aimed at curbing risky behaviors gives Girls Inc. a window into education and other big social issues that are being tackled. “I think it’s brilliant that United Way has made that connection between education and risky behaviors,” Millender-Morrow says. “Being part of this network has exposed us to a lot of other organizations that are doing similar and sometimes very different work, but all of it can fit into our knowledge.”  

The United Way partnership has another important benefit. “It helps others see our work is worthwhile, and gives us credibility because the community knows United Way measures results and makes sure that the money of its donors is spent wisely and in an impactful way. Bottom line, it makes our voice for girls much louder and stronger.”

 

Kids had the demand. We found the supply.

 

Listen to School Tools with Judith Brenda.

Having the right school supplies can mean the difference between a passing and a failing grade. 
But with families feeling the financial pressure of a tough economy, more children are going to school without the necessary tools to do well.   

Determined to do something about it, Publix Super Markets teamed up with United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, The Salvation Army, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Star 94 FM, V-103 FM and Kicks 101.5 FM to collect school supplies for underprivileged and homeless children through the School Tools for Cool Kids program. Throughout the summer, Publix customers were encouraged to stop by their neighborhood store to purchase and/or drop off school supplies in School Tools bins.  

Within weeks, bins throughout metro Atlanta were stuffed with notebook paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, folders, notebooks and other supplies. United Way then used cash donations to purchase items that were still in short supply, and worked with homeless liaisons in 14 counties and 21 local school districts to make sure everything was delivered in time for the start of the new school year.   

“It was an unbelievable outpouring for kids,” said Brenda Reid, media and community relations manager for Publix Super Markets. “Through great teamwork, we did something important to ensure metro Atlanta’s children could begin the school year on a level playing field.”