Perspective: Wayne County C.A.F.E. (Circle of Adults Focusing on Education)
By April Lee
Wayne County High School, a participant in the GraduateFIRST initiative of Georgia Department of Education's State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG), started its C.A.F.E. (Circle of Adults Focusing on Education) in 2010 bringing together essential partners for meaningful conversations centered on concerns requiring collaborative action for positive student outcomes. Click to tweet this!
The school's principal, Dr. Jay Brinson, wanted to address concerns that were impacting graduation and dropout rates. With a diverse group of adults that included parents of students with disabilities or other risk factors, former dropouts, business owners, retired teachers, school administrators and more, we identified gaps and strategies for improving understanding regarding school attendance, the role of the community and addressing specific areas impacting students' paths toward graduation. As a Parent Mentor in Wayne County, part of the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership (GPMP), I partner in many local and state projects and initiatives where ensuring student success is our primary goal, especially for students receiving special education services and supports.
One such project was the county-wide Transition Fair. In a rural area, there are not as many resources as we would like for our students, but we created an event where businesses and community providers could engage students, show them what's available in the community and what a preferred career might look like with appropriate supports. To further our impact, our C.A.F.E. Team developed a tool that outlined and summarized graduation and dropout information for our community. Our graduation rate rose 4.5% last year due to several in-school proactive and preventative measures such as standard-based classrooms, study skills/support classes and credit recovery sessions. Before C.A.F.E., the high school had no regular opportunities for parents or community members to be part of solving school-related graduation and dropout issues.
In supporting identified students with disabilities and those at-risk for not graduating on time, they are more likely to see success if they build positive relationships with caring adults. Through C.A.F.E. meetings and targeted activities, students are invited to participate, share their views and take part in student-led discussions where collaboration from all partners is required for optimum success. This step has taken our family-school-community team to a new level of commitment and action because we can verify the need of a student or student group and include them in our action planning. By knowing the student's perspective and prioritizing their concerns, our team's actions are more focused and meaningful.
In 2013, the team co-sponsored Wayne County High School's first Youth in Community Summit (YIC Summit). The student-led summit was supported by C.A.F.E. members who acted as mentors, trained at-risk students as leaders, and during the summit, assisted as table facilitators while students discussed issues like bullying, homelessness, setting goals and the current economy as influences in decisions about school and life after school.
The C.A.F.E. model has allowed Wayne County to establish a shared vision so that student outcomes are at the base of collaborative decisions and actions. We have taken students who don't have any idea of what they want to do after high school, and been able to provide assistance and give them direction for successful futures. Our community expects all students to graduate and by engaging all partners in dialogue and action we are building a community environment to support that expectation.
For more information on C.A.F.E.s and to download the C.A.F.E. Implementation Guide,
go to the SPDG website at www.gaspdg.org.
Tags: GCDD, Making a Difference, Perspectives