Dear People of St. James’,
Get excited! The summer program for Freedom School-Austin starts this coming week at Pecan Springs Elementary School! This Sunday at the 10:30 Service, we will commission and celebrate some of our Servant Leader Interns and Freedom School Staff. Please join us in praying for the Freedom School Community. We are still working to get this program fully funded for the year, so if you would like to give toward its flourishing, connect here to make a donation.
Don’t know much about this program? Read on! Freedom Schools – Austin has long been a free, effective 6-week summer enrichment program for East Austin elementary school-aged scholars. Since 2014, over 325 scholars have come to Freedom School to spark a passion for learning, build self-confidence, and combat summer learning loss that otherwise yields wider achievement gaps and school dropout. With the proven model developed by the Children’s Defense Fund, this Welcome Table program has helped scholars make amazing gains in reading, increase interest in science, and gain self-confidence.
In 2020, with the help of a Strategic Mission Grant from the Diocese of Texas, we set out to increase parent engagement year-round in order to form an ongoing Freedom School Community, and we adapted to the COVID-crisis by going virtual for the summer. To our surprise, we found that the virtual interface did not dampen enthusiasm and engagement, rather it also enabled scholars to participate more fully, even with concurrent family schedules that would have interfered in pre-COVID times. For instance, scholars signed on and participated from family elder care visits, from caregivers’ workplaces, from the car and the grocery store. Participation rates were impressive, with 88% of scholars joining the fun each and every day, and 95% of scholars successfully completing the summer program. Importantly, reading scores reflected the significant and meaningful impact of Freedom Schools. Every single scholar who attended more than 80% of Freedom Schools activities this summer maintained or increased their reading scores.
One of our inspirational scholars was Alisha (names have been changed to protect privacy), a 6 year old who did not have sufficient reading skills to complete a reading test at the beginning of the summer. After 5 weeks, she was reading above grade level, with a huge smile, proud as a peacock of her newly developed ability. Another scholar, rising 5th grader Jayden, had a beginning reading fluency rate of 68 words per minute, equivalent to first grade reading level. After 5 weeks, he advanced to reading 158 words per minute, above grade level expectations. That scholar went from being afraid to volunteer to read in front of his peers to a scholar eager to show off his reading fluency.
Parent engagement and technical support played an important role in helping families adapt to the technological requirements of a new time. Households were provided the tablets and hotspots needed to participate in the program and technical assistance. The technology help desk became an important support structure for families. Parents and caregivers had an outlet for troubleshooting and building skills for making the most of zoom and other online educational platforms. As one parent described, “Freedom Schools Austin helped me be a better parent because I was able to help my first grader sign on to the tablet, go to different apps, and have fun at school even on zoom.” Parent engagement ensured that parents felt seen, heard, and remembered. For example, when a parent mentioned their scholars received As and Bs this year, they were surprised and emotionally moved that we also celebrated the parent’s role in that outcome. Family support activities including wellness checks, achievement celebrations, and care packages also encouraged social and emotional skills development, curiosity and confidence that carried over throughout the year.
This summer, we are taking what we learned from so many years of experience and from this past year, and Freedom Schools – Austin will be a hybrid program based at nearby Pecan Springs Elementary School. Eight college students will take the lead in the classrooms as our Servant Leader Interns, working with the guidance of our program and site coordinators Mila Jackson and Emiko Davis, and Director of Parent Engagement Simone Barnes. We look forward to sharing the story of this summer with you!
Rev. Eileen
