Saturday Academy: Collaboration in Action

After many discussions with the local school districts, non-profit organizations, and local citizens, it was clear that building parent capacity for the families with young children should be a top priority of our local Archway education efforts. Teachers report that children are entering kindergarten without basic readiness skills. Further, the majority of preschool-aged children in the Dalton-Whitfield community do not attend early learning environments.  There are also concerns that school-aged children need additional tutoring, help with homework, and stimulating activities on the weekends. After brainstorming community solutions to support the young children and their families of the community, the idea of Saturday Academy was conceived.

Prior to kicking off a pilot program and study on March 8, Archway fostered a collaborative planning meeting. Sixteen individuals representing 12 community organizations gathered on February 24 to discuss a vision, objectives, and areas of support for the program! Funding followed suit, with private donors and organizations pledging $5,600 in support.

The pilot program began as planned on March 8, with over 45 children, 19 families, and 25 volunteers! To date, the Dalton-Whitfield Archway Partnership has hosted and facilitated the third of six consecutive, fun-filled Saturdays for 3-5 year olds and their families at the local Community Center.  To enhance school readiness for young children and their families, community partners work together to host parent education classes, parent-child interactive classes, and family fun time.  Researchers from the University of Georgia, Georgia State, and West Georgia were on site the first week and assisted by faculty from our two local systems, as well as Dalton State College in assessing children's school readiness skills.  At the conclusion of the pilot study, the researchers will analyze parent and child data to determine if the programming was effective building parent capacity, improving home learning environments, and improving preschoolers’ school readiness skills. Pictures of the event can be seen on our Facebook page here.