The Georgia Department of Education is providing more than $1 million to help schools create wraparound centers for their students. The funding is part of GaDOE’s comprehensive and proactive strategy to improve schools, and will be targeted to schools identified for support by GaDOE’s School Improvement division.

The wraparound centers will operate before, during and after the traditional school day, connecting students and families with resources in order to support and improve student achievement. Through the centers, students will have access to community resources like food pantries and clothes closets; mental health counseling; tutoring and academic support; workshops on college applications, resumes, interview skills, and money management; help connecting with local job opportunities; and more.

“Our job, and our responsibility to students, doesn’t end when the school bell rings,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “These wraparound centers will provide the support kids need to be ready to learn – they’ll begin to address the barriers to learning that are in place for so many of our students.”

The $1,040,000 provided by GaDOE, and approved by the State Board of Education today based on Superintendent Woods’ recommendation, will fund a regional Wraparound Coordinator in each of Georgia’s Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs). This is a first-of-its-kind position that will help schools identified for comprehensive and targeted support under Georgia’s ESSA plan create and coordinate their wraparound centers.

For the 2018-19 school year, each Wraparound Coordinator will lead a pilot in their RESA targeting two to three of the schools in that RESA that are receiving support from GaDOE School Improvement. The goal is to scale the pilot up to impact more schools in future years.

GaDOE’s wraparound initiative is a response to the growing need to address non-academic barriers to student learning, and to a body of research that shows students are better able to learn and achieve when those barriers are removed. The Department will work with state- and nationally recognized wraparound experts, model districts, and other state agencies to provide training and support to the pilot schools.

The Department also provided funding for educational technology services, mathematics mentors, English language arts specialists, school climate specialists, subgroup project managers, supports for students with disabilities, and school effectiveness specialists to the RESAs.