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From the Director
Summer for all our Georgia readers begins May 6. That's when every child, parent and guardian, educator, and librarian in Georgia will have access to a free digital library of more than 10,000 books and engaging daily news articles through Aug. 31, thanks to the generosity of Renaissance myON.
Georgia's children and their families in 134 counties took advantage of this wonderful resource last summer and spent 927,344 minutes reading 66,614 books. Let's shatter our record and aim for 1 million minutes and 70,000 books in 159 counties in 2019.
Next month, we'll lead you to summer resources as you begin working with local partners to ensure that our children remain safe, well fed, and supported when school's out. Until then, spread the word about Renaissance myON and share your book reviews on social media using #SchoolsOutGA and #SummerSlide.
With gratitude,
Arianne
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#GetGAReading this Month
Please share this post on your own social media platforms this month.
 Summer for #GA readers begins on 5/6. @myONreader is delivering 1,000s of free books to your computer and mobile devices that you can access 24/7 through 8/31. http://bit.ly/2PqVJVH
 Summer for Georgia readers begins on May 6. Renaissance myON is delivering thousands of free books to your computer and mobile devices that you can access 24/7 through Aug. 31. http://bit.ly/2PqVJVH
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MEET THE CABINET
 Geoff Duncan is Georgia’s 12th Lt. Governor and the father of three boys who attend public schools in Forsyth County. "Early learning and literacy development are fundamental to educational success. I’ll prioritize retaining highly efficient educators, increasing Pre-K access statewide, and increasing economic opportunity so that less students face impoverished conditions that suppress learning,” said Lt. Gov. Duncan. Learn More
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LITERACY LEADER SPOTLIGHT
 Jackie Beard-Cathey of Fulton County Schools organized a health and wellness council of over 50 community partners to support children’s health and development through Atlanta Fulton Family Connection. The council mobilizes partners to address the needs of the families in underserved communities in South Atlanta. Beard-Cathey also leads the charge to launch programs to address service gaps and combine resources to implement system change.
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 Stabilizing Housing to Promote Student Success
The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation helps families evade eviction and address unhealthy living conditions, resolving these issues with the help of a full-time lawyer and community advocate. The annual enrollment turnover rate dropped from a five-year average of 39 percent to 25 percent at Thomasville Heights Elementary School thanks to the "Standing with Our Neighbors" program, which prompted expansion to eight public schools.
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 Giving Parent-Students a Boost
For college students who are also parents, a lack of affordable child care can be an obstacle to college graduation. The Boost Childcare Initiative seeks to provide scholarships that are paid directly to child care programs. Led by Quality Care for Children, this initiative has been piloted at Clayton State University, Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University—Armstrong Campus, and Savannah State University. Learn more about this two-generation effort.
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 Linking Laundry and Literacy
The Laundry Literacy Coalition hosted the second annual LaundryCares Literacy Summit, where attendees agreed that an action plan is needed to develop scalable, high-quality resources for creating literacy-rich spaces in laundromats. Five thousand laundromats have already received Too Small to Fail’s “Wash Time is Talk Time” resources. This flyer shows how communities are embedding literacy in laundromats. See how evaluators measure this approach’s impact.
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 Rescued Cafeteria Food Becomes Take-Home Meals for Low-Income Children
Indiana-based nonprofit Cultivate is piloting a program in an elementary school to help low-income children who receive breakfast and lunch at school but may go hungry on the weekends. Cultivate “rescues” food that's been prepared but not served, packages it, freezes it, and sends eight meals home in children’s backpacks each Friday. The school system seeks to expand the program.
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Governor’s Office of Student Achievement Tiny Grants
Governor’s Office of Student Achievement Tiny Grants provide traditional public schools, charter schools, and school districts between $1,000 and $7,000 to implement projects that deeply engage students, solve an existing problem in an inventive way, and potentially have a lasting impact on the academic environment. The grant deadline is May 1, 2019.
Gearing Up for Summer Learning
The National Summer Learning Association can help you support children’s learning and development when school's out with resources that promote summer learning in the home and community, keep kids active and healthy, engage parents, and celebrate summer learning week.
Early Matters: Integrating Attendance into Kindergarten Transition
Attendance Works’ new toolkit provides guidance for integrating attendance into key practices designed to help schools, preschools, and community agencies partner with families to make attendance a priority during the transition into kindergarten—whether from a preschool or from home. The toolkit includes recommendations for districts, partners, and policymakers to bring change to scale.
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Innovations in Public Housing: Collaborations and Partnerships to Support Early School Success
Tuesday, May 7, 2 – 3 p.m.
Learn how Public Housing Authorities are partnering with local efforts to promote early school success in this webinar hosted by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Check out recordings of previous webinars focused on how housing can be used as a platform to promote early literacy. Register Now
Pre-K Educators Institute
Tuesday, June 4
Middle Georgia State University, Macon
Registration Deadline: Monday, May 20
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) hosts this institute for teachers, principals, directors, and school-system personnel who work with Pre-K programs and 4-year-olds across the state to enhance their knowledge of early language and literacy teaching strategies. Register Now
Georgia Farm to School and Early Care and Education Summit
Friday – Saturday, June 7 – 8
Helms College, Macon
This annual summit, hosted by Georgia Organics and DECAL, includes hands-on workshops, field trips, and education sessions. Schools, early care providers, and farms connect to increase children’s access to healthy meals and snacks while also expanding farm and gardening educational opportunities. Register Now
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We Want to Hear From You
Our partners are the heroes in this work, and we want to help connect you with each other and with resources that can help you get even greater results. And we want to hear more stories. Please share yours with us so we can post it to getgeorgiareading.org. Send your stories—or any questions about the Campaign—to Arianne Weldon at arianne@gafcp.org.
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