Atlanta Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Danielle S. Battle has a special message to parents in recognition for Single Parents Day.
Atlanta Public Schools took a different approach at its latest Parent C.A.F.E. (Circle of Adults Focusing on Education).
With the focus on the Department of Special Education, the Parent C.A.F.E. gave parents the opportunity to share their experiences, concerns and suggestions with district leadership.
āTonightās was very special because we invited APS interim superintendent Dr. Danielle Battle to be our guest speaker and address our parents, as well as hear our parentsā concerns,ā APS executive director of Special Education Emmaundia Ford said.
During the open forum, parents were able to express their concerns to the Department of Special Education leaders, Dr. Battle, and also meet with the special education coordinators for their respective cluster to discuss more specific situations to improve the educational experience for their scholars.
āThis was a great opportunity again to speak to our district leaders about what is happening in special education,ā former APS parent Nkoyo Effiong Lewis said. āAs a parent who has been through this process in APS and who has represented families who are struggling to make sure their children are getting what they need, it was a great opportunity to share with the district what is happening on the ground which may have a lot of disconnect from what the expectations are at the district level.ā
The change in format allowed parents to share some of the challenges that they face.
āI worked with the Special Education department to have everyone here and let the parents do the talking. We do the listening and answer their questions instead of us presenting to the parents,ā Dr. Battle said. āOur parents want to be partners. They want to be a part of this work and a part of the solution.ā
āI enjoyed hearing from the parents and their concerns and reminding us of the things that need to get done,ā she added. āThey even gave us some great suggestions, so weāre going to be incorporating some of those suggestions.ā
Edith Abakare is pictured center.
For Immediate Release
August 31, 2016
ATLANTA ā Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Parent Mentor Edith Abakare was named one of six finalists for the 2016 Annual Phil Pickens Leadership Award by the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership.
This statewide honor recognizes parent mentors and special education administrators who work collaboratively between home, school and community to improve outcomes for students with disabilities, significant contributions to the partnership program, and leadership accomplishments in special education.
The late Mr. Pickens is a former Georgia Department of Education special education director who dedicated more than 35 years to improve the education of children with disabilities. He was also the founder of the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership.
For the past five years, Abakare has served as an APS parent mentor to parents and guardians of children with special needs, helping them navigate education and medical resources. āFive years ago, the first item on my desk as a parent mentor was a call from a parent who had a simple request,ā said Abakare. āThe note said āMy son needs a helmet to ride the school bus because he has epilepsy.ā With the experience of being a mom of a child with seizures and the skills of a mentor, I called everyone from his classroom teacher to the director of nursing services. With collaboration and one common goal, the student received a helmet in 11 days.ā
Abakare credits her work to having positive relationships, knowledge of how to navigate organizational structures, and her personal experience as a parent advocate for daughter Asher during the past 20 years. āMy personal experience as a mom coupled with the skills I have learned through Partners in Policymaking allowed me to join the GADOE in its work on district accountability (Focus Monitoring), said Abakare. Now in my fifth year as a parent mentor, the trainings that I have been privilege to attend, such as Partners in Policymaking, Crucial Conversations and Leading by Convening have enriched me with stamina to do this work.ā
Abakare has served in numerous leadership roles across the state of Georgia helping persons with disabilities. She is a member of the Georgia Department of Education State Systemic Improvement Plan Team, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities Unlock the Waiting List Campaign, Fulton County Interagency Council, Atlanta Public Schools Career & Technical Instruction Advisory Committee, Georgia Futures Facilitator for Person Centered Planning and the Atlanta Council of PTA Special Education Chair. Abakare is also a supporting parent with Parent to Parent of Georgia and a member of the Frederick Douglass High School Local School Governance GO Team.
The criteria for selection of the Phil Pickens Leadership Award is based upon a candidateās demonstration of leadership in the following areas: building home, school and community partnerships; modeling collaboration and partnerships impacting families of students with disabilities locally and around the state; and leadership within the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership.
All of the finalists will be formally recognized at the annual Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership Kickoff Conference Sept. 14 ā16 at the Georgia Coastal Conference Center in Savannah, Ga. For more information about the finalists visit: http://www.parentmentors.org/home/announcing-the-2016-phil-pickens-award-nominees
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About Atlanta Public Schools
Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 50,000 students across 97 learning sites. The district is organized into nine K-12 clusters, 87 schools that include 16 charter schools and two citywide single-gender academies. For more information, visit http://www.atlantapublicschools.us<http://www.atlantapublicschools.us>
About the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership
The Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership is a joint initiative between the Georgia State Department of Education, Division for Special Education and Supports and local school districts. The partnership is comprised of parents and professionals working together to improve outcomes for students with disabilities by enhancing communication and collaboration between families, educators and the community.
By Donovan Harris
“The power is in your hands. You are their first teacher. Education starts at home.ā
These are the wise words of Peyton Rhone, secretary at Dobbs Elementary School, as she led an introductory meeting for parents at the Kids Matter 21st Century AfterSchool Program at Dobbs on Monday, Aug. 15.
Unlike typical after-school childcare services, Kids Matter offers a two-fold program where parents are also empowered and educated alongside their children through workshops that deal with bullying, as well as cooking and parent-student painting classes. The parents involved in this program receive an all-around support group experience.
Kids Matter also offers a GED Preparation program for its parents.
āIf our parents commit to these GED Preparation classes that we offer here, they are guaranteed to pass the GED test.ā, Ms. Rhone proclaimed.
Rhone is a testament to this program. Thanks to the partnership between the National Center for Families Learning and Toyota, Rhone was able to receive her GED and later become a college graduate.
āA family that learns together, excels together,ā she said. āI have seen that in my own life and through the lives of my children.ā
Throughout the evening, Rhone emphasized to parents that receiving her GED opened many āunimaginableā doors. She shared that her GED led her to Ā a job that ultimately aligned with her passion.
āHaving my GED made it that much easier to achieve my goals,ā she said.
The Kids Matter parent kickoff will be held at Dobbs Elementary School on Saturday, Sept. 17. at 9 a.m.
Ms. Haena Yoo, a first grade teacher at Gideons Elementary, was honored before friends, family, colleagues, and her students for her unwavering dedication and exemplary performance in the classroom. Ms. Yoo received a check for $7,500 from Atlanta Familiesā Awards for Excellence in Education (AFAEE).
āI was really surprised, grateful and humbled, because I know there are a lot of great educators out there,ā said Yoo. āI feel lucky to have been chosen.ā
This money will be utilized to fund a personal stipend, professional development opportunities, and a project of the winnerās choice. Ā Ms. Yoo has chosen to fund her project, āProject Break the Cycle.ā
āThe main goal of my project is to educate and empower parents and families of young children ages zero through seven to become advocates for literacy and quality early childhood education,ā Ms. Yoo explains.
Through this project, monthly parent workshops and experienced guest speakers will provide parents and families with specific and applicable strategies to support their young children at home.
According to the study, The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3 by Hart and Risley, by the time a child from welfare enters preschool at age 4, he is already too far behind his peers from working-class families that his preschool experience becomes only an āinterventionā. The study found that the average child on welfare hears 616 words per hour whereas the average working-class child hears 1,251 words per hour. Furthermore, average children in professional families hear 2,153 words per hour, which is over three times more than a child on welfare.
Ms. Yoo strongly believes that effective parent education can begin to fix this crisis. She hopes to share inexpensive, research-based strategies with parents that will benefit her students through increased vocabulary, self-confidence, and positive relationships with their parents and families.Ā 
āMy project will not only impact students this year, but will also have a long-lasting effect on their lives,ā said Ms. Yoo.
Upon receiving a Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education from The Johns Hopkins University in 2011, Ms. Yoo became a 2011 Corps Member of Teach For America – Metro Atlanta. During college, Ms. Yoo explored many options for her future, but she could not seem to find the right profession to which she wanted to commit. Finally, after taking a few sociology classes, which exposed her to the contrasting quality of education children receive due to their income levels, she felt a strong calling to become a teacher. During the next two years, Ms. Yoo worked as an assistant preschool teacher in Georgia and Maryland where she received recognition for going above and beyond her duties such as creating a Facebook page to foster parent-parent and parent-teacher relationships.
Throughout the two years she worked with children, her passion to work in low-income schools grew stronger. In 2010, she applied to The Johns Hopkins University and began training to become a classroom teacher. After two years as a classroom teacher, Yoo continuously seeks opportunities for self improvement and looks forward to many more years working with young children and their parents.
Parents, as we usher in a new year at APS, please ensure that your studentsā emergency contact information, home address and phone number are updated and accurate. This information is stored in the districtās infinite campus portal and used to contact and update parents and guardians about important news and information throughout the school year and in the event of an emergency. A link to infinite campus is located in the quick links section of each schoolās website.
At APS we are committed to keeping you informedĀ about your childās education. Through the Infinite Campus Portal for Parents, parents can access their childās academic performance information, class schedules, attendance records and grades. Please access the Infinite Campus portal by visitng http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/parentportal.
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