PURPOSE BUILT SCHOOLS ATLANTA INC
1670 BENJAMIN WELDON BICKERS DR SE, ATLANTA, GA 30315 www.purposebuiltschoolsatlanta.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: TO OPERATE ONE OR MORE "TURNAROUND" SCHOOLS IN THE ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, THEREBY PROMOTING EDUCATION, LESSENING THE BURDENS OF GOVERNMENT AND OTHERWISE ADVANCING SUBSTANTIAL EXEMPT PURPOSES.

PURPOSE BUILT SCHOOLS ATLANTA ("PBSA") HAD AN OUTSTANDING FIRST SCHOOL YEAR (FROM JULY 2016 TO MAY 2017), IN WHICH WE OPENED THOMASVILLE HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ("THES") WITH SLIGHTLY MORE THAN 400 STUDENTS; INCREASED PARENT ENGAGEMENT 7-FOLD DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR (AS MEASURED BY ATTENDANCE AT PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES); REDUCED TRANSIENCY BY ONE-THIRD FROM 39% TO 25%; REDUCED OUT OF SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS BY 46%; INCREASED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BY 11 PERCENTILE POINTS (THE SECOND HIGHEST GAIN IN APS); AND HAD THE 14TH LARGEST GAIN IN CCRPI OF ANY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THE STATE. IN THE FIRST HALF OF OUR SECOND SCHOOL YEAR (FROM JULY 2017 THROUGH DECEMBER 2017) WE ADDED SLATER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND PRICE MIDDLE SCHOOL, EFFECTIVELY TRIPLING IN SIZE TO 1,350 STUDENTS. BELOW IS A NARRATIVE SUMMARY OF SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CURRENT ACADEMIC YEAR. ENROLLMENT GROWTH. ONE OF OUR KEY INDICATORS OF SUCCESS IS WHETHER WE ARE ATTRACTING FAMILIES BACK TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL. WE INHERITED TWO SCHOOLS (THOMASVILLE HEIGHTS AND PRICE) THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY UNDER-ENROLLED. WE WILL BE ADDING CARVER HIGH SCHOOL IN JULY, WHICH HAS SEEN ITS ENROLLMENT PLUMMET BY 40% SINCE 2013. IMPORTANTLY, OUR COMBINED ENROLLMENT GREW BY 8.6% IN 2017-18, FROM 1237 STUDENTS LAST YEAR TO 1,343 THIS YEAR (EXCLUDING PRE-K). NOTABLY, THOMASVILLE HEIGHTS, THE ONE SCHOOL WE OPERATED FOR A FULL YEAR, GREW BY 14%. IN ADDITION, WE ADDED A SECOND PRE-K CLASS OF 22 STUDENTS AT THES THIS YEAR (NOT INCLUDED IN THE 14% GROWTH FIGURE). WE BELIEVE THE SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OF OUR SCHOOLS THIS YEAR IS AN IMPORTANT SIGN OF SUCCESS AND COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE. PARENT ENGAGEMENT. WE CONTINUE TO INCREASE PARENT INVOLVEMENT ACROSS THE CLUSTER. WHILE THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO THINK ABOUT PARENT ENGAGEMENT AND WE INTERACT WITH PARENTS ON MULTIPLE LEVELS THROUGH OUR FAMILY ENGAGEMENT TEAM WE USE ATTENDANCE AT PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES AS OUR MEASURE FOR HOW WELL WE ARE ENGAGING PARENTS. FROM AUGUST TO NOVEMBER (2017) WE INCREASED ENGAGEMENT BY 6 PERCENTILE POINTS TO 25% FOR THE ENTIRE CLUSTER. EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE. THROUGH OUR PARENTS AS LEADERS PROGRAM ("PALS") WE EMPLOY 30 COMMUNITY RESIDENTS AND PARENTS AT OUR SCHOOLS. EACH PERSON IN THE PROGRAM WORKS UP TO 30 HOURS PER WEEK IN A VARIETY OF JOBS IN THE SCHOOL (FROM BUS DRIVER AND CROSSING GUARD, TO CAFETERIA MONITOR AND AFTER-SCHOOL AIDE, AND OTHER NEEDED POSITIONS). THIS PROGRAM NOT ONLY SERVES AS A VEHICLE FOR REENTRY INTO THE WORKFORCE (MANY OF OUR PALS PARTICIPANTS HAVE NOT WORKED IN YEARS), BUT IT ALSO INVESTS PARENTS DEEPLY IN THE SUCCESS OF THE SCHOOL. OUR PALS PARENTS ARE SOME OF OUR BIGGEST ADVOCATES. ONE OF OUR OUTSTANDING PALS PARENTS HAS GRADUATED FROM THE PROGRAM LAST YEAR TO A FULL-TIME POSITION AS PARENT LIAISON THIS YEAR; SHE WAS RECENTLY PROMOTED TO A FULL-TIME JOB AS PART OF OUR FAMILY ENGAGEMENT TEAM. CARVER HS TRANSITION. WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING ON THE TRANSITION TO OPERATE CARVER HIGH SCHOOL BEGINNING IN JULY 2018. WE HAVE A SMALL TEAM WORKING FULL-TIME ON THIS EFFORT. WE HAVE HIRED A PRINCIPAL (WE RETAINED THE CURRENT PRINCIPAL, YUSUF MUHAMMAD, A GRADUATE OF NEW LEADERS FOR NEW SCHOOLS IN NYC); WE HAVE INTERVIEWED ALL EXISTING STAFF; WE ARE GETTING READY TO START OUR RECRUITING/INTERVIEW PROCESS FOR NEW TEACHERS; AND WE ARE MAPPING OUT OUR CURRICULUM.

TO PROVIDE WRAPAROUND SERVICES SO DESPERATELY NEEDED, PBSA ASSISTED IN THE CREATION OF PBSA COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, INC. ("CEI"). CEI WAS CREATED FOR THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF PROVIDING IMPORTANT SERVICES THAT SUPPORT THE CORE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS OPERATED BY PBSA.

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