RedefinEd Atlanta has been working to improve Atlanta’s public school education since 2016, and when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, the folks at RedefinEd Atlanta knew that they could help students that were affected.
“In response to COVID-19, RedefinEd Atlanta doubled down its efforts to provide resources to parents and communities with students attending Atlanta’s public schools, as well as to individual schools in the district,” said Adah Pittman-Delancey, the vice president of impact and external relations at RedefinEd Atlanta.
In the summer of 2020, RedefinEd Atlanta was able to give funds to two parent-led organizations, Atlanta Thrive and the Latino Association for Parents of Public Schools, to launch a $100,000 relief effort to support parents and caregivers of Atlanta Public Schools students experiencing hardship due to the pandemic.
“Atlanta Public Schools has one of the largest racial achievement gaps in the country,” said Pittman-Delancey. “Creating access to a great public education can provide Black and brown students living in under-resourced communities with the opportunity to realize their full potential and pursue their passions, changing the trajectory of their lives. We know that systemic racial inequities, which the pandemic exacerbated and exposed, are significant barriers to a thriving Atlanta.”
Also in the summer of 2020 RedefinEd Atlanta and Learn4Life commissioned a new study quantifying the impact of school closures on metro Atlanta student proficiency. The report estimated the potential student learning loss that eight metro Atlanta public school districts would likely encounter when they returned to school in the fall. In October, it launched the RedefinED Innovation Fund: Pandemic Education & Restart, giving nearly $170,000 in grants to 10 nonprofits and 14 Atlanta schools to address immediate education-related needs created by the pandemic.
Who’s helping?
RedefinEd Atlanta
Services: RedefinEd Atlanta works towards the vision of transforming Atlanta into a place where every student in every community receives a great public school education. To do this they engage with other nonprofits and raise funds to aid the community.
Where to donate: Visit redefinEDatlanta.org/donate/
If you are involved in or know of an organization working to bring relief to the Atlanta community during the coronavirus pandemic OR you are with an organization with supplies that you don’t know where to donate, please email us at Shannon.n.Dominy@gmail.com.
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