Overview

redefinED atlanta awards the Clayton Communities in Action Grant to four entities each year. The grant is open to Title I public schools, Clayton County Public Schools district departments, 501(c)(3) organizations that serve Clayton County, or entities with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. It is a one-year grant that aims to improve student academic outcomes through strengthening family and community engagement because we believe family and community engagement is one factor that will help advance our mission of every child in every community receiving a great K-12 public education. 

Specifically, the grant funds innovative initiatives that increase math and literacy access that are more intensive, different than the norm, evidence-based, and tailored to the unique needs of the community, or initiatives that empower caregivers to hold leaders accountable and be more involved in their child’s education. Proposals must be equitable, scalable, achievable, systemic, sustainable, and have a measurable impact. 

As one of our grantees, Los Niños Primero, had three goals they were working toward:

• 85% of the children with consistent attendance will maintain or improve their reading skills.
• 90% of the Latino youth volunteers and families with consistent attendance will report and demonstrate an improved understanding of early childhood development.
• 85% of Clayton County Latino youth and families surveyed will report that participating in meaningful community engagement activities enriched their lives.

As one part of our four-part series on the 2024-25 grantees, we spoke with Jeannie Adams Myers, Director of Academics & Outreach, and Maritza Morelli, Executive Director and founder, to learn more about how the Clayton Communities in Action Grant supported Los Niños Primero with reaching these goals. 

Can you tell me a little bit about your program? 

Our mission is to empower Latino students and their families from early childhood to college through holistic academic, leadership, and community programs. We started in 2000 as a pre-K only, two-week summer program. Over the years, we started expanding the summer program, and during the pandemic, our community really came together to identify areas that needed support and to expand our program to DeKalb County. 

This year, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. We have also expanded our programming to five counties, including Clayton, and are working directly within schools during the school year, with this year being the first year we’ve included second grade. 

We are really proud of the community we have built. Many of the families we serve have struggled finding their place in our schools. Many parents don’t speak English and they haven’t been taught how to navigate school systems to best support their children. For many immigrant families there is also a fear of rocking the boat. But we’ve been honored to be embraced by the Latino community and earn their trust. We’ve built this program and this community from the ground up together, which only makes it stronger. 

Now we are proud to use our unique position to bring that trust and community into the schools. It isn’t just about creating a learning space these students can thrive in, but a second home. 

We are also honored to serve as a bridge for our community. There are many things that help a family feel safe and be successful, including housing and food security, and we can’t do it all alone. But a lot of resources already exist. We have always helped our families find and access these resources, now we will help them access a great education and help schools find new ways to provide holistic support to their families. 

How was the Clayton County Communities in Action Grant valuable to your programming? 

We were really excited to receive this grant because our families wanted more programming. The grant allowed us to develop year-round programs for them in direct partnership with the schools. Specifically, we are partnering with Fountain Elementary School in Forest Park, which serves the county’s highest population of Latino families. Together we will merge our programming, learning from each other so we can scale up to serve more families without losing the heart and soul that we’ve built over our 25 years that makes our program so strong.  

Our Early Literacy and Math Program invites families to learn together. Parents are invited into the classroom to learn how to provide rich learning experiences at home. One project asks parents to read a bilingual book with their child and present a book report together in either English or Spanish. Another project encourages parents to write a book with their child and read the story aloud to the class. These cross-generational and bilingual projects help parents and children learn and grow together in a safe space. Obviously, this is better for students because they can get more support at home and are spending more time building their skills, but it’s been remarkable to see the parents also growing in their English literacy and fluency and becoming more confident. This year, we had 13 families participate. 

We also brought Aprendemos Juntos (Learning Together) to Fountain, which is led by a certified educator and helps parents gain insights into school curriculum and how to reinforce classroom learning at home, fostering stronger collaboration between parents, children, and educators. All sessions are conducted in Spanish, creating a welcoming environment for parents to fully participate and embrace their role as their child’s first teacher. We had 25 parents and students participate this year.

The grant will also help support our upcoming summer programming. This is where our program was born, and one of our strengths is the play-based model of instruction that we use here. We believe that children need to play, especially during their summer break which is where our program started, and that they can learn through this play. We create vocabulary rich environments that help them connect the words they are learning to read to real world items, experiences, and more. We are excited to strengthen this model by inviting teachers in to learn so they can bring the model back to their classrooms, creating a stronger and more consistent learning experience for our students. We expect to serve 67 students in pre-K through second grade this summer. 

Without the grant, we wouldn’t have been able to offer year-round programming or expand to second grade. 

What impact have you seen in your community from this programming? 

We’ve seen a systemic and community shift over the years. Our consistent and direct communication with parents has helped create a sense of belonging and community, which is being translated into the school setting. Like we said earlier, we are trying to create a second home for these families within the educational system, so they feel safe and welcome to learn at their own pace.

And it’s really working. Parents are becoming increasingly involved with their children’s education. Some things we’ve heard from parents include: 

• “This is the first time I am in the classroom with my child.”
• “This is the first time I made a project with my son.”
• “This is my first time reading to somebody.”

Our families have also been able to access resources beyond the classroom, including accessing mental health services and new career opportunities.