Ep 54: Frank Brown Creating a Community for At-Risk Students

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How can we bridge the gap and bring equality to education in  America? How has COVID impacted students who live in low income areas?  What can we do?

My guest today, Frank Brown, heads up an  organization that is answering the call for how to help those students  who are most at-risk for falling behind and not graduating high school.  He is Chief Executive Officer of Communities In Schools of Atlanta,  Georgia. Atlanta was deemed the income inequality capital two years in a  row, prior to Covid. This inequality leads to many more problems,  including: housing insecurity, inequality in educational opportunities  and lack of appropriate health care.
 

Communities In Schools  (CIS) of Atlanta is an award-winning dropout prevention organization  that was established in Atlanta, Georgia in 1972. What began in the  basement of a modest home in the Grant Park community is now the  nation’s largest dropout prevention network with a proven track record  of positively impacting graduation rates. Their mission is to surround  students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school  and achieve in life.
 

Listen in to hear how CIS is making such a  positive impact in Atlanta and throughout the country and how we can  get involved supporting such an important mission.
 

Notable Quotes:
 

"I tell my team, if we get it right in Atlanta, it’s a blueprint for  the rest of the country, the world, on how to deal with some of the  poorest people in this country and get them to become full participants  in the American dream."
 

"There was a report that came out in  Atlanta that said only 3 out of 10 black kids will be proficient in  reading and math after Covid, that’s 30%. We are talking about whole  generations lost."
 

"Sometimes people look at poverty, and look  at people we serve as inanimate objects. They are human beings, they  have dreams and aspirations just like you and I and they want to make  clear choices, but there's systematic racism and all types of barriers  that they’ve been under for years."
 

"These people sacrifice  their own personal good to help these children, to get them to the other  side. And the thanks is when you see a child walk across the stage and  you know they would never have done it without us."
 

"In  Atlanta, depending on what zip code you’re born in, you have a 4% chance  of getting out of a poor zip code. Go to Vegas with 4% chances, you’ll  never win. But, that’s the child that I work with every day and I  believe that 4% is better than 0%."
 

In this episode, you will hear:
-The history of Communities In Schools of Atlanta (CIS) and their mission
-The three-tier model that CIS uses at different schools
-Progress and impact of CIS in Atlanta
-Frank’s perspective on education from a global standpoint
-How CIS is helping parents to lead their children to better choices
-Biggest educational challenges and threats for children
-CIS Atlanta’s plans and trajectory for the next 5 years
 

Resources and links mentioned during this episode:
 

For donations and more info, visit  Communities in Schools of Atlanta
Connect with Communities In Schools of Atlanta on Instagram Instagram,  Facebook,   LinkedIn and  Twitter.

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