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Lanier High Awarded NEA Foundation Community School Grant
November 7, 2022
Jackson Public Schools was recently awarded a $66,000 NEA Foundation Grant to support the development of Lanier High School as a Full-Service Community School. The Community Foundation for Mississippi is serving as the fiscal agent for this grant.
Full-Service Community Schools provide comprehensive academic, social, and health services for students, students' family members, and community members that will improve children's educational outcomes. These services may include: high-quality early learning programs and services; remedial education, aligned with academic support and other enrichment activities, providing students with a comprehensive academic program; family engagement, including parental involvement, parent leadership, family literacy, and parent education programs; mentoring and other youth development programs; community service and service learning opportunities; programs that provide assistance to students who have been chronically absent, truant, suspended, or expelled; job training and career counseling services; nutrition services and physical activities; primary health and dental care; activities that improve access to and use of social service programs and programs that promote family financial stability; mental health services; and adult education, including instruction of adults in English as a second language.
Since 2020, Lanier High School has been in the planning phase of becoming a Full-Service Community School. OurJPS and Ask for More Jackson serve as core partners for the initiative. Other partners include the Lanier High School National Alumni Association, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), and Cherry Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Partner activities have supported the four pillars of community schools, which are integrated student support, expanded teaching and learning opportunities, family and community involvement, and engagement and partnership.
In the spring of 2022, Lanier High School hosted a Community School Night Out which included 20 breakout sessions covering a variety of topics such as - suicide prevention, Get2College, ACT prep, SATP, family consumer science, health & wellness, college and career readiness, voter registration, the arts, state testing requirements, and, of course, transforming communities through community schools.
The Lanier Community School team has participated in ongoing online and in-person community school professional development and training provided by the NEA Foundation and Southern Regional Alliance for Community Schools (SRACS), since 2020. Community research conducted by the Our JPS Coalition was presented at the final NEA Foundation 2021-22 convening of the SRACS in May 2022, at the Westin Hotel in Jackson, MS.
In addition, district leadership, Lanier’s principal, and representatives from Ask for More Jackson and the Our JPS Coalition attended the 2022 National Community Schools & Parent Engagement Conference in Los Angeles, California. The Our JPS Coalition, as well as parents, educators, and a representative of the Lanier Alumni Association traveled to Chicago to explore two other community schools: John B. Drake Elementary and Walter H. Dyett School High School for the Arts. The trip was facilitated by the Institute for Democratic Education in America (IDEA) and Journey for Justice.
To kick off the 2022-2023 school year and encourage family and community involvement, Lanier hosted a Senior Sunrise Brunch which included a full breakfast, back-to-school orientation, and alumni guest speaker Johnathan Minor. Seniors were allowed to invite a guest to attend. Baehut catered the brunch. Lanier also hosted an enhanced Open House, which included space jumps provided by Dixon Services and catering by BDR Collection.