Teachers at THES Loop Grades to Provide Consistency for Students

Posted on

Purpose Built Schools Atlanta strives to create a positive climate and culture where students feel known, accepted and supported. Providing consistency is a big part of that. But when children come from generational poverty, they face barriers that prevent them from experiencing that consistency in education, which can impede their ability to be successful in school. To break this cycle, a group of teachers at Thomasville Heights Elementary School have stayed with the same cohort of students year after year. Continue Reading →

The Dyslexia Resource at The Schenck School Provides Reading Services to Students at THES and Slater

Posted on

In 2017, Day brought The Schenck School’s Head of School, Josh Clark, for a meeting at and tour of Slater Elementary. As a result of that meeting, an official partnership formed between The Schenck School and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta for Schenck to provide direct reading services to students through The Dyslexia Resource, an outreach program of The Schenck School. Continue Reading →

Building Bridges: How Urban Farming Formed an Unlikely Partnership

Posted on

When Ayanna Burroughs, a teacher at Thomasville Heights Elementary School (THES), reached out to Tania Herbert, Urban Agriculture Coordinator at The Paideia School, she hoped to learn from Paideia’s thriving farm program so she could start one at THES. Both educators, located in very different parts of the city–southeast Atlanta and Druid Hills, wanted to encourage students to make change in their communities by learning how to decrease food insecurity through urban farming. Continue Reading →

The T.H.E. Take-Home Project: A Local Initiative to Serve the Community During COVID-19

Posted on

Led by Tania Herbert, Urban Agriculture Coordinator at The Paideia School, and Javan Wyche, Director of After-School Programming at THES, the Thomasville Heights (T.H.E.) Take-Home Project mobilized volunteers and parents from the community to collect and then distribute APS breakfasts and lunches to THES students each morning in their own neighborhood. Continue Reading →

Start:ME Accelerator Opens Doors for Purpose Built Schools Families

Posted on

DeAndrea Byrd began making specialty tutus on the weekend to entertain her young daughters while she worked in her salon. “I just made them to keep my kids busy while I worked with clients on Saturdays,” says DeAndrea. “But then clients saw the tutus and started making special requests. I began selling themed-tutus for holidays,… Continue Reading →

Mindful Life Project Brings Mindfulness to the Classroom

Posted on

JG Larochette knows firsthand how anxiety, depression and stress from trauma can overtake someone’s life. As a successful elementary school teacher in South Richmond, CA, JG cared deeply for his students, and like many teachers, absorbed their trauma as he struggled to provide a healthy learning environment. “In 2011, I tried to push through sleepless… Continue Reading →

Partnership school model puts students on path to success

Posted on

Atlanta’s partnership with Purpose Built Schools broke new ground for both APS and Georgia. Jovan Miles, principal of Thomasville Heights Elementary School, shared the benefits of the partnership school model in a guest column on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s education blog, Get Schooled. Continue Reading →

Why We Choose Purpose

Posted on

From Carver to Price, Slater to Thomasville Heights, our team of educators have a passion for turning around schools, impacting families and our community, and deliberately changing the trajectory of students. But with this work comes challenges. Life inside a turnaround school is incredibly meaningful, but there are daily obstacles that each of our teachers… Continue Reading →