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Relocation Leads to Temporary Closure of Thomasville Heights Elementary School
Due to a court ruling that has fast-tracked the anticipated relocation of Forest Cove residents–resulting in far fewer students projected to be zoned for Thomasville Heights Elementary (THES)– Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta (PBSA) have decided to temporarily close THES beginning next school year (2022-2023). Read more details and FAQS.
A Look Back At 2021: Our Year In Review
The 2021-22 school year has been full of signs that our model is working. Even despite the setbacks of the pandemic, we are thrilled to celebrate the progress and achievements of our schools. Scholars have made meaningful and significant individual and collective gains. Our schools grow stronger every year, and the families who entrust their … Continue Reading →
Student-led farms continue to nourish, empower south Atlanta community
To help ensure no student arrives to school hungry, Purpose Built Schools partners with several organizations to increase food security in south Atlanta. We caught up with Javan Wyche, School Engagement Manager at Carver STEAM, to see how the THES Farm impacts the community.
Purpose Built Schools Atlanta and Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta launch first-of-its-kind partnership
Last fall, Purpose Built Schools Atlanta partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta to provide a “learning pod” for approximately 70 students who were identified as having the potential to benefit from additional learning resources in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The club is serving as a distance-learning hub where students of all grade levels can come during the school day to do online classes.
Teachers at THES Loop Grades to Provide Consistency for Students
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.
The Dyslexia Resource at The Schenck School Provides Reading Services to Students at THES and Slater
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.
Building Bridges: How Urban Farming Formed an Unlikely Partnership
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.
The T.H.E. Take-Home Project: A Local Initiative to Serve the Community During COVID-19
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.
Start:ME Accelerator Opens Doors for Purpose Built Schools Families
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
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 … Continue Reading →
