Annual Report July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019 Positive Tomorrows Who I Am Makes a Difference
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Annual Report July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019 Positive Tomorrows Who I am makes a difference. I am a Positive Tomorrows star. I am successful.Who I am I finishmakes whata difference. I start. I am tenacious.I am I don’t a Positive quit untilTomorrows I succeed. star. I am able. II amam successful. able to help I finish others what succeed. I start. I am ready. I am ready Ito am learn. tenacious. I am ready I don’t to quit do theuntil right I succeed. thing. I am able. I am ableI amto help ready others to succeed. succeed. I am ready. I am ready to learn. I am ready to do the right thing. I am ready to succeed. Table of Contents Positive Tomorrows Annual Report Staff & Board Extracurricular 4 15 Who We Are Looking Ahead 6 16 By the Numbers Audited Financial Statement 8 18 Education Our Donors 10 20 Family Support 14 Administrative Staff: Education Staff: Susan Agel - President/CEO Our Staff Amy Brewer - Director of Education Margaret Creighton - Director of Development Abby Anderson - Early Head Start Teacher Jamie Hadwin - Communications Manager Shanel James - Early Head Start Aide Senaqua Hildreth- Executive Assistant KayLeigh Brosh - Pre-K Teacher Reggie Huxman - Operations Manager Amanda Martinez - Pre-K Aide Sarah Sheldon- Kindergarten & First Grade Teacher Jordan Michela - Volunteer Coordinator Carly Smith - Kindergarten & First Grade Aide Amy Nixon - Receptionist Sue Gill - First & Second Grade Teacher Sarah Richert - Development Officer Sarah Caputo - First & Second Grade Aide/Art & Music Teacher Precious Timmons - Development Associate Elizabeth Dahl - First & Second Grade Aide Kiana Christian - Third & Fourth Grade Teacher Family Support Staff: LaTamera Spagner - Third & Fourth Grade Aide Kelly Berger - Director of Family Support Abbie Gatewood - Fifth & Sixth Grade Teacher Rachel Brown - Family Support Coordinator Louisa Alford - Special Education Teacher Amber Howard - Case Manager Stephanie Ashcraft - Extracurricular Programs Coordinator Nick Richert - Case Manager Cathy Stettinger - School Chef Amber Rettke - Transition Coordinator Craig Halford - Driver Stephanie Smiley - Lead Case Manager Torrey Runnels - Driver Accreditation United Way OK A+ Demontration School Positive Tomorrows is Positive Tomorrows is a Positive Tomorrows is an accredited by the North proud partner agency of the Oklahoma A+ Central Association, a United Way of Central OK. Demonstration School. Regional Accreditation 4 Division of AdvancED. Our Board of Directors Nikki Jones Edwards, Phillips Murrah P. C., Chairman Vince White, Devon Energy (retired), Vice Chairman Kati Christ, Bank of Oklahoma, Secretary Gregg Henson, Gulfport Energy, Treasurer Dawn Byram, Timberlake Construction Dr. Scott Calhoon, SWC Production Inc Mike Emmelhainz, Boeing (Retired) Steve Foskin, Crossfirst Bank Michael Hartfield, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Jamie Herrera, Community Volunteer Karen Kurtz, OGE Energy Corporation Jodi Lewis, Oklahoma Municipal League Travis Mason, Commercial Oklahoma Dr. Robyn Miller, Oklahoma State Department of Education Tyson Williams, Tall Oak Midstream Susan Agel, Positive Tomorrows (Ex Officio) I am happy to be at Positive Tomorrows with my brothers. They were here before me, and now we’re all together. I like Mrs. Gill’s class, and I like being able to play with my new friends at recess. - Christopher, 2nd Grade 5 Who We Are Positive Tomorrows is Oklahoma’s only elementary school and social service agency specifically for children and families experiencing homelessness. We empower students and families to succeed, and we do it in three main ways: 1. By breaking down barriers to learning like hunger, lack of basic necessities, medical care, and transportation 2. By supporting families so they can increase their income, employment and housing 3. By providing a differentiated, trauma-informed education to every student, complete with enriching, extracurricular opportunities Students at Positive Tomorrows typically live with their families in local shelters, motels, cars, and sometimes even abandoned buildings. Students often come to us with empty tummies, without coats on cold days, or wearing shoes several sizes too small. Our This year I got to have a My Little Pony party for families are impacted by addiction, incarceration, domestic my birthday! Everything was pink, and my cake violence, mental illness, and trauma. was really pretty! - Jasmine, Kindergarten 6 But these situations do not define them. At Positive Tomorrows, every child has the chance to succeed. We provide coats and shoes and counseling for students who are traumatized. We help parents rebuild lives, heal families, and become stable and self-sufficient. We give children and families hope that tomorrow will be better. We believe every child deserves a quality education, regardless of their situation at home. We believe that teaching integrity, creativity, and hope is just as important as teaching reading, math, and science. We know that education is the most powerful tool to combat poverty. It is only with the support of a generous community that we continue to keep our doors open to these little ones and their families. As we prepare to open new classes and enroll more students, we are grateful for the donors, volunteers, and friends who have helped us build a strong foundation. On behalf of our students, families, and staff, thank you I like taking care of the dolls in my classroom for making brighter futures possible for some of our with my best friends. My class does a lot of fun community’s most vulnerable little ones. things every day! -LaTavia, Pre-K 7 118 students served 69 students turned away Average daily attendance: 90% There are over 27,000 homeless students in the state of Oklahoma. Days of school: 170 Average length of stay: 84 days Why are students turned away? *DataSpecial provided Educational by the Institute for Children, Needs Poverty and Homelessness 26% 23% Grade not oered Special Outside Outside Transportation Area Transportation Education Needs There are over 6,000 Area Classhomeless is Full children 19% 32% in Oklahoma City alone. Grade not Class is Full By the Numbers offered *Data provided by Oklahoma City Public Schools and Putnam City Schools. 8 6% Student Demographics 6% Other Hispanic 7% American Indian 25% African American 31% Mixed 25% Ethnicity Caucasian What is couch homeless? Student Housing Couch homeless students call a different place home every night. Moving 19% frequently, they may Transitional double up with families in 42% a dwelling and often sleep 16% Shelter on someone’s couch. Permanent I really like the new school because I can run and Where they stay is not always as comfy as a 23% play outside and do fun things in the gym. My couch. It may be a garage, Couch new class is so awesome, and I think I can learn a storage unit, a car, even Homeless better here, too. an abandoned building. -Hunter, 3rd Grade 9 Evaluating our Program Positive Tomorrows assesses students using a program called the Measures of Academic Progress Assessment Program (MAPs), which focuses on individual student growth. MAPs assessments are given three times during the year for continuing students, and upon entry and withdrawal for students only here a short time. Because enrollment fluctuates considerably at Positive Tomorrows, not all students can be assessed more than once, due to their length of stay. Interpreting Results: In MAPs, improvement is measured in Rausch Units, or RITs. RIT scores allow students to be accurately Education measured regardless of their grade level. The RIT scale uses equal intervals, and it has the same meaning regardless of grade level, so the RIT scale spans grades. In order to evaluate RIT scores within a context, RIT Scale Norms have been developed that show what students in various grades are achieving nationally. RIT Scale Norms are shaded in the corresponding grade level colors on the following graphs. The average Positive Tomorrows student RIT score growth is represented by a colored line for each grade. 10 Academic Improvement: Kindergarten - 2nd Grade K-2ndK Grade- 2nd Grade Reading Reading Growth Growth K-2ndK -Grade 2nd Grade Math Math GrowthGrowth 190 190 2nd Grade Norm K-2nd Grade Reading Growth2nd Grade Norm 180 190 180 2nd Grade Norm 170 1st Grade Norm 180 170 1st Grade Norm 170 160 1st Grade Norm 160 Kindergarten Norm 160 150 150 Kindergarten Norm Kindergarten Norm 150 140 140 140 130 130 Initial Intermediate130 Final Initial Intermediate Final Initial Intermediate Final Kindergarten Kindergarten1st Grade 1st2nd Grade Grade 2nd Grade Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade The shaded areas of the graph represent the MAP Student Status Norm, which is the average national growth range, for the corresponding grade level. The lines represent the average MAP scores for Positive Tomorrows students. 11 Mobility and Tracking Progress The 2018-19 school year at Positive Tomorrows served less students than the previous year due to the average length of time a student was enrolled rising from 61 to 84 days. As a result, 45 students were enrolled long enough to be assessed three times, up from 25 last year. Through partnerships and exposure to new resources, we were able to help more families maintain housing stability last year and locate funding for emergency and rehousing expenses. Families on the cusp of regression, whether due to a crisis or waiting periods/upfront expenses for new housing, were able to see these potential barriers through to the other side and continue their path to self-sufficiency. We believe these changes resulted in students staying with us longer, which allowed us to more accurately assess academic performance throughout the whole year. Being able to measure our educational outcomes over longer periods and with more students increases our ability to improve those outcomes over time. Education For many of our older students who have experienced prolonged exposure to homelessness, they are often much further behind academically than students in younger grades, which can result in larger gaps to overcome compared to their peers upon enrollment.