The Forsyth Promise 2020 Education Report
The purpose of this report is share community information so that everyone can better understand our educational systems. This report is produced annually by The Forsyth Promise.
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Pathways to Action
We can work together and use information as a tool to inform advocacy and drive positive change.
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What are Pathways to Action?
There is no simple solution to the complex, intersectional issues that present barriers to academic success for students in Forsyth County. Our community must work together to imagine what thriving, equitable educational systems might look like, and take collective action to realize that vision.
The purpose of this page is to inform you, the reader, of the actions you can take to make a positive impact on our educational systems.
Now is a critical moment for our community to be engaged, to be informed, and to work together like never before to support children and education in Forsyth County.
We are faced with the dual crises of the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to alarming disparities in educational outcomes by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Through activism, advocacy, community organizing, and support of strategic community education initiatives, we can change our educational systems for the better.
Pathways to Action
Get Engaged in the Community Conversation on Education
There is no simple solution to the complex, intersectional issues that present barriers to academic success for students in Forsyth County. Our community must work together to imagine what thriving, equitable educational systems might look like, and take collective action to realize that vision.
We hope that you will join The Forsyth Promise in 2021 as we convene our community around the content of this report. Our virtual kickoff conveneing, Be The Change: Making Good on Our Promise, is coming up on April 15.
This event will convene our community around the 2020 Community Education Report on the state of education in Forsyth County. Local leaders will shine a light on major themes and findings from the report with the goal of informing a more complete perspective of our most difficult challenges. Attendees will join in open discussions on how we can work together to improve educational outcomes for all students in Forsyth County.
Action Items
Be The Change: Making Good on Our Promise
Register today for this important virtual kickoff event to catalyze collective community action for education!
Sign up for The Forsyth Promise's Email List
Pathways to Action
Taking Initiative for Change
Many groups in our community are doing important work to help improve our systems of education. Learning more about these initiatives can help our community better understand where positive momentum for change already exists within our systems.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Strategic Plan Goals
Community Education Initiatives
Action Profile
Equity Forsyth
EquityForsyth@gmail.com
EquityForsyth is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to the work of learning, teaching, and doing more to advance racial equity, justice, and educational equity in Forsyth County.
In 2020, the coalition focused primarily on drawing community attention and support to the equity issues facing students that were exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic; the issues of access, opportunity, and engagement policies and practices for communities of color and/or low wealth have never been more apparent.
In addressing these glaring equity issues, EquityForsyth partners have joined in a movement to push WS/FCS to adopt and implement the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child policy for holistic and culturally responsive policy and practices as an expansion of Action4Equity’s grassroots public policy work; EquityForsyth has also partnered with local organizations providing remote learning and tutoring locations to the most vulnerable learners. EquityForsyth is also committed to providing popular education opportunities to the community about forward facing equity issues, community resources, and engagement opportunities through coalition networks and convening organizations.
How Can the Community Get Involved?
To join the fight for educational equity in Forsyth County, EquityForsyth invites community members to join the network and stay connected to the grassroots work being done everyday.
Action Profile
Great Expectations
Shenell@kbr.org
Great Expectations, a special initiative of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, works to ensure that all children in Forsyth County enter kindergarten ready to learn and leave set for success—regardless of their race, location, or economic status.
About Great Expectations
The Trust invests in equitable opportunities to improve educational and health outcomes for all young children and their families in Forsyth County, through its Great Expectations initiative. Research shows that every dollar spent on early childhood initiatives provides over eight dollars in benefits back to society, and there’s much work that remains to be done in the region.
Equity, especially racial equity, is at the center of the work of the Trust, partnering with the community in Forsyth County to improve educational and health outcomes for all young children and their families. The Trust focuses its grantmaking on outcomes rather than issues, because it believes this is the most effective way to achieve long-term, sustainable change.
The Trust’s grantmaking strategy for Great Expectations focuses on achieving equitable outcomes in the following areas:
Early intervention and health. When families have access to quality health services, it improves birth outcomes and sets children up to learn and thrive. The Trust supports evidence-based home visiting programs; works to improve access to care and resources; and supports parents, caregivers, and teachers to identify children’s behavioral health needs.
Access to quality childcare and early learning. Early experiences and environment can have a lasting impact on brain development, setting children up for later success in school and life. The Trust supports access to universal pre-K for all children. It also supports quality, bias-free childcare at licensed centers and in the home.
Family support. To help young children in Forsyth County thrive, the Trust works to help families thrive. That’s why the Trust supports grantees who are developing solutions to advance economic opportunities and mobility for people with low incomes.
Recent grantees include: The Pre-K Priority coalition/Family Services Inc.; Work Family Resource Center, Inc.; The Forsyth Promise and Partnership for Prosperity /United Way of Forsyth County, Inc.; Forsyth Technical Community College; The Asset Building Coalition; Kellin Foundation; Imprints Cares; and many more.
Primary Point of Contact
Shenell McClurkin Thompson
Senior Program Officer, Local Impact in Forsyth County
The Trust begins by listening.
The Trust listens to and learns with the community to ensure that children in Forsyth County receive the equitable access and support they and their families need to thrive. The Trust begins by listening to parents and caregivers about what they need to help children succeed.
Action Profile
The Pre-K Priority
lmullinix@familyservicesforsyth.org
The Pre-K Priority (PKP) was created in June 2014 by a group of early learning professionals for the purpose of making high-quality Pre-K programs available to all four-year-old children in Forsyth County.
What is The Pre-K Priority?
In any given year, only one-third of the county’s 4,500 four-year-olds are enrolled in a publicly-funded Pre-K program. Improving quality is an issue: none of the Pre-K programs in the county meet all the quality standards established by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). PKP has published several reports — available at www.prekpriority.org — with recommendations for establishing an equitable, accessible, and affordable high-quality Pre-K system in Forsyth County.
The percent of kindergartners at risk of not learning to read has significantly increased over the past several years, rising from 42% at risk in 2013 to 51% in 2018. Significant disparities exist across racial/ethnic groups in regard both to reading readiness and third grade reading. High-quality Pre-K is an effective means of closing these gaps and preparing all children to succeed in school.
In the fall of 2020, PKP mounted a campaign calling upon local elected officials to establish an Early Childhood Education Task Force to develop a plan to expand high-quality Pre-K in Forsyth County. Over 1,500 individuals signed pledges of support for Pre-K expansion. Sixty organizations, including the area’s two largest healthcare systems, four colleges/universities, business leaders, human services and early learning organizations, faith groups, and grassroots organizations signed a Declaration of Support urging local elected officials to establish the Task Force.
In February 2021 the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution establishing the Early Childhood Education Task Force. The Task Force will begin meeting in early May 2021 and deliver a plan to the County Commissioners in early 2022. PKP will serve as a primary source of expertise for the Task Force.
The Pre-K Priority is also focusing on reforming the North Carolina Pre-K Program (NC Pre-K) and the method by which the reimbursement (market) rate for the childcare subsidy is determined. Current practices have resulted in gross disparities among counties across the state. For example, only 27% of eligible children in Forsyth County are enrolled in NC Pre-K versus 67% in Guilford County. The market rate for the childcare subsidy is 50% higher in Guilford County than in Forsyth County. PKP will be working with statewide advocacy groups to address these inequities.
How Can the Community Get Involved?
Community members can participate in PKP by visiting its website to keep abreast of developments at both the county and state level. PKP welcomes comments about the Pre-K expansion plan as it is being developed by the Early Childhood Education Task Force. Letters and phone calls to legislators in support of the reform of state early learning programs will be important as proposals are brought before the legislature.
For more information about The Pre-K Priority, contact Leslie Mullinix, Pre-K Priority Project Coordinator.
Pathways to Action
Your Voice Can Make an Impact
When the members of our community speak up, we can learn from each other and improve the work we’re doing to ensure that all children in Forsyth County thrive — in school and in life.