Over the last twenty years, Jefferson Area schools (Edgewater Elementary, Lumberg Elementary, Molholm Elementary and Jefferson Junior/Senior High School) have struggled with academic achievement. One of the rising challenges has been the increase of poverty in the area. In 1997, 6 in 10 students received free or reduced lunch rates. Currently, 9 in 10 area students receive free or reduced lunch rates.

Poverty is a roadblock to academic success but it shouldn’t be an excuse. In recent years, Jeffco Public Schools has made a concerted effort to invest in these schools and implement systematic changes to help students succeed. The Jefferson Success Pathway is a community driven effort to work with the school district and focus community partners on helping all students succeed from cradle to career.

Our focus for our Collaborative Action Networks (CAN) will be on academic achievement this school year. This is the third year of the Jefferson Plan, so we are focused on finding best practices for increasing student achievement in the classroom and scaling up those practices.

This school year we will have three Collaborative Action Networks:

  • Early Literacy (Focused on preschool to 3rd grade literacy)
  • Elementary Math (Focused on math from 3rd grade to 6th grade)
  • College and Career Readiness (Focused on readiness for college and career connections)

Each CAN will also come up with targets for 2018, 2019 and 2020 for the benchmark goals in their area. Here’s a look at what these targets will look like:

Over the past three years we have seen partner organizations receive funding for complementary collaborative efforts focused on wraparound services for students and families. This allows us to focus on academic achievement knowing that there are others making sure that families are healthy and well-resourced.  Here are some of the collaborative efforts focused on family health and other wraparound resources: