The CommUNITY Schools program, a partnership between local nonprofits Northside Neighborhood House and the McNabb Center, serves K-12 students across the county by focusing on whole-child well-being. CommUNITY Schools have a strong focus on student academic success, family advocacy, parental engagement and support for school leadership and teachers, as well as emotional well-being in school communities. This past year, Northside Neighborhood House and the McNabb Center received an Impact Grant through our Community Investment process in order to support the CommUNITY Schools program.
A new education initiative, called The Good Trouble Bookshelf, started this year as a collaborative effort between the Red Bank Elementary School library and the CommUNITY Schools program. The goal of The Good Trouble Bookshelf was to strengthen the diversity collection at the school, and a reading contest was held to see which classroom could read the most books from their Good Trouble Bookshelf. The CommUNITY School Coordinator was able to build on this momentum and start a reading mentorship program called the “Good Trouble Society”, where 5th graders read with kindergarten students, building student community as well as reading skills.
To read more success stories and learn about the impact made in the Greater Chattanooga community, see our impact report.