JPS Coordinator of Student Support Services and Equity Tamu Graham-Reinhardt presents first year results of the Community Navigator program to the Jamestown School Board (August 30, 2022)
Attendance and course grades went up for students referred to Community Navigators in the Jamestown Public Schools District.
Community Navigator Carmen Perez and JPS Coordinator of Student Support Services and Equity Tamu Graham-Reinhardt presented the first year results of the Community Navigator program to the Jamestown School Board Tuesday night.
The Community Navigator positions were created to help provide a connection between the district and Latino population, including helping overcome language barriers between families and the schools as well helping navigate the technical aspects of schooling.
Two bilingual navigators were hired for the 2021-22 school year with one navigator working full time at the high school and tech academy and the other navigator visiting the middle schools.
Graham-Reinhardt said attendance, behavior, and core academics will be the focus for this coming school year.
She said for students that were referred to the Community Navigators, there was a 63% improvement in attendance, “Our navigators were very tenacious about the families they worked with – getting students to school, improving their attendance, getting them here, following up, ensuring that they have a way to get here. We even had one of the staff actually worked with CARTS to get one of our English-language learners picked up on the bus to be brought here every day for school.”
Graham-Reinhardt said the behavior rate was at 60%, which was down from the previous year, but she said that was due in part to the 2020-21 school year being a hybrid year for in-person attendance so there weren’t the type of behavior referrals you’d normally expect to see.
She said the really important data point was that 71% of referred students passed all their course grades, “So, that’s very encouraging. Because the more that they come to school, once they’re in school they can get their work done. And so we’re really encouraged about these numbers with just the two people that we had working this year.”
The Jamestown School Board had approved hiring two more Community Navigators for this school year, bringing the total to four. Graham-Reinhardt said one will continue to be at the high school and tech academy with the other three, once hired, mainly at the Middle Schools.
She added that the goal for navigators this year is to continue to reach out to struggling students and families to break down mistrust that parents may have and make them feel welcome in the buildings. They also will be expanding discussions with middle and high school students about planning for what happens after high school graduation.
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