Beyond the classroom, Jackson Public Schools helps students, families meet basic needs ...Middle East

When students have to grapple with challenges outside of school such as homelessness and food insecurity, it can curb academic performance, attendance and mental health. 

Those struggles can also lead to higher dropout rates and lower grades, said Josh Anderson of FutureEd, an education think tank. It’s like a stone dropping in a pond, with the impact rippling outward. 

But wraparound services, such as washers and dryers and food pantries, can directly counteract these negative effects, research shows. 

About 25 million students, or more than half of public school students in the country, were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch during the 2022-23 school year. Wraparound services are also essential in a district like Jackson Public Schools, where about a third of students live in poverty.

Jackson Public Schools leaders say the district works hard to eliminate barriers to education through wraparound services especially at their four “community schools.”

It’s a long-standing, mutually-beneficial model where communities pour into their schools to create students who will go on to support their communities. Jackson’s community schools aim to support the whole student, inside and out of the classroom.

“We preach it all day long: What’s your plus?” said Stacey Webb, principal of Lanier Junior Senior High School. “It’s a diploma, plus. It’s not just about academics, but also providing things to help scholars be successful.” 

But the services don’t just affect the students. Caring for the child includes caring for their families, Webb said. The services impact parents, too, boosting engagement and cementing schools as the anchors of their communities. 

“A helpful way to think about this is the hours we have,” Anderson said. “If you add them up over 18 or 20 years, we’re spending less than 20% of those hours in a school building and a lot more of our hours with our families and in our neighborhoods. 

“Schools are vital, and we need them to be better and better. But if we want kids to be ready to learn in school, supporting the family makes a tremendous difference.”

‘Just showing we care’

Laundry services operate on a need-to-know basis at Lanier. 

Students put their clothes in a laundry bag and hand it to a teacher, and by the end of the day, their clothes are washed, dried, folded and ready to go home with them — no questions asked. 

Parents in need, too, can wash their clothes at the school on weekends. 

“If the only thing keeping you from coming to school, we’re going to take care of that for you,” Webb said. “I tell my scholars all the time, we’re going to break the cycle some of them are in.”

The home appliance company Whirlpool started donating washer and dryers to schools across the country in 2015, making it easier for students to have access to clean clothes. At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, nearly 61% of students at participating schools considered at risk for chronic absenteeism were no longer at risk, according to the company. 

Laundry services are just one of the ways educators at Lanier care for their students. The school also operates a clothes closet — stocked with prom dresses, professional clothes for jobs interviews, school uniforms and casual attire — a food pantry and health clinic.

The clinic, staffed by nurse practitioners and nurses, opened a decade ago through a partnership with University of Mississippi Medical Center. 

Students can receive primary and preventive care of the clinic — services like mental health and physical assessments, prenatal care and asthma management — instead of missing class to go to a doctor’s office. 

Webb said all of these services the school provides signals to the students that their teachers and principals care about them, which she’s seen reflected in student grades and attendance.

“I believe it’s about the relationship, just showing we care about you as a person,” she said. “I tell my staff and students that if you can develop a relationship with someone, you can do anything to help them.”

Serving the whole family

This past school year, more than a quarter of K-12 students were considered chronically absent statewide, according to data from the Mississippi Department of Education. That’s more than double the rate during the 2018-19 school year. 

More than a third of JPS students are chronically absent. 

The more needs students can have addressed at school, the more likely they are to stay in class, Johnson Elementary Principal Guyniesha Johnson said. 

“If they don’t have a way to wash their clothes, let’s provide them with one,” she said. “If they don’t have food, let’s get them food. It’s our goal to meet all of those needs.”

Aside from laundry services and a uniform closet, the school has operated a weekend food service for years through a partnership with the Mississippi Food Network and the Junior League of Jackson: Students can take home a bag of food on Friday that will last their family through the weekend. Last year, Johnson Elementary also started stocking a food pantry, where students can go “shopping” for groceries.

Johnson Elementary is located in the Georgetown neighborhood. Many homes in the community continue to be multi-generational, the principal said, with grandparents and great-grandparents living in the same house as their grandchildren. 

The neighborhood has seen decreasing access to fresh food over the years, Johnson said — today, there’s just one grocery store. 

When food insecurity is an issue for a Johnson Elementary student, their families are struggling, too. Part of the district’s community schools model is to help the whole family, Johnson said. 

“We ask the kids how many people live in their household because we expect and believe that the food is to help everybody, not just our students,” she said. “We want to be able to fill those gaps.”

Reducing barriers to learning

Everything a student might need is located in one room at Walton Elementary School: The aptly-named “community room.”

The room houses nonperishable food items, uniforms, backpacks, coats, personal hygiene products, and on occasion, even bikes. 

Principal LaRoy Merrick considers it a personal responsibility to keep the room stocked at all times, making sure the needs of all of his students are met. 

“I can’t control what a child gets when they leave me, but while they’re with me, they’re getting everything they need,” he said. “My responsibility is to make sure they’re educated and nurtured and loved.”

The school relies on community partnerships to serve its students. During the holidays, nearby Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church provides Thanksgiving meals to students and their families. The Junior League of Jackson hosts a sort of farmers market once a month at the school, where families can select fresh groceries to take home. 

“We’re a family here,” Merrick said. “In order to educate students’ minds, we have to educate them in all other ways.”

That community collaboration component is integral because schools alone cannot solve the myriad of challenges students face, said Anderson of FutureEd. A web of community partnerships help support the schools’ work. 

“If you provide support to a child and their family, you are doing one of two things, and both are super helpful,” he said. “You’re reducing barriers for them to get to school ready to learn … and you’re making home a more conducive environment for child development. A model that does these things consistently can make a meaningful contribution to a child’s wellbeing.”

It’s work that’s going to impact students far beyond their years at school, he said, “20 years down the road.” 

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