OUR WORK IN EDUCATION Help children and youth achieve their full potential
Why focus on education?
25% of children in Hamilton County start school without the skills they need to succeed
Only 48% of children in Hamilton County public schools can read on grade level
More than 70% of high school dropouts will be unemployed, and 80% of those will be involved in crime
Each high school dropout costs the community $60,000 each year
What we're doing about it:
Schools can't do it all. It takes a whole community to support children from birth to work. United Way is bringing together people and organizations with resources, expertise and passion to work together on improving the chances that the children in our community will succeed in school and life.
More than 18,000 children receive free books in the mail through United Way’s Project Ready for School. More than 210,000 books were mailed directly to children.
More than 15% of children receiving free books had Learning Checkups. Of those children, 89% showed age-appropriate learning skills.
90% of children screened in United-Way funded child care programs were eligible to begin kindergarten and had average or above-average literacy skills.
More than 12,000 boys and girls were provided opportunities to develop leadership skills and self-confidence through Scouting.
More than 500 youths involved in United Way after-school programs have improved attendance in school and are achieving proficient grades in reading, spelling, math and language.
88% of preschool classrooms are implementing a research-based curriculum.
100% of the United Way-funded child care centers had most of the necessary components required to prepare children to read.
The YMCA Mobile Fit program, funded by United Way, provided physical activity, nutrition education, healthy snacks, meals and literacy activities to 855 children in their neighborhoods.
The Summer Feeding collaborative provided more than 8,000 children at-risk in Chattanooga healthy, nutritious meals during summer break.
Through United Way's Early Childhood Institute, nine United Way-funded child care centers are raising the bar for program quality and will become models for all child care centers service low-income families in our community.
How You Can Help
To reach our goals, we need your help. The strategies proven to work are those that connect communities to their schools: parent involvement; community campaigns; literacy volunteers in the classroom; mentors for disadvantaged students; and business leaders engaged in early childhood advocacy.
