Preparing Students for Success on Day One The Problem For a sundry of reasons, there are many families in our community who do not send their children to school until the Tuesday after Labor Day each year. As a result, students begin the school year significantly behind the majority of their classmates in their courses of study. They also find themselves significantly behind in assimilating into the classroom culture. There is also an impact on the school system in the day-to- day operations and in the funding of the school system. Like most large organizations, the logistics of personnel and resources is a monumental task. Because of late enrollments, a process that usually takes two to three weeks to stabilize now takes five to six weeks. Also, schools are funded based upon average daily attendance from the first few weeks of school. At a time when educational funding continues to be significantly cut, we cannot afford to underfund our schools because our students are not ready on day one of the school year. Each year, there are many families across our communities who are not prepared to send their children to school on the first day. As a result, student achievement and the success of our schools is greatly diminished. READY DAY ONE seeks to identify the internal and external challenges that serve as barriers to families to ensure that our children are ready to learn on day one. Ready Day One Initiative A Partnership Between Fairfield City Schools The City of Fairfield Mission Alabama Samaritan’s Feet International Corporate and Community Sponsors Suburban and Urban Evangelical Churches

Obstacles Addressed Targeted Demographic Shoes, socks, book bags, supplies, three sets of uniforms, a belt, and a rain jacket The 1,000 K-12 students living in and around Fairfield’s Public Housing Communities Partners and volunteers will provide not only resources but a personal touch and words of encouragement to every single child...one child at a time! Objective Prepare students to be ready for school on the first day by removing the financial obstacles that prevents impoverished families from being ready on the first day of school. The Role of your Organization Urban and suburban families, organizations and corporations are being asked to partner together...  To distribute the supplies to families living in housing communities The Project Budget  To wash the feet of students, to place shoes on them, and to pray over each student  To help raise financial support  To coordinate the distribution of items and any additional activities they want to plan for the distribution day (August 9 th 2014) In partnership with Walter Gonsoulin, Superintendent of Fairfield City Schools, The Fairfield Council of PTAs, Mission Alabama is building bridges between corporations, churches, community-based organizations, public entities, and families to ensure that our children are ready for school on day one of the school year. The hope is that these partnerships will help bridge the gap between student readiness and student achievement. Resources will also be distributed through the Fairfield City Schools Counseling Department. Total Students: 1,000 Shoes and Socks: Backpack/Supplies: Uniforms pants shirts belt jacket Cost Per Student: $100 Total Cost: $100,000 Send donations to: Mission Alabama 2012 Magnolia Avenue Birmingham, AL (205)