Ready Day One Initiative
Preparing Students for Success on Day One
The Problem
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.
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-today 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.
A Partnership Between
Birmingham City Schools
The Birmingham Council of PTAs
Department of Youth Services
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 5,000 K-12 students
living in and around
Birmingham’s 14 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
 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)
The Project Budget
Total Students: 5,000
Shoes and Socks: $60,000
Backpack/Supplies: ($135,000)
Uniforms ($300,000)
pants
shirts
belt
jacket
Cost Per Student: $100
Total Cost: $500,000
Send donations to:
Mission Alabama
2012 Magnolia Avenue
Birmingham, AL 35205
(205) 202-6002
In partnership with Craig
Witherspoon, Superintendent
of Birmingham City Schools,
The Birmingham 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
2014-2015 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
Birmingham City Schools
Counseling Department.