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Achieve Escambia released its 2020 community report, Achieving Equity, today. The 40-page report examines a set of 45 indicators impacting education, health, and a career-ready workforce in Escambia County, Florida. We must seize this opportunity to intentionally reignite our economy in ways that build bridges and scaffolding to lift up our most vulnerable youth and families
When one of the recommended ways to remain safe during this pandemic is avoiding large crowds, voting becomes a stressful task for many. The simple act of standing in line and slipping behind a voting booth now represents a measure of risk despite the necessity to exercise our power as citizens.
The ongoing pandemic has taken its toll on our local community. Job, home, and school insecurity are felt even if they cannot be seen. Our most vulnerable friends, relatives, and neighbors are living through uncertain times face uncertain futures. Homes are tuned to news of systemic racism, new virus strains appearing in the world, and politicized health mandates, all while parents struggle to balance budgets around a lack of work or balance time around a lack of open schools.
What does that do to our children?
Because economic status tends to segregate communities, people most likely to suffer from the coronavirus live in close proximity. That multiplies their risk, making Covid-19 about twice as deadly for those most economically disadvantaged, according to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a ranking of Florida's 67 counties, Achieve Escambia said Escambia County is at No. 53 (Department of Education data indicates ranks 50-54 all had a 47% readiness rate), up from our rank of No. 56 in 2018.
"That means we're starting to move in the right direction in Escambia County, but it's not nearly at the pace we want to be at," Krupa said. "We want to be better than the state, we want to be the best Escambia County we can possibly be. We're nowhere near our goal of 75% kindergartner ready by 2025, so the question is, what is it going to take to get us over this really significant hump?"
The progress report, a companion piece to our annual community report card, looks internally to measure the impact of our work and show why it matters to Escambia County’s future.
Lauren Sapp (left) Senior, Northview High School & A’Precious Brooks (right), Senior, Northview High School
As Escambia’s child well-being index shows, even when we measurably improve, it’s too incremental – beautiful for the few children fortunate enough to receive developmental supports, access quality preschool, read on grade level, graduate on time and escape abuse, neglect, and the juvenile justice system – but not enough, nor fast enough, nor effective enough, to turn the tide.
In the coming year, we will be working smarter to engage families, community leaders and educators in going “all-in,” so that no child, youth or adult is left behind or left out of our Escambia County economy.
While Escambia County’s kindergarten readiness rate remains a flat 45%, the majority of the county’s 82 VPK providers are improving their ability to prepare 4- and 5-year-olds for school. The latest results show an early learning system that is strengthening, and on the rise.
“I care about educational outreach and community. I want to share the gift of equity in every learning institution in the nation.”
“Having lived through my own personal struggles and hardships in the pursuit of a better life for myself and my family, I want to use my voice and position with Achieve Escambia to help improve the lives of the citizens of Escambia County.”
This month, Pensacola was selected for the inaugural cohort of the Inclusive Development Network. “Inclusion” and “economic development” don’t always go hand-in-hand. But they should. Now, more than ever, we need to create more economic developers with the skill sets, strategies, and sustainability plans to drive impactful workforce and talent alignment strategies in northwest Florida.
Learn about the FAFSA in less than 60 seconds in this fun video produced by our partner, Dr. Kit.
Breaking news from our partners at Florida College Access Network: More adults in Escambia County have at least a two-year degree, according to the latest census data. We’re improving!
Achieve Escambia is hiring!
Learn about Hanan Yousuf, the Achieve Escambia researcher whose 8,000-mile journey from Ethiopia to Pensacola opened her eyes to the power of community.
You can be a changemaker like Hanan. Click HERE to apply today.
Our annual collective impact report looks back on 2018, a year of learning to measure and improve what matters, and looks ahead to 2019 and beyond as we reimagine the future of cradle to career education and workforce development systems in Escambia County.
We’re excited to reveal our newly revamped website, designed through the generosity of Bee Loud, the in-house digital marketing agency at Innisfree Hotels.
The past several years have been all about math in my life. I do it everyday, I learn more about it everyday, and even though it gets challenging sometimes, I push through just so I can say “I did it.” After my summer job ended this year, I wanted to work for a company that would help me acquire more professional development experience.
Last year, students in Escambia County left more than $2 million in Pell grants unused, all because students did not complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). That’s why Achieve Escambia is launching the Escambia County FAFSA Challenge. The goal is simple — to challenge local students and their parents to fill out a FAFSA application. It’s the No. 1 ticket to higher education.
This week we were thrilled to welcome our new manager, M.J. Ziemba to the Achieve Escambia partnership. M.J. comes to Achieve Escambia with four decades of experience in education. Most recently, she spent 15 years managing the Florida Inclusion Network, where she is most proud of founding the Peer Support Project.
A group of more than 100 people typed their feelings on the economic and educational future of Escambia County’s children into their smartphones. Eventually, three words emerged prominently out of a word soup of thoughts on a big screen in the front of the room.
One year ago, Achieve Escambia launched its baseline report. There were 24 pages filled with extensive data, which provided an honest reflection of where our community stood in terms of educational achievement and workforce readiness.
Being an educator is tremendously fulfilling and challenging at the same time. I have the pleasure of serving our community as principal of C. A. Weis Elementary Community Partnership School. If you don’t know about us, we’re located in the heart of Pensacola … not too far from the intersection of Pace Boulevard and Fairfield Drive.
As Achieve Escambia gears up for the release of its annual progress report to the community, the organization has named a new leader for its volunteer board. David Deliman, Gulf Coast market vice president for Cox Communications, has assumed the role of chair of the Achieve Escambia Leadership Council.
Achieve Escambia is an organization committed to reducing disparities in education and workforce readiness outcomes. Using a structured form of collaboration, a focus on shared data, and continuous improvement tools, Achieve Escambia partners engage in strategies that yield program and service efficiencies and create innovative ways of working together to achieve more equitable results for learners of all ages and backgrounds.
When people ask me about early childhood in Escambia County, I tell them … I’ve never seen a community more committed to figuring out how to make things better. And there's never been a better time for working better together.
If we want our young people to be ready for kindergarten, to excel in elementary reading and math, graduate high school on time and be prepared to enter the workforce, we’ve got to work together to make sure they’re healthy. And there’s a lot of opportunity for improvement across Escambia County.
PENSACOLA (March 8, 2018) – West Florida Healthcare has agreed to partner with Achieve Escambia. This new alignment signifies West Florida Healthcare’s commitment to helping improve education outcomes across Escambia County for generations to come.
