WACO, Texas (FOX 44) – The Chief Executive Officer of local organization Transformaton Waco has announced some upcoming changes.
Dr. Robin McDurham sent out a statement Thursday morning, saying its contract with the Waco Independent School District ends in June 2024. As the organization transitions operations of Alta Vista Elementary, Brook Avenue Elementary, J.H. Hines Elementary, and G.W. Carver Middle School to Waco ISD for the 2024-2025 school year, it will restructure as a nonprofit focusing on providing wraparound services to students and families in the community.
Dr. McDurham says Transformation Waco is a community-driven solution for school improvement which was formed to provide additional and needed resources to predominantly underserved and underrepresented students. Hundreds of local partners join school staff to give students the support they need throughout the school day and other aspects of their lives – whether academic or social-emotional.
These wraparound services include free access to afterschool programming, visits with licensed counselors and social workers, eye appointments and glasses, summer enrichment and telehealth care.
Dr. McDurham says Transformation Waco started in 2018, with its work leading to better educational outcomes for students – including improved attendance and increased Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth in math and reading scores. The MAP test is given nationally to over 6.7 million students at the school year’s beginning, middle and end.
The national average of students meeting their annual growth target is 50 percent, and in 2022-23, 52 percent of Transformation Waco students met their targets. Students who receive wraparound services have unprecedented growth.
Of the 1,200 students who received one or more wraparound services, more than 60 percent of enrollment:
- 73 percent met their annual MAP target
- 65 percent recovered at least one day or more of attendance and met MAP target
- 77 percent who received services from a community school specialist met MAP target
- 71 percent who received intensive intervention from a licensed clinical social worker met MAP target
- 81 percent who attended free AfterSchool Academies met MAP growth target
Dr. McDurham says the leadership team will provide opportunities for staff, families and students to ask questions and offer feedback on the transition of schools to Waco ISD.
