Ft Worth Times

A community-wide coalition assembled by Read Fort Worth spent time this summer visiting Fort Worth ISD students and families at home, engaging with them in a series of porch visits. 

The goal of the porch visits was to help students achieve their academic potential by ensuring their physical and psychological needs were met. 

“Our mission in Fort Worth ISD is to prepare all students for college, career and community leadership,” Mia Hall, Fort Worth ISD’s executive director for its Equity and Excellence Division, said in a release. “In an effort to  fulfill our mission and to ensure that every student is not only enrolled, but prepared to engage in instruction on the first day of school, we must eliminate barriers to communication, bridge the digital divide and meet our students and families where they are, at their homes.”

More than 800 families were contacted through porch visits or by phone. Many of these were follow-ups with students who were not as engaged in classes once learning switched to virtual instruction earlier this spring. 

Fort Worth ISD staff and social workers went from home to home to connect students and families with instructional material and resources that address social and emotional needs.

“People were really appreciative of having resources for their children,” Read Fort Worth data manager Satoya Williams said. “It was a good way to check on people in our community.”

Areas reached include the Dunbar, Eastern Hills, Polytechnic and O.D. Wyatt pyramids. More than 10 community partners and 100 individuals participated in the venture.

Neighborhood Champions, or organizations that gave porch visits credibility in neighborhoods, included Best Place 4 Kids, the City of Fort Worth, AB Christian Learning Center, Southside Youth Association, Community Frontline, the office of state Rep. Ramon Romero, Cook Children’s Medical Center, United Way Tarrant County, Blue Zones Project and Raise Your Hand Texas.