SHIRLEY PROCTOR PULLER FOUNDATION

The Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation (SPPF) is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2014 to honor an inspiring educator from South St. Petersburg who served Pinellas County students for over 35 years. Our mission is “to advance literacy and close the achievement gap of children in South St. Petersburg.” Our primary program goals reflect this mission. We firmly believe that M.A.S.T.R. Kids students are talented, capable learners. With proper education/development, each one can achieve at levels similar to the majority population within the district and the nation.

PRIMARY GOALS:
We want every student attending our M.A.S.T.R. Kids After School Program to improve his/her grade level reading performance. Realistically, our goal is that 80% of students attending at least 70% of available instructional time posting improvement in his/her grade level reading performance, as measured by i-Ready pre and post assessments.

We want every student attending our M.A.S.T.R. Kids Summer Program to avoid the "summer slide." Realistically, at least 70% of students attending at least 70% of available instructional time will post zero learning losses in reading and in math.

In addition, a higher percentage of students attending the program for multiple years will achieve passing scores on FSA than peers from the community schools.

SECONDARY GOAL:
Our secondary goal is to help parents/caregivers and students become empowered champions for their education outcomes. This requires the organization to address several barriers identified in early research. Specifically:

1) Low engagement and knowledge -- parent engagement in community schools is low. Parents often lack the knowledge and/or confidence to navigate the bureaucracy of the school system. They report being “overwhelmed” and “intimidated”. They report feeling “in the dark” about their students’ overall school performance. They generally feel kids are “performing well” or “really not doing well”. They know if the student passed or failed the FSA. Typically, they cannot answer specific questions about performance — i.e. is the student reading at grade level? has the student mastered basic math facts? Why did the student fail the FSA?

2) Low ability to pay – in this community 42% of children under 18 live in poverty. It is infeasible to expect parents to pay a significant portion of HH income for academic intervention. Most parents expect quality education to be "free".

3) Mindset Barriers -- “Summer = Vacation” – summer is viewed by most as a time when children are free to play and socialize. It’s a “break” from school. At SPPF, we are working to help parents understand that summer months can be an opportunity to improve/acquire missing academic skills to improve performance.

The Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation's culture of learning uses five key strategies: 1) employing certified teachers and experienced Th, 2) adhering to small class sizes, 3) using evidence-based curriculum (e.g., Benchmark Advance, i-Ready, National Inventors Hall of Fame), 4) creating personalized learning plans for students who need more flexibility, and 5) using clear outcomes measurements.

Our goal is to close the achievement gap for underserved/underperforming, black/multi-cultural children in at-risk communities, starting with South St. Petersburg. To advance reading, math, and science literacy, helping to close the achievement gap for children in these “at-risk” communities, SPPF provides tools and support through our programs, as well as free book distribution at community events to continually promote reading as a catalyst for literacy.

Consistent with our culture of accountability, SPPF looks at pre- and post- i-Ready assessment data to ensure we are effectively helping students achieve better educational outcomes. i-Ready by Curriculum Associates, a proven platform highly rated for reliability and validity and strongly correlated to Florida state testing and standards. Importantly, independent studies validate i-Ready effectiveness with “striving” (two levels below grade) and diverse (Black, Latinx) students.

SPPF’s model of care serves as a sanctuary for struggling scholars where they are protected and encouraged to develop the academic and life skills needed to thrive in the face of environmental challenges at school, at home, and/or in community. As scholars gain confidence in their skills, their self-perception changes and they develop greater resilience. Our model represents many resources and activities that go into generating outputs and outcomes ranging from increased high school graduation rates and greater participation in STEAM careers.

Unlike many out-of-school time programs, our classrooms are led by state or nationally certified Teachers who have experience delivering success with children in “at-risk” environments. All teachers have at least a Bachelor's degree and are well versed in Florida standards and the science of reading. Teachers and Assistants have experience working with black/multi-cultural students and families.

Our team is predominantly made up of individuals living in South St. Petersburg and those who have lived experience of poverty, trauma, and educational inequity, similar to our families. SPPF leaders have deep relationships within PCS allowing them to effectively advocate on behalf of our students and to serve as trusted resources helping parents understand information coming from teachers or school administrators.

The Academic staff is supported by a leadership team with strong skills in business management and education. This team has the collective experience to make SPPF a solid operational entity today while enabling it to scale as we deliver our future goals. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Site Operations Leader all have experience building, scaling, and transforming large and small organizations. All are well equipped to navigate the complex relationships required across funders, Pinellas County Schools (PCS), and community stakeholders. 

- Volunteer CEO, Bridgette Heller, spent 35 years building accountable teams to drive growth of large businesses for global corporations.
- COO, Pam Williams, has 30+ years' experience providing training, transition, and turnaround services to nonprofits in the US and East Africa.
- Volunteer Chief Information Officer (CIO), Eliot Heller, has significant expertise in system design and analytics after working as Chief Medical Information Officer in large hospitals for 20+ years.
- Site Operations Leader, Darren Hammond, spent 37 years with PCS as a teacher, guidance counselor, and school administrator. He has Master's degrees in Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction.
- Our Academic Leader, Keisha Snead, is a 25-year veteran teacher and leader from PCS.

The Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation (SPPF) was born out of an educator’s (Ms. Puller) dying concern for the educational future of children in her/our community. After a full year of listening to learn where we could have the greatest impact, SPPF M.A.S.T.R. (Math, Art, Science, Technology, and Reading) Kids launched as a summer program in 2016 serving about 50 students with a goal of avoiding the summer slide for as many students as possible. The program expanded in January 2020, with the help of a Juvenile Welfare Board grant, to include an after-school session with a goal of generating sustained academic improvements for students.

In just three years, SPPF grew from has grown from a summer program at one location serving 50 students into a year-round program at two locations serving up to 169 students during each session, 200 unduplicated over a 12-month time period.

SPPF M.A.S.T.R. Kids has proven success in helping students avoid the summer slide and closing the gap in reading achievement. Since inception, SPPF has helped over two thirds of our students avoid the summer slide each summer. In the 22-23 after school session, students reading at grade level improved from 28% to 48% overall. For the first time in SPPF history, SPPF effectively closed the achievement gap with 64% of students who were with us for a full year (from Aug’22 through July’23), 56 students, reading at grade level vs. only 27%, 22 students, at the start. Comparing the 64% to the 61% of whites reading at grade level across the county constitutes achievement gap closure!

This summer we launched the High School M.A.S.T.R. Plan (HSMP) initiative to help middle school students and early high school students successfully manage the transition to high school as only 58% of economically disadvantaged black students entering 9th grade with PCS in 2017/18, graduated in 2021. The program included a) core skill development and tutoring, b) planning tools to develop and maintain an evolving high school success plan, c) personality and career assessments, d) test preparation classes (PSAT, SAT, ACT) e) career awareness building coursework and “pre-apprenticeships.” At the end of the summer, 100% of participating students completed a career assessment framework and identified three areas of career interest that they will explore to learn more about as they move through the next couple of years into high school. HSMP has continued into the 2023-24 afterschool session.

We are striving to reach 500 unduplicated students annually by 2026, which represents about 11% of black and mixed-race children under 18 and living in poverty, in the South St. Petersburg community, most of whom we believe would benefit from ongoing academic enrichment services.  We believe that by reaching 500 students, SPPF can help create a tipping point to drive better outcomes across our community schools.