eGap
Skip Navigation LinksHome > Funding Applications > Funding Application Sections > ARP ESSER State Reserve - Application Details
ARP ESSER State Reserve - Application Details
Magic City Acceptance Academy, American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER - Fiscal Year 2021 (Rev 0)
 
Go ToExpand Go To



ARP ESSER State Reserve Allocation to Address Loss of Instructional Time

The ALSDE is providing a State Reserve allocation to LEAs to address the loss of instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based interventions and ensure that those interventions respond to students’ social, emotional, and academic needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups.

For the ARP ESSER State Reserve Allocation, the following interventions are allowable:
1. Summer Learning & Summer Enrichment Programs
2. Comprehensive After-School Programs
3. Other – See Intervention box C for more details.

Required Narratives 
Provide a description of the evidence-based program(s) (including partnerships with community-based organizations) the LEA has selected to use with the ARP ESSER State Reserve, and how the LEA will address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students, including each major racial and ethnic group, children from low-income families, children with disabilities, English Learners, gender, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care.
*

Magic City Acceptance Academy is a 6-12 public charter school  operating in Birmingham, Alabama.  Our school will operate five days per week from 9:00 a.m. -4:30 p.m. Our mission is to "facilitate a community in which all learners are empowered to embrace education, achieve individual success, and take ownership of their future in a brave, LGBTQ-affirming learning environment."  During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the students who now attend Magic City Acceptance Academy were separated from traditional educational environments and lacked access to proper resources to sustain and accelerate their age-appropriate, grade level academic learning. Because many of our students matriculated from academic environments that did not provide a climate that was affirming of their diverse needs related to their cultural, social economic, gender and other lifestyle differences, they experienced trauma, isolation and rejection which may have negatively impacted their capacity to perform academically.  In order to close achievement gaps and promote our students' social emotional wellness, MCAA will use the ARP ESSER funds to address our students learning loss and social emotional needs through implementation of afterschool and summer learning/enrichment programs.

MCAA implements the following academic model to address the learning needs of our students.

  High-quality, Aligned Curriculum that allows for culturally-responsive adaptations;

  • Project-Based Learning embedded in each content area and learning unit; 

  • Blended Learning, driven by excellent teachers and a world-class online platform that allows students to learn at their own pace and allows teachers to upload curriculum and lessons plans, monitor progress in real time, and make data-based decisions;

  • Arts-Infused Community Projects emphasizing the a social/restorative justice theme; 

  • 1:1 Mentoring wherein each student has an assigned adult mentor who helps set college and career goals, regularly monitors progress towards those goals on the online platform, gives real-time feedback on next steps, and serves as a personal ally; and

  • Mental and Physical Health Services using Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO) wrap-around resources for students.

Secondary students will participate in afterschool and summer programs based on the need to recover grades or credit needed for graduation with their assigned cohort.  The afterschool program will operate for 90 minutes  after the normal school day.   The summer programs will operate for a specified two-week period during the summer.   Students will use digital platforms such as Access Credit Recovery, the hybrid Engage NY and Eureka Math to complete coursework required for grade recovery and credit recovery, as appropriate.  These programs will provide educational opportunities beyond normal school hours and afford students an opportunity to stay on track for graduation credit hours.  Funds from ARP ESSER will be utilized to provide the human capital needed to provide academic support to our students beyond the school day through afterschool and summer enrichment programs.  This additional learning time will enable our school to reduce the achievement gap resulting from school closures, virtual learning environments and lack of access to resources needed to sustain and accelerate their learning.  These funds will be used for the additional support staff salaries.

The MCAA will ensure that evidence-based interventions are addressing the academic, social, emotional and mental health needs of all students.  We will monitor the students’ needs  by implementing data driven CIP which aligns to the comprehensive needs assessment.  This plan will include how loss of instructional time will be addressed due to the pandemic as well as how the social and emotional needs of students will be supported.  The plans will be revised throughout the year to assess student progress and implementation.  We will also participate in bi-weekly grade-to-grade feeder pattern data meetings to examine student progress in meeting the standards.  Students will be given additional instruction through a multi-tiered system of support with Tier II, Tier III intervention (academic and behavior) and available tutoring/after school support.  A charter school plan includes specific interventions/programs to use with grade span groups and progress of students is continually monitored based on standards and needs. Many students who experience bullying and trauma from lack of acceptance may have attendance and truancy issues.  MCAA will use PowerSchools to monitor student attendance and will utilize this data to set up a system of support for these students. 

 Building community partnerships has played an integral part in establishing our school.  During our inaugural year, we are developing an outreach plan to solicit partnerships with community organizations around the surrounding Birmingham area.  These partnerships will to enable us to better serve our diverse population of students. Currently, we are partnering with the Magic City Acceptance Center, the Big Brother Big Sister Program, and New Schools for Alabama to operate a charter school in which all students.****(List others) 

Because many of our students matriculated from academic environments that did not provide a climate that was affirming of their diverse needs related to their cultural, social economic, gender and other lifestyle differences, MCAA will purchase and implement a social emotional resilience curriculum through our Big Brother, Big Sister program which will provide mentoring services to our students who have suffered trauma due to bullying, social economic status, and other diverse issues. Through this support, our students will be empowered to be independent, resilient and thrive in a society that may lack compassion and empathy towards their needs.  Additionally, our partnership with Magic City Acceptance Center will provide support for our on site Comprehensive Wellness Suite in which students will receive small group support services, skill building workshops, and social emotional support. Comprehensive skill building resources will also be utilized to remediate and support sustainable academic growth for all students.

To engage families and empower parents to successfully support the academic and social emotional needs of their child(ren), we will utilize a parent engagement platform provided by POSSIP that will enable us to assess our families needs through a Comprehensive Needs Assessment Survey. POSSIP is a multi-lingual platform used to gather real time feedback from parents, teachers, and students. In addition, MCAA will also begin hosting Parent University workshops and seminars to enable our parents to provide academic, as well as social emotional wellness support to their child(ren).  This forum will give our faculty, staff and families a space to have meaningful dialogue and brainstorm solutions related to the issues that impact home and school.  Topics pertaining to academic content, testing, career readiness, college preparedness, trauma, diversity and other topics pertaining to the needs of our students will be presented. 

 

 

Indicate the data sources the LEA used to identify the students most in need of the program(s) and the extent to which the LEA will evaluate the impact of the program(s).
*

MCAA recognize that students who enter our school may have adverse trauma related experiences that has resulted in behavioral issues and poor academic performance.

**We will utilize the data from the Kelvin's students comprehensive needs assessment, to continuously survey the culture, climate, and needs of all students. This data will be used to improve the climate/culture, student achievement, and increase prosocial behaviors/attitudes towards school. As a result, the stress and depression rates among students will decline creating a safe learning environment for all students to learn. 

**Data from the platform Possip will provide insight on how MCAA can support parent engagement and how to implement practices and procedures that will meet the specific needs of our families. This will impact the "Parent University Session" topics 

Kelvin Student Feedback platform. 

Nwea Mac Growth Assessment provides universal screening, progress monitoring, and goal setting data to move every student forward in Reading & Math. This platform will allow MCAA to review student performance school wide as well as grade level to properly allocate resources to help all students succeed. Data from the Mac Growths formative & summative will drive daily instruction allowing teachers to provide more individualized learning paths that will target student's specific needs. 

In addition to NWEA, data from Eureka Math and Engage New York will enable us to determine students standard mastery and deficits. Data teams will use data to provide multi- tiered support and individualized learning plans for all students.  

The PowerSchool platform will provide a data driven approach by tracking student attendance daily. We will use this data to quickly address issues related to student absences and attendance. Reviewing this data in our weekly data team meeting will give teachers & staff the capacity to implement quick interventions that will have a positive impact on student academic growth, emotional wellness as well as cultivating student teacher partnerships. 

***Use of the PBIS and Restorative practice discipline reports & referrals rates will be used to refer students to programs such as Big Brother, Big Sister, Magic City Acceptance Academy and services provided by our in-house comprehensive Wellness Suite. 

Using the allocation from the ARP ESSER State Reserve, explain how the LEA will identify and engage
1) students who have missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and
2) students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during school building closures.
*

With 2021-22 being MCAA's inaugural year, the LEA will rely on parent feedback on the Possip platform and student feedback on the Kelvin platform to identify students who missed the most in-person & lacked participation during remote instruction during Covid related school closings. MCAA will also use Powerschool to track daily attendance school wide. Teachers will identify all students who have missed 2 or more days each week by submitting attendance Google Form.

MCAA will engage the identified students by referring students to following programs/partnerships: 

Daily tracking of students attendance will help identify students who are at risk of learning gaps due to poor attendance. 

Thriveway Peer Helper Program- Peer Helpers is an evidence-based program that takes a comprehensive, two-tiered approach to promoting the mental health of our youth, as well as reducing youth violence and suicide. Tier 1 includes detailed prevention education for all students. Tier 2 teaches a diverse group of students a core set of skills to help them identify, communicate with, and support their at-risk classmates. The program covers many of the issues that affect our youth today, such as: bullying, divorce, family illness, body image, grief and coping, mental health and depression. MCAA Peer Helpers  will participate in training in the comprehensive, peer-to-peer prevention and support program. Students will be empowered  to be academically, socially, and emotionally successful. This program will also help students recognize and resolve conflict at home and at school; to value diversity; and to be advocates for positive change and healthy choices.

MCAA's Comprehensive Wellness suite will provide students with additional social-emotional and academic support. 

MCAA will use Esser funds to provide additional hotspots for Mobile Internet Usage & Data that will enhance students learning environment at home. MCAA will use survey's to identify students and families in need and implement a plan to distribute technology devices for students to access schoolwork from home.



Budget Amount & Details for Interventions  Amount 
Intervention A (Summer Learning & Summer Enrichment Programs)
Intervention B (Comprehensive After-School Programs)
Intervention C (Other)
Total Cost:


Intervention A (Summer Learning & Summer Enrichment Programs) 
Provide the following information for Intervention A (Summer Learning & Summer Enrichment Programs):
1) Brief description and timeline for each service (service must end by 9/30/2024)
2) Number of employees and FTE(s) (if applicable)
3) Itemized Budget using Function & Object codes (must match Budget Grid)
Example:
ARP ESSER funds will be used to host a Summer Enrichment Camp during the Summer of 2023. The camp will run for two weeks for four days a week. Subjects to be covered are science, technology, engineering, mathematics and reading. We will purchase general supplies such as pencils, notebooks, glue, color pencils, copy paper, etc. to effectively run the program. We will also purchase ELA & Math manipulatives to help improve student achievement. Additionally, we will purchase an online subscription to XYZ Company for the duration of the summer program to assist our participating EL students with the curriculum (See attached job description). Total cost: $109,030.00
[Cont.]
9130 - [010-199] (Salaries) $54,450.00 | 9130 - [200-299] (Benefits) $11,430.00
9130 - [400-499] (Materials and Supplies) $2,800.00 | 9130 - [400-499] (Software) $20,000.00
4120 - [010-199] (Bus Driver Salaries) $12,500.00 | 4120 - [200-299] (Bus Driver Benefits) $3,200.00
4120 - [300-399] (Mileage for Buses) $4,650.00

MCAA is a charter school servicing grades 6-12 only.  Funds from the ARP ESSER State Reserve for summer learning will be used to host a Summer Enrichment Camp during the summers of FY 2022, FY 2023, & FY 2024. The camp will run for two weeks for four hours for four days a week. The implementation of a summer enrichment program will address the learning loss and achievement gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects to be covered are Literacy and Math numeracy.  We will use these funds for teacher salaries ($40.00 per hour) and benefits as well as purchase general supplies such as pencils, notebooks, glue, color pencils, copy paper, etc. to effectively run the program.  We will also purchase ELA & Math manipulatives to enhance learning and improve student achievement. (See attached job description). Total cost: $18,984.00

Summer FY 2022 Budget Total-$6328.00 (9130/010-199) 4 Teacher Salaries $5120.00; 9130(200-299) Benefits $1037.82;  9130(400-499) Supplies & Materials $170.18)

Summer FY 2023 Budget Total-$6328.00 (9130/010-199) 4 Teacher Salaries $5120.00; 9130(200-299) Benefits $1037.82;  9130(400-499) Supplies & Materials $170.17)

Summer FY 2024 Budget Total-$6328.00 (9130/010-199) 4 Teacher Salaries $5120.00; 9130(200-299) Benefits $1037.82;  9130(400-499) Supplies & Materials $170.19)

 

 

 

Intervention B (Comprehensive After-School Programs) 
Provide the following information for Intervention B (Comprehensive After-School Programs):
1) Brief description and timeline for each service (service must end by 9/30/2024)
2) Number of employees and FTE(s) (if applicable)
3) Itemized Budget using Function & Object codes (must match Budget Grid)

MCAA is a charter school servicing grades 6-12 only.  Funds from the ARP ESSER State Reserve designated for after school programing will be used to provide salaries benefits, and materials and supplies during afterschool hours.  The implementation of an afterschool program will address the learning loss and achievement gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The afterschool program will run for 90 minutes per day, 3 days per week, for a period of 23 weeks beginning in October and ending in April for each year until the end of FY 24.  During the after school program students will participate in credit recovery opportunities and also STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) academies.  We will use these funds for teacher salaries and benefits as well as purchase general supplies such as pencils, notebooks, glue, color pencils, copy paper, etc. to effectively run the program. We will also purchase ELA & Math manipulatives to enhance learning and improve student achievement. (See attached job description). Total cost: $18984.00

Afterschool FY 22 Total Budget $6328.00 - (9130/010-199) 2 Teacher Salaries $5175.00 ; 9130(200-299) Benefits $ 1048.97;  9130/400-499) material and supplies $104.03  

Afterschool FY 23 Total Budget $6328.00 - (9130/010-199) 2 Teacher Salaries $5175.00 ; 9130(200-299) Benefits $ 1048.97;  9130/400-499) material and supplies $104.03  

Afterschool FY 24 Total Budget $6328.00 - (9130/010-199) 2 Teacher Salaries $5175.00 ; 9130(200-299) Benefits $ 1048.97;  9130/400-499) material and supplies $104.03  

Intervention C (Other) 
Provide the following information for Intervention C (Other):
1) Brief description and timeline for each service (service must end by 9/30/2024)
2) Number of employees and FTE(s) (if applicable)
3) Itemized Budget using Function & Object codes (must match Budget Grid)
NOTE: If an LEA chooses to use the "Other" intervention option, the LEA must attach documentation in the Related Documents section that shows that the Intervention is evidence-based (Tier I | Tier II | Tier III | Tier IV).

MCAA is a charter school servicing grades 6-12 only.  The learning loss portion of the ARP-ESSER State Reserve funding will be utilized to pay the salaries and benefits for an interventionist to push into the classroom alongside the regular classroom teacher to provide Tier II remediation and intervention in small groups to students struggling to master the state standards during the FY  2022 school year.  Additionally, funds will be used to purchase materials and supplies such as practice books, teacher instructional resource books, classroom library books, pencils, manipulatives; and other supplies needed to be utilized by the interventionist and the classroom teacher to provide evidence-based instruction.

 

FY 22- Total budget $ 35,362.50  (1100/010-199) .50 FTE for 1 Interventionist salary $27,500.00; (1100/200-299) .50 benefits for 1 interventionist $ 5,574.25; (1100-400-499) Materials and supplies  $2,288.25

FY 23- Total budget $ 35,362.50  (1100/010-199) .50 FTE for 1 Interventionist salary $27,500.00; (1100/200-299) .50 benefits for 1 interventionist $ 5,574.25; (1100-400-499) Materials and supplies  $2,288.25


SYSTEM PLAN ITEMS RELATED BY FISCAL RESOURCE
Expand All Collapse All

There are currently no Goal or Action Step items associated with this Grant.