Parents and administrators in the mobile IMPACT hub registering for classes.
On Monday, July 24, the IRC in Atlanta, in collaboration with the DeKalb County School District (DCSD), hosted a Back-to-School Fair.
Photo: IRC Atlanta

On Monday, July 24, the IRC in Atlanta, in collaboration with the DeKalb County School District (DCSD), hosted a Back-to-School Fair, where school supplies and registration assistance were provided to refugee students and their families. 

Parents, students and IRC staff seated at a table outside registering for classes.
Parents received assistance from the DeKalb County Parent and Family Engagement team with completing annual registration for returning students and setting up a parent portal account.
Photo: IRC Atlanta

A total of 103 parents and caregivers visited the IRC office to prepare for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. Throughout the day, IRC in Atlanta staff helped provide transportation and language interpretation for families visiting our office, ensuring back-to-school services were accessible to all who needed them. Parents received assistance from the DeKalb County Parent and Family Engagement team with completing annual registration for returning students and setting up a parent portal account. Parents also had the opportunity to visit our Contributions-in-Kind table where they received diapers, donated bakery items from Publix, and a backpack full of school supplies—many of which were generously donated by community members through our Back-2-School Supplies Drive earlier this summer. In total, community contributions amounted to $8,500 worth of school supplies distributed to DeKalb County families. Thank you all for your continued support!

IRC staff gathered around a table of donated food, baby items and school supplies.
Parents also had the opportunity to visit our Contributions-in-Kind table where they received diapers, donated bakery items from Publix, and a backpack full of school supplies.
Photo: IRC Atlanta
Children's books spread out along a long table inside the mobile IMPACT hub.
While parents registered their children for school, students had the chance to visit the DCSD’s Mobile I.M.P.A.C.T Hub, and take home a free book.
Photo: IRC Atlanta

While parents registered their children for school, students had the chance to visit the DCSD’s Mobile I.M.P.A.C.T Hub, and take home a free book. IRC childcare staff and volunteers were also on hand to support families in need of childcare. Students were also visited by staff from the IRC in Atlanta’s My New School program, who provided orientation to the first day of school including information on bus routes, open house guidance and important dates for the 2023-2024 calendar, further preparing students to start the school year with success. 

This event came out of a desire to foster a sense of excitement for newcomer students and quell the anxieties of starting a new school year for parents.
—Chelsea Driver, Youth Program Supervisor

Families lined up outside of the mobile IMPACT Hub.
Photo: IRC Atlanta

“This event came out of a desire to foster a sense of excitement for newcomer students and quell the anxieties of starting a new school year for parents,” shared Chelsea Driver, My New School Program Supervisor at the IRC in Atlanta. “We'd especially like to thank Nancy Pritchett and Esther Hau Dim from DeKalb County School's Office of Family Engagement for helping to coordinate the event.” We are incredibly grateful to all the staff, partners and community members who make this work possible—thank you for supporting the families we serve! 

 

To learn more about the work of the IRC in Atlanta and for information on how you can get involved with the IRC as a donor or volunteer, please contact Development Director, Heloise Ahoure, at [email protected] or 678-636-8941.  

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