Tag: Awards

Brookwood Christian reaches GuideStar’s highest Seal of Transparency

Platinum Seal allows donors to focus on progress and results. [PDF Version]

Acworth, Georgia (April 8, 2020) – Brookwood Christian today earned the 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, a service of Candid. By sharing metrics that highlight progress Brookwood Christian is making toward its mission,the organization is helping donors move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.

“In accordance with our long-held belief in being transparent about our work,” said Tammy Urban, Director of Development, “we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStar’s immense online audience, which includes donors, grantmakers, our peers, and the media. These resources are going to be invaluable now, more than ever, with the current COVID-19 situation.”

To reach the Platinum level, Brookwood Christian added extensive informationto its Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By taking the time to provide this information, Brookwood Christian has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate nonprofit performance.

Sharing these metrics will be critical for Brookwood Christian during these uncertain times as they postponed two major fundraisers that raise scholarship money to aid their families who want what is best for their child(ren) with reading/processing struggles. “As the parents of a child with auditory processing disorder and several other special needs we were determined to give our son every opportunity we could for him to succeed” said Shan Burnette. “We are confident that Brookwood was the key that opened the door for our son to have everything he needs for success.”

“I encourage you to visit our profile on GuideStar to see what we’re all about,” added Tammy Urban. “We’re thrilled that our GuideStar Platinum Nonprofit Profile and its associated benefits help us better communicate our organization’s exciting initiatives.”

About GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles
In February 2019, GuideStar joined forces with Foundation Center to form Candid, a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Today, GuideStar is a service of Candid. The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. The profiles are populated with information directly from nonprofits, the IRS, and other partners in the nonprofit sector. Candid encourages every nonprofit to claim and update its profile at no cost to the organization. Updating allows nonprofits to share a wealth of up-to-date information with the more than 13 million people who visit guidestar.org to learn more about nonprofit organizations each year. Updating also allows nonprofits to share information with the more than 200 philanthropic websites and applications that are powered by GuideStar data, such as AmazonSmile, Facebook, and Network for Good. To reach a given participation level, organizations must complete all required fields for that level. The GuideStar participation levels, acknowledged as symbols of transparency in the nonprofit sector, are displayed on all updated participants’ profiles in the GuideStar database.

About Candid
Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. Candid finds out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, Candid connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to do it. Candid’s data tools on nonprofits, foundations, and grants are the most comprehensive in the world. Find out more at candid.org and on Twitter @CandidDotOrg.

Media Contacts:
Tammy Urban
Director of Development
Brookwood Christian School
first.last@brookwoodchristian.com
678-401-5855

Principal Kim Wigington receives prestigious award

Kim receiving the Leadership in Literacy award from Karen Huppertz, President of International Dyslexia Association Georgia Branch.

Atlanta, Georgia (March 27, 2018) – Principal Kim Wigington was awarded the 2018 Leadership in Literacy Award by the International Dyslexia Association, Georgia Branch (IDA-GA) on Saturday, March 24 at IDA-GA’s Dimensions of Dyslexia Conference to be held at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta.

This award recognizes a school administrator who has shown leadership in developing literacy in his/her school or school system within the state of Georgia. Kim has demonstrated:

♦outstanding leadership through the development of effective reading programs,

♦the support of excellent teacher training and professional development

♦significant gains in student reading achievement, and

♦the engagement of parents in school/home cooperative ventures to support literacy.

We, at Brookwood Christian, are extremely proud of  her dedicated service to education and outstanding efforts to promote and encourage student reading achievement.

Kim is a Georgia native, growing up in Calhoun, Georgia. She taught high school English, speech, drama, and psychology for 6 years at Cartersville High School, then worked as a school counselor for 4 years at Allatoona Elementary School, where she won a regional school counselor of the year award.  Having a daughter struggle with dyslexia and realizing the lack of adequate resources and services offered in public education, Kim started what would grow into Brookwood Christian School in 2004 by creating the perfect learning environment for her daughters and other children struggling with learning differences. Many have witnessed her tireless efforts to expand the schools reading programs as well as community awareness of dyslexia and other language processing disorders.

Brookwood Christian School serves students who have not been successful in public or private schools due to their unique learning needs.  Many of these students have been diagnosed with a language based learning disability such as dyslexia and were either on an IEP in public school or eligible for one had they attended public school.  

We use Wilson Reading® and Fast ForWord® reading programs, depending on the students’ needs, and class sizes are kept small so students get the individual attention and appropriate instruction they need for success.  Teachers are certified and experienced in the content areas they teach. Those teaching the reading programs have had extensive training in those programs.

For the  2016-2017 school year, the average gain on the Woodcock Johnson IIIC broad reading battery was 1.2 grade levels with 45.7% of students gaining greater than 1 year and 91.4% of students gained 1 year or more on at least one of the subtests.  The biggest gains were seen on Passage Comprehension with an average gain of 1.8 grade levels and 60% of students gaining more than 1 year and over a third seeing a gain of 3 or more years. Our next goal is to expand our programs to be able to serve more students in need.

Because of her accomplishments, Kim was honored with the Acworth Business Person of the Year in December 2014 and then named Acworth’s Citizen of the Year by the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce in December 2016.  Kim is the current Chair of the Acworth Downtown Development Authority, Co-Chair of Taste of Acworth Committee, as well as Chair of the Acworth Business Association Women’s Network for 2018.

Kim with her daughters, Ineja (left) and Kristen (center), both graduates of Brookwood Christian.

Principal Kim Wigington to receive prestigious award

Kim has been selected by the International Dyslexia Association, Georgia Branch (IDA-GA) to receive this year’s Leadership in Literacy Award.  IDA-GAs Leadership in Literacy Award recognizes a school administrator who has shown leadership in developing literacy in his/her school or school system within the state of Georgia.

Kim has demonstrated:
♦outstanding leadership through the development of effective reading programs,
♦the support of excellent teacher training and professional development
♦significant gains in student reading achievement, and
♦the engagement of parents in school/home cooperative ventures to support literacy.

Kim will be honored at IDA-GA’s Dimensions of Dyslexia Conference to be held at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta on March 24, 2018, for her dedicated service to education and outstanding efforts to promote and encourage student reading achievement.

Kim is a Georgia native, growing up in Calhoun, Georgia. She taught high school English, speech, drama, and psychology for 6 years at Cartersville High School, then worked as a school counselor for 4 years at Allatoona Elementary School, where she won a regional school counselor of the year award.  Having a daughter struggle with dyslexia and realizing the lack of adequate resources and services offered in public education, Kim started what would grow into Brookwood Christian School in 2004 by creating the perfect learning environment for her daughters and other children struggling with learning differences. Many have witnessed her tireless efforts to expand the schools reading programs as well as community awareness of dyslexia and other language processing disorders.

Brookwood Christian School serves students who have not been successful in public or private schools due to their unique learning needs.  Many of these students have been diagnosed with a language based learning disability such as dyslexia and were either on an IEP in public school or eligible for one had they attended public school.  

We use Wilson Reading® and Fast ForWord® reading programs, depending on the students’ needs, and class sizes are kept small so students get the individual attention and appropriate instruction they need for success.  Teachers are certified and experienced in the content areas they teach. Those teaching the reading programs have had extensive training in those programs.

For the  2016-2017 school year, the average gain on the Woodcock Johnson IIIC broad reading battery was 1.2 grade levels with 45.7% of students gaining greater than 1 year and 91.4% of students gained 1 year or more on at least one of the subtests.  The biggest gains were seen on Passage Comprehension with an average gain of 1.8 grade levels and 60% of students gaining more than 1 year and over a third seeing a gain of 3 or more years. Our next goal is to expand our programs to be able to serve more students in need.

Because of her accomplishments, Kim was honored with the Acworth Business Person of the Year in December 2014 and then named Acworth’s Citizen of the Year by the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce in December 2016.  Kim is the current Chair for the Acworth Downtown Development Authority, as well as Chair of the Acworth Business Association Women’s Network for 2018.

GuideStar Platinum Seal Recognition!

Great news! Brookwood Christian just earned the Platinum Seal of Transparency from
GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information.

By sharing these metrics, we’re helping the sector move beyond simplistic financial ratios to assess nonprofit progress.
We chose to display quantitative metrics such as:

  • Number of Students Showing Improvement in Test Scores,
  • Number of Students Graduating,
  • Number of Students Planning Post-Secondary Education,
  • Per Pupil Expenditures, and
  • Administrative Costs, 

to represent how hard Brookwood Christian is working toward achieving our mission.

Tracking and sharing this information gives not only us, but also potential donors, relevant information on the results we are getting, for what cost, and how funds are allocated.

We’re proud to use GuideStar Platinum to share our full and complete story with the world. To reach
the Platinum level, we added extensive information to our Nonprofit Profile: basic contact and
organizational information; in-depth financial information; quantitative information about goals,
strategies, and progress toward our mission.

GuideStar Gold Seal Recognition!

Brookwood Christian was recently recognized for our transparency with a Gold Seal on our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile!

GuideStar USA is the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. More than 8 million visitors per year and a network of 200+ partners use GuideStar data to grow support for nonprofits.

In order to get the Gold Seal, Brookwood Christian shared important information with the public using our profile on www.guidestar.org. Now our community members and potential donors can find in-depth information about our goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

We’re shining a spotlight on the difference we help make helping students with dyslexia and other language based learning differences.
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Check out our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile and tell us what you think: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-8499098

Ms. Kim is Acworth’s Citizen of the Year!

On Thursday, December 15, Ms. Kim was named Acworth’s Citizen of the Year by the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce during the Northwest Cobb Area Council’s luncheon at the Marietta Country Club in Kennesaw.

“I am honored, as I’m honored to serve this community,” Wigington said after she was handed the award by Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood, who nominated Ms. Kim for the honor.

Continue reading “Ms. Kim is Acworth’s Citizen of the Year!” →