Teaching literacy, shaping futures

Our CDF Freedom Schools program is a six-week enrichment program which aims to develop strong, literate, and empowered children who may not have access to books or the appropriate environmental structure necessary to do summer reading.

Our program’s purpose is to close the achievement gap by improving literacy and learning for children who face poverty and lack access to the educational resources they need to succeed. The Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools program at Emmaus House is a summer program serving students who have completed kindergarten through the eighth grade. Its aim is to motivate young scholars to read, build positive attitudes towards learning, and empower them to make a difference in themselves, their families, their communities, and their world.

Help keep children from falling behind

During an average summer, students may lose up to two months' worth of learning. This is known as the “summer slide,” and it accounts for more than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income students.

The statistics portray a sober reality

• Children who can’t read by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. For this reason, kids who reach fourth grade without being able to read proficiently are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out of school.

• Forty-one percent of low-income fourth-graders in Georgia are reading below grade level. (US Department of Education, 2024)

• Seventy percent of fourth-graders in Georgia are not proficient in reading. (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2024)

Students who do not complete high school are significantly more likely than high school graduates to become incarcerated, become teen parents, be subjected to violence as either an aggressor or a victim, be unemployed, or be recipients of Medicaid and welfare.

The good news is that studies have found that educational summer programs for children, like the CDF Freedom Schools® program at Emmaus House, can help reduce or eliminate achievement gaps. Plus, the effects of these summer programs last over time. We believe in solving problems instead of treating symptoms. Our program is a perfect example of this.

We offer results

Each year, we evaluate a sample cohort of scholars using procedures recommended by the CDF Freedom Schools® program. Since the inception of our program in 2015, results show that our scholars are making significant gains.

On average, 100% of scholars who were evaluated maintained or gained their instructional reading level over the six-week program as measured by pre- and post-program standardized testing.

Find out more

Registration is currently open for this year's CDF Freedom School Program, which will take place June 15 - July 24. Click below to fill out the interest form and one of our staff will follow up with a link to the application.

For more information about the CDF Freedom Schools® program at Emmaus House, please contact David-Lee at david-leemattison@emmaushouse.org.