Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership
Although the specific job descriptions and work plans may vary slightly from one school district to another, mentor’s work is focused on enhancing communication and collaboration between families, schools, and communities in order to improve outcomes for students with disabilities and their families.
Families: Parent mentors provide information and resources to parents of students with disabilities on a variety of topics and issues related to home, school, and community.
Schools: Mentors also work with teachers, staff, and administrators to integrate family engagement into school and district activities and to build a culture in which family engagement is expected and valued.
Communities: Parent mentors also work to support integration of students with disabilities into the community by working with partners to build a community in which students with disabilities are included and valued.
Meet local Parent Mentors…
Each parent mentor is the parent of a child with special needs themselves and understands the joys and struggles of parenting as well as accessing services.
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Meet three of our local Parent Mentors who have served LifeLine families for several years. They are all fabulous resources for their county. If you live in one of these Georgia counties, contact them for county specific resources!
I am the Parent Mentor for Catoosa County – Robin Smith. You can contact me at 706-965-4052 or by email rsmith@catoosa.k12.ga.us. My office is located at 2 Barnhardt Circle, Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia 30742 . I am also the Special Olympics Coordinator.
I am the Parent Mentor for Walker County – Michal (pronounced like Michelle) Jones. You can contact me at 706-375-9900 or michaljones@walkerschools.org. My office is at the Advancing Education Center (old Osburn School building), 925 Osburn Road, Chickamauga, GA 30707.
I am the Parent Mentor for Trion City Schools – Linda Young. You can contact me at 706-734-0724 or linda.young@trionschools.org. My office is at 919 Allgood Street in Trion, GA 30753.
Robin’s message for parents… ” An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan designed especially for your child. Your child has an assigned case worker to address their IEP at the school other than their homeroom teacher. An accommodation is given to allow your child to access the general curriculum. Do you know what accommodations your child has in order to help them at school? IEP Progress Reports will be sent home every 9 weeks. DON’T wait to find out your child’s grades…Stay on top of this.”
To learn more about Georgia’s Parent Mentor program. To find the Parent Mentor in your school district, check here.