Big Brother Big Sister Level Up Data Report final - July 13, 2026 - DCSD Board Meeting Archive

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF METRO
ATLANTA
LEVEL UP DATA REPORT
October 2025-March 2026

LITHONIA MIDDLE SCHOOL
Kwame Johnson, Chief Executive Officer/President
Pierre Gaither, Chief Operating Officer
Danielle Moore, Director of Innovative Programs
Derrick Hearn, Assistant Director of Innovative Programs
Hugh Walthall III, Mentoring Supervisor (Lithonia)

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Table of Contents

What is Level Up? Page 3
Students Served Page 3
School Attendance Data Page 4
Mentoring Sessions Attendance Data Page 5
Discipline Data Page 6
Progress Monitoring: Session Snapshot Data Page 7
Quotes from Littles Page 8
Highlights of Level Up Program Page 9

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What is Level Up?
Level Up pairs students (Littles) with trained professionals (Lead Mentors). Littles meet with their
mentors during the school day for group mentoring and 1:1 session, fostering conversations,
connection, and the enhancement of social-emotional skills and mental health within a structured
school schedule.

This report will review our impact on student attendance and discipline data, review program highlights,
and entail an impact story of a match from your school.

Students Served
For the 2025-2026 school year, Level Up served 400 Littles at Lithonia Middle School. The mentors that
served our 6th and 7th graders last school year looped up to the respective grades to provide a
continuum of mentoring services. The Level Up Team hired 2 Lead Mentors for the incoming 6th grade
and began serving 100 Littles. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta raised additional funds to
continue serving an additional 100- 7th graders this school year due to the larger enrollment at Lithonia
MS. Programming began October 2025 for the 2025-2026 School Year.

Total School Enrollment 1,014 students
Total Number of Littles served in Level Up Program 400
6th Grade- 100 Littles
Breakdown of Littles Served in the Level Up Program 7th Grade- 200 Littles
8th Grade- 100 Littles

Summary of Results
 Attendance data from September through March shows that students across all grade levels maintained
relatively strong attendance rates, with most months ranging between 89% and 96%. Both 6th and 7th grade
students demonstrated their highest attendance rates in November (96%), while 8th grade students peaked
at 94% in November. Although attendance dipped during the winter months, particularly in January and
February, all grade levels showed signs of stabilization or improvement by March. Notably, 8th grade
students demonstrated the strongest rebound, increasing from 89% in January to 93% in March. These trends
suggest consistent student engagement throughout the school year, with attendance remaining above 89%
across all grades despite seasonal fluctuations.
 Student behavior outcomes remained positive throughout the school year, with suspension rates generally staying
low across all grade levels. Through March 2026, 7th and 8th Grade students-maintained suspension rates at or
below 4%, while 6th Grade reduced its suspension rate from 10% in September to 3% in March, reflecting notable
behavioral improvement over time. Overall, the data suggests that students participating in the Level Up Program
demonstrated positive behavioral growth and increased school engagement throughout the school year.

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Attendance Data
Littles in the Level Up Program Attendance Data
Average Daily Attendance Rate per month

Observations:

Attendance Trends & Comparative Analysis (6th–8th Grade)
Across all three grade levels, student attendance remained relatively strong throughout the school year, with most
monthly attendance rates staying between 89%–96%. While each grade level experienced some fluctuations, several
clear trends emerged when comparing performance across grades and months.

Overall Trends
 7th Grade demonstrated the strongest and most consistent attendance overall, maintaining rates primarily
between 91%–95% throughout the year.
 6th Grade showed the highest single-month attendance rate, peaking at 96% in November, but experienced
more fluctuation during the second semester.
 8th Grade began the year with the lowest attendance rate (89% in October) but showed gradual recovery and
improvement by March (93%).

Grade-Level Analysis
6th Grade Trends
 Attendance steadily increased from 91% in September to a high of 96% in November.
 A noticeable decline occurred after November, dropping to 91% in December and January.
 Attendance rebounded slightly in February (92%) before dipping again in March (91%).
 The data suggests strong engagement early in the school year, followed by attendance challenges during the
winter months.
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7th Grade Trends
 7th Grade maintained the most stable attendance pattern across all grades.
 Attendance peaked at 95% in October and November.
 A gradual decline occurred from December through February, reaching 91%.
 The grade level recovered during the spring months, increasing to 92% in March and 93% in April.
 Overall, 7th Grade showed the strongest consistency and resilience across the school year.
8th Grade Trends
 8th Grade started with the lowest attendance rate among all grades at 89% in October.
 Attendance improved significantly in November (94%) and remained relatively strong in December (93%).
 Another decline occurred in January (89%), likely aligning with post-winter break attendance patterns seen
across grade levels.
 Positive improvement resumed in February (90%) and March (93%), showing encouraging upward momentum
by the end of the reporting period.

Comparative Insights

Strongest Attendance Performance
 7th Grade demonstrated the strongest overall attendance performance due to its consistency and limited
fluctuation.
 6th Grade achieved the highest single monthly attendance rate (96%), indicating strong engagement potential
when supports are fully leveraged.

Most Significant Growth

 8th Grade showed the greatest improvement trajectory, rising from 89% in October to 93% in March, reflecting
increased stabilization over time.

Common Trends Across Grades
 Attendance rates were generally strongest during the fall semester (October–November).
 All grades experienced declines during the winter months (December–January).
 Improvement trends re-emerged during the spring semester, particularly in February–April.

Key Takeaways
 Attendance across all grade levels remained above 89%, demonstrating overall positive student engagement.
 Winter months appear to be a consistent challenge area across grade levels.
 The upward spring trends, especially in 7th and 8th grade, suggest that continued mentoring support and
relationship-building efforts may positively influence student attendance and school connectedness.

Mentoring Session Attendance Data
Littles in the Level Up Program Session Attendance Data
Goal: Level Up Team will have a 75% or higher attendance rate for sessions

Number of Session Hours Number of Session Percent of Session
Offered Hours Attended Hours Attended
6th-8th Grade Lead Mentors 5,192 4,375 84.3%

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Behavior Data
Littles in the Level Up Program Suspension Data
Suspension Rate per month

Observations:
Suspension Trends
The suspension data across 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students reflects generally low suspension rates throughout the school
year, with several grade levels demonstrating positive behavioral trends and reductions over time. While isolated increases
occurred during select months, overall suspension rates remained relatively low across all grade levels.

Grade-Level Analysis
6th Grade Trends
 6th Grade began the year with the highest suspension rate across all grade levels at 10% in September.
 Suspension rates significantly decreased to 5% from October through December.
 A temporary increase occurred in January (7%), followed by continued improvement during the spring semester.
 By April, the suspension rate declined to 0%, representing the strongest behavioral improvement among all grade
levels.
 Overall, the data reflects substantial progress in reducing behavioral incidents over time.
7th Grade Trends
 7th Grade maintained the lowest suspension rates during the first semester, recording 0% suspensions from
September through December.
 Behavioral incidents increased during the second semester, with suspension rates rising to 3% in January, decreasing
to 1% in February, and increasing again to 4% in March.
 Although fluctuations occurred later in the year, suspension rates remained relatively low overall.
8th Grade Trends

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 8th Grade demonstrated consistently low suspension rates throughout the year.
 Suspension rates remained at 0% in September, December, February, and March.
 Minor increases occurred in October and November (1%) and peaked briefly in January (3%).
 The grade level quickly rebounded after January, returning to 0% for the remainder of the reporting period.
 Overall, 8th Grade displayed strong behavioral stability across most months.
Comparative Insights
Strongest Behavioral Improvement
 6th Grade showed the greatest overall behavioral growth, reducing suspensions from 10% at the start of the year to
0% by April.
Most Consistent Behavioral Performance
 8th Grade maintained the most consistently low suspension rates overall, with most months at 0%–1%.
Common Trends Across Grades
 All grade levels experienced an increase in suspension rates during the winter months, particularly in January.
 Suspension rates generally improved or stabilized moving into the spring semester.
 Overall suspension rates across all grades remained relatively low, indicating positive student behavior and school
engagement throughout the school year.

Key Takeaways
 Behavioral outcomes across the Level Up Program remained encouraging, with suspension rates staying low overall.
 The data suggests that consistent mentoring, relationship-building, and student support strategies may positively
contribute to reductions in behavioral incidents

Session Snapshots
Session Snapshots serve as our daily progress monitoring measure for Littles to identify what was learned and
give Littles an opportunity to provide feedback on sessions. This information provides our Lead Mentors with the
information needed to adjust and adapt their lessons to the needs of the Littles. We review Session Snapshot
Cumulative Averages weekly.

Goal: Lead Mentors have a monthly and yearly cumulative average of a 3 or higher (scale 1-5).

Eight closing questions are asked after each session. Please look at the questions below:
1. I feel more hopeful or positive after today's session
2. I know my mentor will be there for me when I need them
3. I feel in control of my emotions after today’s session.
4. Being in this program helps me feel like I belong and that I am a part of a community
5. I learned something today that will help me prepare for the future.
6. Today’s session helped me think about how to make good decisions.
7. Being in this program helps me believe I can do well in school
8. After today’s session, I feel confident that I will make good behavior choices this week.

Lead Mentor/Cumulative Session Snapshot Average for the Month October 2025- April 2026

Zachary Cook- 6th 4.57
Isis Goodwin- 6th 4.56
Dorian Britt- 7th 4.68
Jeremiah Nealy- 7th 4.72
Tamiya Lawrence- 7th 4.77
J’Kari Willingham- 7th 4.76
Nicholas Turner- 8th 4.80
Jeffelyn Martinez- 8th 4.86
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15 Quotes from Littles from Session Snapshots
1. I feel confident in myself.
2. I feel confident about my feelings and emotional well-being
3. Yes indeed. I have questions to ask; my question is when I go to the next grade will I still be in the program?
4. I am grateful to be here
5. I would like to thank you because without this program I wouldn't have changed my ways
6. I would like to say thank you for helping me grow and succeed.
7. Today I learned that if you don't get out of your comfort zone you will never growth.
8. I feel good about today
9. LOVE YALL!!
10. Thank you for helping me find myself and helping me to just be myself. I have learned a lot so far and I hope that I
learn more and have fun while learning.
11. I like to thank my mentor for being a part of my life and being the person that they are.
12. He’s the best mentor I could ask for.
13. You helped me set life goals and your outfit was overly teaaaaaa today.
14. Find another way to track us and make sure we are here, and next year find a way to make sessions either longer
or be on multiple days a week.
15. I would like to tell y’all the session was good and I learned a lot about MAP testing skills, like process of
elimination and different types of ways to help me out with MAP

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2025-2026 Highlights from the Level Up Program

 All mentors maintained a caseload of 50 Littles during the school year.
 Hunter Camp, 6th Grade Little won Fuel for Your Future Competition May 2026. He earned a $1,000 Check from Fifth
Third Bank
 Serenity Scott, 8th Grade Little came in 3rd place for Fuel Your Future Competition May 2026. She earned a $100 Gift
Card and 2 New Clients for her business.
 Thirty 8th Grade Littles participated in the SIFMA Stock Market Competition against 3 other Level Up
Sites 8th Grade Littles. Following the 2-month competition, one of Mr. Nick’s 8th grade groups took 1st
place. Each of those Littles earned a medal and a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card.
 Lithonia Level Up Littles had a completion of 86% for Future Planning Projects for 2nd Semester.
 Mikhel Blair & Hayyala Watson won spots in the Steve Harvey Mentoring Camp this Summer.
 Level Up Team hosted the first 8th Grade Prom/Celebration Ceremony (May 2026).
 200 7th Grade Littles participated in the 4-week Hands-On Banking Module through Wells Fargo.
 2 Littles attended a Braves Game and experienced dinner in the Club Suite
 Several Littles participated in an interview focused on mentoring for DeKalb County School District
 Spotlight on Level Up Program during House and Senate Committee Meeting September 2025. Dewanda
Chambers, Assistant Principal and 2 Littles attended to discuss the positive impact of the Level Up Program on
student attendance.
 2 Littles from Lithonia Middle School attended Capitol Hill Day January 2026 and served as pagers for the day.
 10 Littles participated in BBBS Holiday Gift Giveaway
 Hugh Walthall, III earned Supervisor of the Month for December 2025
 Dorian Britt, earned Mentor of the Month for October 2025

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Agenda Item