Statements
Mission
Genesis Learning Centers strives for excellence. It is our mission, as individuals and as a whole, to assist each child, youth, and adult we serve to reach for their greatest human potential, to find success from within, and to actively participate in the community of human kind. Genesis Learning Centers is a non-profit, community agency offering special education and home-bound services to children, adolescents, young adults, and their families within Middle Tennessee. Our primary activities are special education day schools, day treatment, and home-bound educational services for children and youth with emotional and behavior disorders, intellectual disabilities, and other developmental delays.
Statement of Organizational Goals:
1)To always consider first and be of direct benefit to the children, youth and families we serve.
2) To provide new steps in the continuum of community-based services that Genesis can offer to the special needs children and families of Tennessee.
3) To always maintain the highest level of care and service for each child, youth, and family we serve.
4) To provide young people and their families assistance before problems become so serious that solutions within the community are difficult to find and implement.
5) To always maintain the highest level of management and stewardship of the programs, service contracts and funds entrusted to Genesis Learning Centers.
Background
For 38 years our Genesis home has been in Nashville and the surrounding communities of Middle Tennessee. We have focused on meeting the needs of the unique and exceptional students since we enrolled our first students in January of 1984. It is our dedicated purpose that each of our students can know and demonstrate that they are able to learn new things; that they can control their own emotions and behaviors; and that each one of them is a positive, capable individual who has the potential to become a happy, successful family and community member. Genesis Learning Centers operates two schools serving special education students ages 5-22, Genesis Academy in Nashville and Rutherford Academy in Murfreesboro. We acquired two juvenile court prevention schools in 2003 from a for-profit company. These programs are the Montgomery County and Rutherford County Teen Learning Centers. Finally, we provide a large portion of the Home-bound Educational Services for Metro-Nashville and Rutherford County Public Schools. We have approximately 188 students enrolled in our state approved school programs and another 60-70 students receiving Home-bound Education. Genesis employs approximately 95 full and part-time staff plus another 35 sub-contracted Home-bound Teachers.
Impact
Over the past five years Genesis Learning Centers has expanded our services to students within the Autism Spectrum. This has included opening sensory rooms at our Genesis and Rutherford Academies. And with that growth in requests to serve we have added two Board Certified Behavior Analysts to support both Academies. One BCBA was previously a social worker at Genesis Learning Centers. After expressing an interest to grow professionally, Genesis Learning Centers committed to paying for tuition, supervision, and licensing. And we are excited that a newly hired teacher is seeking to follow the same path! We see an ever increasing need for specialized classrooms for this population. We are also seeing an increase in children with early trauma and PTSD. As a result, we are increasing staff training in these areas. Our five-year contract issued in 2020 marked the eighth contract-renewal cycle with Metro-Nashville Public Schools. In 2019, we renewed our five-year contract with Rutherford County Schools We greatly appreciate their trust in our services and the opportunity to provide comprehensive special education services for their unique students.
Using federal funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, Genesis Learning Centers focused on creating a plan for general organizational improvement. Some of the outcomes possible because of these allocated dollars include hiring an Information Technology professional for on-site support; providing all students with a chromebook upon enrollment; issuing laptops to all teacher counselors, associate teacher counselors, social workers, educational associates, to improve access to instruction; and realigning our pay scale to retain current staff and recruit highly qualified staff by increasing base salaries by 6-8%. Further, we committed to ensuring all employees receive any annual salary higher than the living wage determined for the Nashville area.
Last year we began the process of improving our organizational safety plans relating to both natural disasters and human crises. We have a safety committee leading the charge. At this time, we have invested in a visitor screening and management system, plan to secure professional Active Shooter Response training, certify at least two staff members to become Active Shooter Response trainers, created "Stop the Bleed" kits for every classroom, conducted baseline safety audits in all buildings, purchased defibrillators for every building, and improved the safety on student transportation.
Needs
1. We are seeing two shifts in our student population. One is the increase in students with Autism Spectrum related issues. The second is an increase in the intensity of problematic and challenging behaviors demonstrated by the younger, elementary level students referred for support. Our need is to bolster training for staff in the area of Applied Behavior Analysis and other Evidence Based Practices to better serve students more severe behavioral needs. We continue working towards becoming a Trauma Informed Organization. 2. While Genesis does not openly fund-raise, we need to expand the use of grants and foundation support to augment program materials, staff training, and capital needs as they arise. 3. Over the years Genesis has limited its advertising and marketing , since all of our referrals come directly through our contracting school systems.
CEO Statement
As the Executive Director, I am so proud and grateful that we have a family of educators who all share the same mission and vision. Students always come first. For many of the students we serve, this is often the first time they have been made a priority. We take time to get to know our students. Our goal is to understand how the various tragedies and traumas they have experienced impact their social, emotional, and behavioral needs. Together with support from the student's family and the referring district, we see students make significant gains. They often learn how to self-manage their anxiety, anger and rage; identify academic strengths and talents; transition from engaging in aggressive and self-injurious behaviors to communicating their needs, wants, frustration, and protests in a socially appropriate manner. And for many of our students, following their successes, they return to their school of zone!
Board Chair Statement
Thirty-eight years ago, in the summer of 1983, I drove home from work with a nagging question running through my mind. One I knew I could not answer alone. I walked into the house greeted by Melissa (Adams) and our one-month old eldest son Blake. I told her I needed her to answer a question, but that I needed her to answer immediately without taking time to think it over. Simply, I asked, "What does God want you to do right now?" She responded, "Start a school." Six months later on January 24, 1984 Genesis Learning Centers opened its doors to our first 10 students.
As President and Chairperson of our Genesis Board of Directors, I am very proud that so many of our children found that they are truly a positive, capable individual who has the potential to be happy and successful throughout all their life.
I am equally proud of the many teachers, social workers, associate teachers, educational assistants, and support staff Genesis has employed over the years. It is my belief that we have prepared them, not only as educational professionals, but also as servants for life wherever their journeys may take them. It is my hope that each carries fond memories of Genesis with them and an understanding that they have made a difference in the lives of our special kids.
Behind the scenes has been our Board of Directors with steadfast members for many each serving the mission of Genesis for many years. Their guidance and mentoring has brought a strength to Genesis that has carried us through the years of financial and operational challenges and successes. I look forward to the guidance of newer Board members as we look to the future.
I tell our wonderful Genesis staff at the beginning of every school year that they are chosen, they are called to serve. Now, I say to you all, students and staff, listen for the soft whisper calling your name and answer that Call to be the greatest you can be. Moreover, know that there is no task greater, or more prestigious than to serve God's special and unique children.
Service Categories |
|
| Primary Category: | Education - Special Education |
| Secondary Category: | Mental Health & Crisis Intervention - Mental Health Disorders |
| Tertiary Category: | Youth Development - |
Areas Served
Genesis Learning Centers focuses on serving students with social, emotional, and behavioral needs across middle Tennessee from boarder (Kentucky) to boarder (Alabama).
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Macon |
