The Southeast Atlanta Communities for Schools met with representatives from the Edgewood community to address chronic truancy issues at Jackson, Coan Middle, and Whitefoord Elementary schools on Nov. 26, 2012.

Jackson Principal Stephanie Johnson, Whitefoord Principal Timmy Foster and Coan Principal Betsy Bockman asked SEACS to bring together community partners in Edgewood to address the short and long term attendance issues in the schools.

We have three passionate hard working principals who have high expectations for their students and staff and we want to make sure the community is supporting them at every step.

In addition to SEACS and Atlanta Public Schools, representatives from Atlanta's corpoprate, municipal and community sectors were in attendance to address our schools' needs.

They included:

• H. J. Russell & Co.'s Edgewood Court Apartments
• Atlanta Police Department
• Atlanta City Council President’s Office
• Organized Neighbors of Edgewood

We have to get the kids into the classrooms before we can teach them, but truancy is just one symptom of larger problems. In Southeast Atlanta, communities are coming together around their schools. If the schools and the other groups in the Edgewood community continue to work together, we will see measurable improvements in school attendance, crime, development, and other areas.

Mr. Quartarone, a Summerhill resident, is co-president Southeast Atlanta Communities for Schools, which advocates for the children of and the schools in the city's southeastern quadrant.