Fulton County Schools opens new SAFE center at Tri-Cities High School

Fulton County Schools employees cut the ribbon at the new SAFE center at Tri-Cities High School, called “The Unidos Center." (Courtesy of Fulton County Schools)

Students at Fulton County’s Tri Cities High School will now have access to free food, clothes, counseling services, and more. The district opened a new Student and Family Engagement (SAFE) center at the school this week. A similar center at Banneker High School opened in 2018. Another planned for North Springs High is expected to open next month.

“It was a consolidation of all types of support services that would eliminate any type of academic barriers for students,” says Fulton’s Deputy Chief Academic Officer Dr. Giymah Whitaker of Banneker’s program. “It included mentorship groups…a clothing closet, a food pantry. If families had any type of mental health support needs, they could get that. Job placement, all sorts of things were happening there.”

In 2018, the Georgia Department of Education provided districts with some funding to create these wrap-around services for schools.