Godley ISD to launch Mentors Care at high school to support at‑risk students
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Summary
At a board meeting, Mentors Care presented a plan to place volunteer adult mentors at Godley High School during the school day; the nonprofit described recruitment, training, and expected outcomes and shared program results from other North Texas sites.
Godley Independent School District trustees heard a presentation from Mentors Care on a plan to place volunteer adult mentors at Godly High School during the 2025–26 school year.
The presentation, given by Brian Blackwell, managing director of Mentors Care, described a model in which vetted volunteers meet with referred high‑school students one hour per week in semi‑private campus spaces during the school day. "We want your most struggling kids," Blackwell said, listing attendance, behavior and credit recovery as common referral reasons.
Blackwell said Mentors Care is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2009 at Midlothian High School and that, across North Texas this year, the nonprofit mentored more than 1,000 students at about 20 high schools. He described program components including staff training for campus personnel, parent permission forms, background checks and a copyrighted curriculum of 24 talking points covering attendance, goals, job readiness and relationship skills. "The relationship is the most important part of what we do," Blackwell said.
District administrators told the board the program will be coordinated by a full‑time Mentors Care coordinator on site, and that the district has identified collaboration spaces and glassed breakout rooms to host meetings. "Miss Ormsby has already got 30 mentors for Godly High School," Blackwell said; the district presentation said the program had exceeded the usual startup target.
Mentors Care staff and two student speakers described outcomes from other districts: Blackwell cited figures from last school year showing a 98 percent senior graduation rate across the nonprofit's partner schools (noting one student who was lost to follow up), an 85 percent rate of meeting a 90 percent attendance standard for participating students, and that 41 percent of mentored students were connected to external resources such as food or counseling. Student testimonials shown in a video and offered in person described improved attendance, a sense of belonging and mental‑health support tied to mentoring relationships.
Board members asked about parent permission and numbers of eligible students. Blackwell said parental opt‑in is required and that refusals are uncommon; he described a typical full caseload as 50–60 students per coordinator but said there is no hard cap. District administrators said the program will be limited to high school students initially and that staff are exploring a peer‑assisted leadership (PAL) model if they pilot middle‑school mentoring later.
No formal board action was recorded on the mentorship presentation; district staff said Mentors Care will return with data after one year of operation and that flyers would be left for community members interested in volunteering.
The presentation included offers of support such as clothing, food and outside counseling referrals when needs exceed what mentors can provide. District staff emphasized coordination with school counselors for cases that require professional services.
The board discussion closed with plans to place the coordinator in a collaborative lab space and move forward with recruiting referred students once the year begins.
Community members interested in volunteering were told the commitment is one hour per week during the school year and that mentors complete a background check and initial face‑to‑face training.
