Advancing Comprehensive and Contextual Education Solutions for Schools
Why ACCESS?
After years in public education, I found that many schools tend to have an overly narrow view of childhood development and one that is not sufficiently grounded in the students’ specific context. I founded ACCESS Consulting to try to change that.
The name ACCESS stands for Advancing Comprehensive and Contextual Educational Solutions for Schools and represents my key belief that in order for children to be successful we must widen our lens to support their comprehensive development, grounded within each student’s context - their unique experiences, relationships, and environments.
This more comprehensive approach to student development is represented by the interlocking circles in this logo. Rather than just focusing on academic development, which is just one circle or area of student development, we have to focus on academic development, emotional development, relational development, cognitive development, physical development, and identity development jointly. And we have to understand how these areas of development interact and support each other. I believe deeply that whole child approaches will give all children fuller ACCESS to success.
Frank Jemison
Frank Jemison is the founder of ACCESS Consulting, an education consultancy based in Memphis, TN dedicated to fostering social-emotional health in school communities through systematic and schoolwide approaches. ACCESS utilizes coaching, consulting, and training to advance social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, and other whole child approaches.
Before founding ACCESS, Frank served as Director of Education Outreach for the ACE Awareness Foundation where he promoted trauma-informed solutions for students, teachers, and schools. He previously worked for seven years in urban elementary schools in Memphis as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator. Frank received a Master’s in Urban Education through the Memphis Teacher Residency and his BA from Duke University.