Faith in the City wrapped up its seventh year in 2024-25, with a number of important topics featured:

• A major local and statewide effort to improve literacy and grade-level reading achievements;

• The growing mental health needs of adolescents and what is being done to lessen the impact on student outcomes;

• An update on the WS/FC Schools’ effort to explore new options for the school district’s residential boundaries to increase socioeconomic diversity and school transportation efficiency;

• Thriving Together, a community-wide initiative that includes educational equity among its key pillars of building a better quality of life for all — without exception;

• My Brothers Keeper, a program that works to uplift and support boys and young men of color;

• How targeted policies and funding cuts at the state and national level are creating uncertainty for how public schools will serve students with disabilities and learning differences.

In 2024, Faith in the City was also instrumental in pulling together a coalition of faith and community partners to bring Dr. Bettina Love, an education professor, activist, and best-selling author, to Winston-Salem on April 16 for a community-wide presentation. Dr. Love’s latest book, Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal, was a New York Times bestseller. She holds the prestigious William F. Russell Professorship at Teachers College, Columbia University and is a highly sought-after public speaker.

Through these forums, Knollwood’s Faith in the City continues to be a recognized community catalyst in highlighting how faith informs our daily lives.