Core Beliefs

Change is easy. You go first. ~ Wisdom of Anonymous

If we are serious about engaging families for student success, and if we do not take our families' involvement for granted, we will want to improve family engagement practice in the most authentic ways. When schools work with and engage families, those families become powerful partners, allies, and advocates. Family engagement matters.

These 4 Core Beliefs are found in Chapter 3 of Beyond the Bake Sale; by placing them at the heart of family-school partnerships, the authors promote and affirm the valuable role of families, so necessary for all students to achieve academic proficiency - and beyond.

Core Belief 1: All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them. When we take the time to hear from parents directly about their hopes and dreams for their children, it deepens the relationship. How often do schools take the time to hear  directly from parents about the dreams for their children? How do teachers adjust their practice to accommodate student/family goals each day? Each week? Month? Year? Schools must be intentional in their approach to building relationships with families. 

Core Belief 2: All parents have the capacity to support their children's learning. Do we believe this? Or do we think families do not have time to come in or care to contribute? If all parents have the capacity to support their children's learning, and we support parents, children's learning will improve.

Core Belief 3: Parents and school staff should be equal partners. When you think about it, schools belong to the community and families. Schools must tap into parents' expertise of their children. True partnership is essential. Achieving student and school success will be impossible unless all stakeholders are valued for their contributions, and schools make themselves available and are willing to commit to that goal.

Core Belief 4: The responsibility for building partnerships between school and home rests primarily with school staff, especially school leaders. Of course. Principals set the tone in the school, co-constructing roles based on shared responsibility and understanding of the complementary roles of families and communities.

Family engagement is the third leg of the stool that holds the child in the center and lifts her up (family, school, community). If families do not know what their child is learning and doing in class, and the school is unaware of the family's hopes and dreams for their child, how will they be able to help her achieve her vision of success? Families, communities, and schools must acknowledge their shared responsibility for every child's success—and it is up to the school to lead the way.
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Image credit: Ground-breaking workbook for families and school leaders to read together by Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson, and Don Davies.

UP/Lexington

As I have done for the past eight years, I attended Lexington's Democratic Caucus last Saturday, February 8. What was different this year was that there was a push for electing a slate of unpledged progressive delegates to attend this year's Democratic Convention. I ran (and won) as an unpledged progressive (UP).

I am unpledged but not uncommitted! I am committed to identifying the best progressive candidate for Governor and to push all the candidates for Governor to speak up for progressive values and issues.

Read the related post by Peter Enrich to Blue Mass Group.

Our initial effort was a great success in Lexington. Of a total of 23 possible elected delegates, all 11 from our slate were elected, plus one more who joined the slate at the last moment.

And I've heard that we also have a big UP slate from Arlington, with good prospects elsewhere.

Bottom line is that it feels like we may really be onto something here. I'll be rolling up my sleeves for the follow through. Stay tuned.

Digital Learning Day

The third annual Digital Learning Day (#DLDay) is this Wednesday, February 5, 2014. DLDay is more than just one day; it's an ongoing campaign to ensure every child gets the best possible education in today's world economy and global society through technology integration and digital citizenship across the school and classroom, as well as at home. It's about giving every child the opportunity to learn in a robust digital environment everyday, with the goal of success in college and career. Each person can make a difference with digital learning in our nation's schools - and support the effective use of technology to improve education for all students.

Join the tweetchat on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Eastern) with Lexington's Estabrook Elementary School Principal, Sandra Trach, using the hashtag #digisafety. (For some background in advance, read Principal Trach's article HERE that inspired the chat.)

2014 #DLDay Resources: 
Safe Digital Citizenship by Sandra Trach
edutopia

Library of Congress Toolkit

Alliance for Excellent Education

School Leaders @Social Media

More and more people are using platforms like twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn to engage, inform, educate, and network.

• I set up my facebook page early in October 2011 in anticipation of my 2012 re-election to the Lexington School Committee (feel free to visit and "Like"...)

• I joined twitter in February 2011 (tweets at right...). If one thinks of twitter as a microblog, then this blog elaborates on thoughts, ideas, and scenes I have tweeted about.

• I beefed up my LinkedIn profile after attending a women's leadership conference - I've tried to maintain and build connections ever since.

So, it was with interest that I responded to a query sent to American School Board Journal subscribers last year about using social media - and would I be interested in talking to someone from ASBJ about it?

A small part of my conversation with ASBJ senior editor Lawrence Hardy is featured in the February edition of ASBJ and may be accessed HERE. I was pleased to contribute to the topic and agree that there is a tremendous opportunity to positively promote the work of schools and districts - and to engage with the international community on important education and humanitarian issues of our time.

An Estabrook Update

MT @MAStewartMA: Exciting! MT @SandraTrach NEW #EstabrookSchool 02.24.14! art rm in final stage overlook green roof pic.twitter.com/D6luzFM935”

— Sandra Trach (@SandraTrach) January 15, 2014

Joseph Estabrook Elementary School

Front Facade | November

Main Entry | August

There is a lot to say about the Joseph Estabrook Elementary School, a K-5 school where "the historic past meets the progressive future." Trust me, this isn't the last word.

3rd Floor Hallway | August

3rd Floor Hall | November

The school was built in 1962. One can imagine
that, after 50 years, the school has left an indelible impression on thousands of children and their families who spent years here.

We broke ground on a new building in June 2012 and for the past 18 months, construction has been on-going, just a few feet from the existing school.

Construction is expected to be completed - ahead of schedule and under budget! - for move-in next month (February 2014).

In August (2013) the School Committee was invited to the new site for a "walk-through". I took pictures of several areas.

Side view
of main facade | August

Side view
 of main facade | November

Three months later (to the date!) we were invited back for another walk-through to see how far the project had progressed since August. By November, the most visible and striking changes were to exterior masonry and gym. Also noticeable were classroom windows and walls (installed), hallways and stairways (enclosed), Library and Art Room (cabinetry & lighting), and roof garden (ready for plants, in trays).

5th grade Classroom | November

Art Room | November

Green Roof, ready for plantings | November

Gym | August

Gym | August

Gym | November

Library | November

Southern facade | November

By the time we were back outside, the crepuscular haze was closing in and it was difficult to see exterior details. Bio-remediation beds and a first of the aggregate concrete pathways were laid. We were informed that the plants for the roof garden would be installed the week after Thanksgiving. The Estabrook School website has a terrific digital album of the project where one may learn more detail about the Estabrook School Building Project. [Additional pics on my Instagram.]

Urban Post-Disaster Interim Housing

www.whatifnyc.gov

I was in Brooklyn a few weeks back, which also happened to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. As I walked from my hotel to DUMBO, I engaged with a construction site infographic located at the corner of Red Cross Place and Cadman Plaza East, just North of Whitman Park.

What's going on here?

The site is a parking lot that measures about 40' x 100'. The construction fence was "wrapped" in that heavy-duty fence wrap that had large-scale texts and graphics printed on it.

What's going on here?

Content of the texts and graphics described the reason and process for building emergency Post-Disaster Interim Housing, a prototype of which was being built behind the fence.

"Fantastic!" I thought. The genius being not only the project itself but the communications around it.

Through the Prototype Program, the City is creating a multi-story, multi-family interim housing solution that will work in urban areas all across the country. Interim housing is post-disaster housing. It's used after emergency sheltering, and before those affected by a disaster can move into housing they can sustain without post-disaster aid.

What will it look like from the street?

Because of the City's high population density, lack of open space, and a mission to resettle as many residents as possible in their former neighborhoods (common issues for many cities), the Urban Post-Disaster Housing Prototype Program outlines a new plan for interim housing that will provide more suitable living spaces for people displaced by disaster than conventional interim housing solutions.

The information/communication had come out of the NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM). I've since learned that this particular site in Brooklyn was chosen because it presents many of the challenges for post-disaster housing deployment in urban areas and because it has many of the assets those displaced by disaster would need to re-establish a sense of community.

What will it look like?

I learned that this project was begun a good five years before Superstorm Sandy, the storm that ravaged New York and New Jersey coasts only a year ago on October 25, 2012.

This prototype program grew from a design competition in NYC announced in September 2007.

Back then, Mayor Bloomberg and OEM Commissioner Bruno, in partnership with the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), Rockefeller Foundation, and Architecture for Humanity announced a competition to design urban housing for use after a disaster.

The competition was called, "What if New York City...Design Competition for Post-Disaster Provisional Housing". The competition challenged participants to propose innovative designs for temporary urban housing for use after a disaster, asking competitors to temporarily house a displaced population in a hypothetical disaster scenario in a realistic but fictitious neighborhood.

How long can people live here?

Can it fit different family sizes?

What really drew me in were the super-scale renderings/graphics which not only communicated the pleasing, modern design of the prototype dwelling but important information about the thinking driving the process as well, accomplished in a thoughtful, visual way. Text content was clear and concise and addressed many questions and concerns that naturally arise as to systems, aesthetics, and functionality, and included a link to a city government website where one could go to learn more about the prototype.

What type of temporary housing
will work in the city?

I cannot overstate just how struck I was by the clarity and simplicity of this project's display. It's an amazing example of thoughtful communications to busy city-dwellers, the information which was evidently written with them in mind, and artfully displayed with them in mind, too.

Busy passers-by could get a quick take of the project or take in key questions and essential principles driving the project's process, if they chose to linger.

Why can't we use trailers in cities?

Keeping in mind lessons learned from past disasters, the project incorporates guiding principles the City intends to follow for the planning of interim housing, such as respect for the community, keeping people close to home, coordinating with a Citywide recovery strategy, and respecting the City's unique character.

What makes
a good location?

I was happy to have chanced upon this important project because it has immediate and transferable implications for cities, and is an excellent example of intelligent, urban, and visual, civic communications.

Questions posed on fence wrap:

What's going on here?
What will it look like?
What type of temporary housing will work in the city?
How long does it take?
What makes a good location?
How many people can it house?
How does it make a neighborhood?
Is it comfortable?
Can it fit different family sizes?
How long can people live here?
Will it help foster a community?
What will it look like from the street?
Why can't we use trailers in cities?

AfterNotes: 

In 2012, the NYC OEM and the NYC Department of City Planning developed a case study guide, or “playbook,” for post-disaster site selection with design principles for keeping residents in the community and allowing them to live and work in their neighborhood (it's a PDF and downloadable). 

OEM and DDC, with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, are creating and testing the interim housing prototype based on a shipping container-style modular system.