B.E.S.T. Academy and CSKYWLA

Community-wide Planning Session

Stakeholder Conversations

Welcome and Introductions

• Angela Smith, Facilitator

• Sid Baker, Associate Superintendent

• Dr. Timothy Jones, Mr. Hajj Womack, Dr. Shaundra Fears, and Dr. Dione Simon, Principal Facilitators

• Cluster Planning Team

2

Who is on your Cluster Planning Team?

Principals

• Mr. Hajj Womack, BEST MS • Dr. Timothy Jones, BEST HS• Dr. Dione Simon, CSKYWLA MS• Dr. Shaundra Fears, CSKYWLA HS

Community Representatives

• Mr. Bernard Porche – B.E.S.T. Academy LSC member

• Ms. Stephanie Bailey – CSKYWLA PTSA member

• Ms. Carla Christian – B.E.S.T. Academy PTSA member

• Dr. Robert Nerem (or designee from GA TECH) – CSKYWLA Partner

• Ms. Zola Shannon Mullen – CSKYWLA LSC member

• Dr. Folami Prescott-Adams, Metro Atlanta KIPP

• Ms. Gymiah Whitaker • Dr. Howard Grant

3

Why are we here today?

• Present an overview of Cluster Planning and the Charter System Application processes

• Receive feedback, to include:

• the strengths and challenges of your cluster as they relate to your cluster’s mission, vision and priorities

• the options for the Charter System local school governance teams

4

Agenda

• Cluster Planning Overview

• Cluster Data, Strengths, and Concerns

• Draft Mission, Vision, and Priorities

• Charter System Overview

• Local School Governance Team Overview

• Activities throughout the evening to encourage engagement

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Let’s Agree To

• Assume good intentions

• Listen actively

• Share the air

• Avoid jargon and acronyms

• Respect our time together and each other

• Silence cell phones

6

Converging to Develop a Charter System

Strategic Plan 2015-2020

Cluster Planning

Charter System

Application

(Operating Model)

Atlanta Public Schools Planning Work Streams

7

AdvisoryCommittees

Employee Feedback

StudentFeedback

Cluster Planning

Teams

Formal APSCommunity

Meetings

Charter System Advisory

Committee

Community Participation in the Charter System Application Development

8

Cluster Planning Overview

Sid Baker

Associate Superintendent

What is Cluster Planning?

10

Purpose

• To build stronger schools and clusters to ensure consistent high quality academics and focused programming exists across the district

Context

• The goals of Cluster Planning are to enhance the alignment of schools within a cluster and increase the levels of flexibility and autonomy from the district-level to the cluster and school levels.

• Each cluster has a Cluster Planning Team made up of principals and community representatives.

• The cluster plan will guide the academic direction for students within each cluster.

• The cluster plans will inform the FY16 and FY17 Budget and the Charter System Application.

A website will publish minutes, dates, locations, and other information about the meetings

DocumentedCluster Planning Team Meetings will be open to the public for observation

Open

Meetings will be respectful, collaborative, constructive and positive

Collaborative

Cluster Planning Team Meetings

Cluster Planning Teams are made up of the principals from the cluster and community representatives.

Meeting Norms

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Angela Smith

The World Cafe´

The World Cafe´

• Generate input, share knowledge, stimulate innovative thinking, explore action possibilities

• Create a dense web of connections in a short period of time as threads of conversation reveal new patterns

Purpose of the World Café

The World Cafe´

• Focus on what matters• Contribute your thinking• Speak your mind and heart• Listen to understand• Link and connect ideas• Listen together for insights and deeper

questions• Play, doodle, draw (note: each table has a piece of chart

paper and markers for participants to respond to each question)

Café Etiquette

The World Cafe´

Instructions

Round 1 & 2 (15 minutes)

• Sit at a table with 5-6 other people you don’t know• Respond to Questions 1 & 2 by discussing with your

group and writing, doodling, or drawing your thoughts, ideas, and questions on the tablecloths.

Round 3 (15 minutes)• Respond to Question 3 by discussing with your

group and writing, doodling, or drawing your thoughts, ideas, and questions on the tablecloths.

Round 4 (5 minutes)• Complete survey.

The World Cafe´

Question 1

What makes BEST Academy and CSKYWLA strong?

B.E.S.T. Academy and CSKYWLA

Strengths Concerns

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• Leaders who are committed to single

gender education

• Rooted in the current geographic

community

• Family-like environment

• Robust partnerships

• Collaborative leadership team across

the four schools

• Resourceful team & partners

• Supportive and knowledgeable about

the students and their families

• Program offerings - students actively

take advantage of the offerings

• Students coming to 6th grade reading many

grades below grade level

• Parents need skills and strategies to support

their child(ren)

• Disproportionality in many areas, intensifies

certain issues (Special Education needs, Math,

Science, Reading, wrap-around services,

social/emotional needs, literacy)

• Seen as “taking” students from the traditional

middle and high schools in the zone

• Lack of resources in the community (nutritional

food, professionals such as doctors and

dentists)

• Low participation in parent conferences, special

events, PTSA, local school council, etc.

• Social and emotional well-being of our children

– a threat to our enrollment and staffing

(impacts achievement, attendance, discipline

and perception)

• Unique professional development needs.

Cluster Data

Shaundra Fears, Ed.D. and Dione Simon, Ed.D.

Attendance and Discipline Data

English Language Arts and Reading Achievement (CRCT)

BEST Middle CSKYWLA Middle

Math and Science Achievement (CRCT)

BEST Middle CSKYWLA Middle

English Language Arts Achievement (EOCT)

BEST High CSKYWLA High

Science and Math Achievement (EOCT)

BEST High CSKYWLA High

Draft Mission, Vision, and Priorities

Mr. Hajj Womack and Dr. Timothy Jones

Our vision is to create a high-performing single gender exemplar that produces transformational

leaders who contribute to the community.

Our Draft Vision

Our mission is to provide a caring, collaborative and rigorous single gender environment where the

community of learners empowers scholars to be college and career ready.

Our Draft Mission

What does the community survey data say about Signature Cluster Vision 1st Choice?

Other Responses

2% International studies and languages with an emphasis on business and commerce to include the study of languages such as Spanish, French and Chinese

2% Dual immersion bilingual education in which students are taught literacy and content in two languages

N=49

Participants:80% Teacher/Staff Member14% Parent or Guardian2% LSC Member2% Community Partner2% Non-profit Partner

What does the community survey data say about High School Career 1st Choice?

Other Responses3% Human Services3% Energy3% Government & Public

Administration3% Hospitality & Tourism3% Finance

N=49

Our Draft Priorities

Draft Priority Potential Strategies

Focus on the whole child

Implement the Seven Habits framework (The Leader in Me) to build skills needed to

succeed in life (eg. leadership development)

Implement social and emotional learning opportunities and strategies

Implement STEM

Improve math, reading and science performance

Target disproportionality

Certify teachers to meet STEM school requirements

Ensure facilities meet STEM requirements

Increase Student Enrollment

Develop and implement a communications plan

Build a BEST/CSKYWLA Brand

Leverage district support

Remove barriers (eg. general transfer process)

Increase Parent and Community

Engagement and Partnership

Build advocacy across the community

Develop and implement a communications plan

Engage and enhance the PTSA/LSC

Build partnerships (eg. Engineering associations, higher education institutions, non-

profit organizations)

Strengthen the Single-gender

Learning Environment

Improve facilities to enhance single-gender learning (eg. space planning, room design)

Develop a schedule aligned to single-gender best practices

Institute rites of passage

Determine policies and procedures needed to succeed in a single-gender learning

environment

Develop and Implement a

Transportation Strategy

Develop and Implement a Transportation Strategy

Improve Talent Acquisition and

Development

Develop and implement a recruiting strategy for teachers, specific to single-gender

learning environments

Provide and obtain ongoing professional development related to single-gender best

practices for all staff

The World Cafe´

Question 2

Are there any additional priorities that should be considered to fully

address the BEST/CSKYWLA challenges?

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Douglass and BEST/CSKYWLA Data (Census)

Family Configurations

77% of children are being raised in single parent

households, compared to 47% across the district

… of single parent households earn below the poverty level

Income

20%

28%

22%19%

16%14%

18%22% 23% 23%

0%

10%

20%

30%

<$10K $10k to$25k

$25k to$50k

$50k to$100k

Over$100k

Douglass Cluster: Household Income Ranges

Douglass APS

EducationDouglass

Cluster AreaAtlanta Area

… of the adults over the age of 25 attained the education level of

graduate degree or more

… of the adults over the age of 25 attained the education level of high

school or less

86% 85%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

B.E.S.T. Academy CSKYWLA

Percent Economic Disadvantage

… of the housing in this cluster is vacant

Housing

Why Single-Gender Education?

• Enhances student success when teachers use techniques and instructional strategies geared to the gender of their students

• Girls and boys attending single gender schools are significantly more likely to attend a 4-year college compared with scholars attending coed schools

• Single Gender schools provide structures that are beneficial to the mental, physical, and emotional development of adolescents.

What is STEM?

• STEM driven clusters will support the Pipeline by increasing STEM activities such as:

• Partnerships with collegiate to help facilitate more rigorous STEM based lessons.

• Partnerships with SECME, CEISMIC, and others for increased engineering challenge opportunities.

• Students enter the STEM pipeline at high school graduation and exit the pipeline as STEM professionals

• Participation in activities such as:– Discovery Education STEM

Camp opportunities for 9th

grade students (summer break-annually).

The goals of the STEM cluster concept are as follows: • Integrate learning targets across multiple disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math)• Foster critical thinking skills, communication, collaboration, creativity, inquiry, real-world connections, and

increased student engagement • Provide project-based learning, problem-based learning, and inquiry-based learning for students • Enable students to develop innovative and independent research projects

• Trans-disciplinary integration occurs throughout core content by utilizing STEM lessons to increase student learning and engagement

• Partnership with STEM Connect/STEM formation for after school and summer enrichment programs in the area of STEM

• Partnerships with local corporations (Coca Cola, Home Depot, & Georgia Power) and colleges (Georgia Tech & SCAD learning opportunities)

• Participation in activities such as:– School-based robotics teams/clubs– Discovery Education STEM Camp

opportunities for 5th grade students (summer break- annually)

– Discovery 3M Young Scientist Challenge (December – annually)

• Discovery Education STEM Camp opportunities for 6th – 8th grade students (summer break- annually).

• Increased teacher professional development on STEM related instructional methodologies

• Create partnerships with area collegiate schools such as Georgia Tech, Georgia State University.

• Participation in activities such as:– STEM career day– Ten80 Race Car challenge– Increased STEM Challenge

Activities

Elementary School Middle School High School

Next Steps

• Cluster Planning Teams will use the feedback from today to update the mission, vision and priorities for the cluster

• Cluster Planning Teams will start developing plans for 2015-2016

• Hard copy and online surveys are available for additional feedback

• We will meet again next week for further conversation (Thursday, May 7th @ Harper Archer)

Charter System Application

Angela Smith

APS Charter System Application Timeline and Activities

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Date Activity

November 2014 • Board Vote on Submitting Letter of Intent (LOI) for Charter System

December 2014 • Submit LOI to Georgia Department of Education with request for FY16 waivers needed for operation

January 2015 – May 2015 • Application Development

January 2015 – June 2015 • Stakeholder Engagement

February 2015 – April 2015 • Community Meetings

January 2015 – June 2015 • Charter System Advisory Committee Monthly Meetings

May 2015 • Conduct Public Hearings

June 2015 • Board Approval of Charter System Petition

June 2015 • Submit Charter System Petition to Georgia Department of Education

After Submittal • Georgia Department of Education makes approval/denial to State Board of Education

If Approved • Execution of Contract between the district and State Board of Education

Charter System VideoLieutenant Governor Casey Cagle

Charter System — Basic Components

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CharterSystem

Commitment to Innovation and

Changing District Culture

To innovate, District Requires Flexibility

from State Law, Policy and District

Policy

Freedom and Flexibility in Exchange for

Increased Accountability

Goals

Required Distribution of

Substantial Autonomy to School

(LSGT)

The Charter System Philosophy: A district must want to truly change how it does business and believe that, in order to increase student achievement, schools must be operated in a different way, with greater parent and

community buy-in at every single school. Schools are empowered to develop solutions free from the established educational bureaucracy of legislature-driven education mandates, State Board rules, and even the district’s own policies and practices. With this freedom from the law, the district and its schools in turn agree to

be held accountable for significant increases in student achievement.

Charter School

• Governed by non-profit board of directors

• Contract is between school, school district and state

• The Governing board can contract with an independent operator to manage and run the school

• Schools are independent and have flexibility from state and district policies

Charter System

• Governed by Board of Education

• Contract is between system and SBOE

• Local School Governance Team has decision-making authority in certain areas

• Schools are not independently responsible for all goals stated in charter contract

• Not privatization

Commonalities

• Public

• Operate under a charter contract

• Receive flexibility from certain state laws

• Subject to GA statewide accountability assessments

Charter System vs. Charter School

Charter System Model Discussion

• Today’s focus: Local School Governance Teams (LSGTs)

• Understanding LSGTs and their roles in a Charter System

• Examples of LSGT Authority

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Local School Governance Teams

Angela Smith

What exactly is an LSGT?

• An LSGT is a school-level body that has delegated power from the Superintendent in:

• Personnel Decisions, including recommending the principal or school leader for selection by the local board of education;

• Financial Decisions and Resource Allocations, school budget and the number and type of personnel, curriculum costs, supply costs, equipment costs and maintenance and operations costs;

• Curriculum and accompanying instructional materials;

• Establishment/monitoring of School Improvement Goals, including approval of the school improvement plan and oversight of its implementation; and

• Any School Operations that are consistent with school improvement goals. 41

What Makes a High Quality LSGT?

The GADOE defines these as the building blocks of High Quality Charter System School Governance as:

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LSGT composition reflects the diversity of

the community

Meets regularly and complies with Open Records and Open

Meetings Laws

LSGT focuses on governance and stays out of management

Substantial autonomy from local district in

designated areas

Receives regular updates on academic

operational, and financial progress of

the school

Participates in regular governing council training each year

How do LSGTs Compareto Other School Organizations?

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Characteristics LSGT LSC PTA/PTO

Structure Voting Body: LSGTs have defined input and autonomy in certain areas whereas LSCs could only advise.

Advisory Body Supporting Body

Primary Purpose Set strategic direction and empower decision making at school level

Advise and make recommendations to school leadership

Support the School

Required? Mandatory for charter systems

Mandatory for traditional systems (replaced by LSGT in charter system)

Optional

Legal Status Legally a part of the district

Legally a part of the district

Legally distinct from district

Membership Must have parents & community in majority

Minimumrequirements

Requirements established by individual bodies

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Fulton

• 10 members ES & MS

• 12 members HS

• Principal

• 3 elected parents

• 2 elected teachers

• 2 nominated community members

• 2 students (HS only)

Floyd

• 7 members

• Principal

• 2 elected parents

• 2 appointed community members

• 2 elected staff

Marietta

• 7-11 members

• Principal

• 2 elected parents

• 2 core subject teachers

• 1 nominated school staff

• 1 nominated community member

• Students to committees ad hoc

LSGT Member Composition Examples

Considerations for LSGT Size

Benefits:More ideas, distribution of workload, more diversity of voices, more community buy-in and representation

Cons: Rallying interest, too many cooks, can lengthen meetings

Benefits: Cohesion may be easier to achieve, management of schedules, rallying interest

Cons: Less knowledge when board turns over, less capacity for projects and committees, less representation

Larg

er L

SGT

Smaller LSG

T

45

Autonomy to LSGT

Consider Delegation of Authority

A charter system must

• maximize school level governance and the involvement of parents, teachers, and community members in such governance

• grant decision-making authority in personnel decisions, financial decisions, curriculum and instruction, resource allocation, establishing and monitoring the achievement of school improvement goals, and school operations

per O.C.G.A. 20-2-2062 and 20-2-2063

LSGT A Shift in Authority

Role of Governance at the Local School Level

• To govern means to represent the public trust by ensuring that an organization carries out the purposes for which it was established and as expressed in its mission statement.

• Governance teams should direct the school towards achieving their mission and makes sure the school’s efforts and resources are properly focused towards that goal.

Proposed LSGT Member StructureLSGT Structure

9 voting members* (size may vary to 7 or 11)

Principal is a nonvoting member

4 Parents elected by parents

3 Teachers elected by staff

2 Community members nominated by the principal

1 HS/MS student is a nonvoting member

Principal and LSGT Chair collaborate on agenda setting

2 year terms with a maximum of 2 terms(following initial staggered terms of 1 and 2 yrs.)

Stakeholder Input on LSGT Member StructureLSGT Composition

9 voting members* can be increased through SBS process

Principal is a nonvoting member

3 Parents elected by parents

3 Teachers elected by staff

2 Community members nominated by the principal

1 HS/MS student is a nonvoting member* can be amended to vote through SBS process

1 "Swing Seat" to be filled by Parent/Community Member depending on skills needed

Principal and LSGT Chair collaborate on agenda setting

2 year terms with a maximum of 2 terms(following initial staggered terms of 1 and 2 yrs.)

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Clusters in the

APS Charter System Model

DISTRIBUTE

APS must distribute meaningful

autonomy and decision-making power to local

school governance teams (LSGTs).

BALANCE

APS must consider the role,

responsibilities, and grant authority to

LSGTs within its new cluster planning

framework.

MAINTAIN

APS must maintain its ability to

effectively manage and oversee the

work of its schools and clusters.

Maintaining an emphasis on cluster organization while distributing autonomy to the school level

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Clusters in the APS Charter System Model

Each Cluster will have a

Cluster Advisory Team

Membership

Principal + LSGT Rep from each School within

Cluster

May add community member seats, with a

cap.

Duties to LSGT

Advisory Team reviews and recommends LSGT school-based solutions that implicate cluster

plan as part of district-vetting process.

Provides support to LSGTs on membership,

solutions, issues.

Duties to District

Advisory Team reviews district-wide initiatives and provides input to

district.

Is the keeper of the cluster strategic plan and will periodically update

it.

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The World Cafe´

Question 3

How will the proposed governance structure impact decision making at your school and

as a cluster?

Community-wide Public Hearings and Cluster Break-outs

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Tuesday, May 5, 2015North Atlanta ClusterSutton Middle School

Wednesday, May 6, 2015Mays Cluster, Therrell ClusterBenjamin E. Mays High School

Thursday, May 7, 2015Douglass Cluster, Washington Cluster, B.E.S.T. / Coretta Scott King Y.W.L.A.Harper-Archer Middle School

All meetings are held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015Grady Cluster, Jackson ClusterMaynard H. Jackson High School

Thursday, May 14, 2015Carver Cluster, South Atlanta ClusterSouth Atlanta High School

Join us to provide feedback on the Charter System application and hear what the clusters are planning for 2015-2016.

www.atlantapublicschools.us/strongschools