Mini-Plenary:

Building Shared Ownership through

School Site Teams

Center for Strategic Community Innovation (CSCi)

San Fernando Middle School, Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) & LAUSD

Hillcrest Elementary & Instituto Familiar de la Raza, SFUSD

Communities in Schools (CIS)

Introductions

Presenters

• Jamie Harris, Center for Strategic Community Innovation (CSCi)

• Gustavo Morales, Community School Coordinator at San Fernando Middle School, Los Angeles Education Partnership

• Kelly Welsh, Assistant Principal, San Fernando Middle School, LAUSD

• Stefanie Eldred, Community School Coordinator, Hillcrest Elementary School, SFUSD

• Cassandra Coe, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, Hillcrest partner, SF

• Gaudencio Marquez, Program Director, Communities in Schools (CIS) of Los Angeles

Overview The Why’s and What’s

Why do you need a Site Leadership Team?

• Operationalizes the shared part of the community school approach – shared vision, leadership, responsibility, resources, etc.

• Institutionalizes the approach, instead of based on personality

• Say it with me, “sustainability”

Overview The Why’s and What’s

So what is a Site Team?

• Unifies and guides the community school towards shared goals

• Represents major stakeholders, e.g. school, lead agency, partners, parents, students, intermediary, elected officials

• Integrated into other organization structures in the school

The Why’s and What’s Major Roles

What are the general Roles of a Site Team?

• Big Picture Vision, needs, resources, alignment, equity

• Engagement and Partnerships Partners & services, broad engagement, communication back to stakeholder groups at all levels

• Continuous Improvement and Support Data, best practices, innovation, PD and coaching

The Why’s and What’s Site & System Leadership

Where does Site Leadership fit within a

larger system?

• Community schools = shared leadership

• All of the site leadership team functions also occur at a systems level

• Site and system level leadership inform each other and the overall initiative

The Why’s and What’s Collaborative Leadership

Why’s & What’s Scale Up Guide

More Detailed Functions • Results-Based Vision

• Data and Evaluation

• Finance and Resource

Development

• Alignment and Integration

• Supportive Policy and Practice

• Professional Development and Technical Assistance

• Broad Community Engagement

Site Leadership Panel The How’s and Lessons

Each Team will cover:

• Background on their site or organization

• Description of their site team structure(s)

• Details on specific functions of their site teams

• Advice on building ownership through site teams

Reflect on your Sites

Take a minute to reflect (and write)

on a few key issues related to your

own sites and site teams

Site Leadership Panel San Fernando Middle School

San Fernando Middle School will be a community school in

which assets from within the school and from the broader

community are harnessed to support our students.

• 2009 - SFMS began school redesign process as part of LAUSD’s public school choice initiative.

• Formed a Collaborative with school and district staff, students, families, partners and community members

• 3-month research and design process (now year-long)

• SFMS “re-opened” in 2010 as a community school with LAEP as the lead agency

San Fernando Middle School SFMS Demographics

• Located in the small city of San Fernando, Southern CA

• High poverty, significant gang activity, linguistic isolation, and low educational attainment

• Deep community roots, strong work ethic, collaborative

• 1,100 students in grades 6-8

• 97% Latino, 1% African-American, 2% Other; 97% free/reduced lunch

• In 2010-11, improved CST scores in Math (11% points) and English (5% points), and achieved 4 times API growth target (52 points)

San Fernando Middle School LAEP as Lead Agency

LA Education Partnership’s Mission is to help students in high-need schools improve their academic achievement by partnering with educators, parents and the community.

o We work both outside of schools as an agent of change, and within schools as a collaborative partner

o Our efforts foster excellent schools, great teachers and engaged communities

San Fernando Middle School Site Leadership Structure

San Fernando Middle School Site Team Functions

• Shared Vision

• Alignment and Integration - Shared Leadership

• Resource Development

• Supportive Policy and Practice

Site Leadership Panel San Fernando Middle School

Lessons Learned

Site Leadership Panel Hillcrest Elementary School

Hillcrest’s mission is to engage students to become enthusiastic, lifelong learners who will make positive

contributions to their families and their communities.

• 2004 - Critical mass of like-minded staff and new administration

• 2006 - Grantee in the last cohort of Healthy Start funding from the CA Department of Education

• 2009 - Early adopter site for SFUSD’s first community school initiative, New Day for Learning,

• 2011 - SFUSD community school flagship

Hillcrest Elementary School Demographics

• Located in southeast San Francisco, CA

• 485 students in grades K-5

• 44% Latino; 31% Asian/PI; 11% African American; 8% Filipino; 3% White; 3% Other

• 86% Free/Reduced Lunch; 65% English Learners; 16% Special Needs

• In 2010-11, 7% increase in Reading & Math CST scores and 15% gain on reading benchmarks

• 20+ community partners; over 1 million dollars in-kind, leveraged and grant funding

Hillcrest Elementary School Core Services

• Rigorous, Inquiry-Based and Literacy-Focused Academic Program

• Seamless Day and Year

• Parent Engagement

• Health and Wellness

• Community Engagement

• Program Coordination, Integration and Alignment

Hillcrest Elementary School Site Leadership Structures

• Tri-annual Community School Council o SSC, school administration and staff, PTA, families, partners,

volunteers, community members and supporters

• Monthly o School Site Council and English Language Advisory Council

o Instructional Leadership Team

o Parent Teacher Association

o Partner Collaborative

• Weekly o Community School Leadership

o Coordinated Services Team

o Mental Health Collaborative (Bi-Weekly)

Hillcrest Elementary School Site Team Functions

• Shared Vision

• Community Engagement

• Alignment and Integration

• Professional Development and TA

Site Leadership Panel Hillcrest Elementary School

Lessons Learned

“I am my community.

My community is me.”

Site Leadership Panel Communities in Schools (CIS)

Mission of Communities In Schools is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in

school and achieve in life.

• Founded in 1970s, now the nation’s leading dropout prevention organization

• CIS of Los Angeles launched at 2 high schools in 2007

• Today, CISLA serves over 1,900 students in 8 schools

• CIS positions a coordinator inside schools to assess needs and deliver necessary resources that remove barriers to success.

SITE TEAM

Site Coordinator

Graduation Coach

Americorps

School Leadership

Team

Coordination

of resources • Diff at each school

• Monthly CBO

meetings

Whole School

Programming

Case

Management

• School Admin

• School

Support Staff

• Other Service

Providers

• Teachers

• Monthly/quarterly

meetings

• help in developing

site plan

• help in evaluating

services

Communities in Schools (CIS) CIS Model

1

CIS Model

Communities in Schools (CIS) CIS Model

.

Communities in Schools (CIS) Site Team Functions

• Shared Vision

• Data and Evaluation o Needs Assessment

o Evaluation

• Finance and Resource Development

• Community Engagement

Site Leadership Panel Communities in Schools (CIS)

Lessons Learned

Questions?

Thank you and good luck!