Esperanza Academy: Audit summary: Board of Directors Ashley Pinakiewicz 5.14.15

Contents

1.   What we did

2.   What we learned 3.   What’s next?  

3  

WHAT WE DID

Project objective

To develop rich research around Esperanza Academy’s ethos and core values, to form the basis of key projects geared towards student outcomes.

Project process

•  Review  of  internal  and  external  materials  

•  Mee3ng  a5endance  

•  Stakeholder  interviews  

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WHAT WE LEARNED

Our core values

I  asked  each  stakeholder  to  define  EA’s  four  core  values,  in  their  own  words.  The  language  and  examples  people  chose  to  define  these  values  are  insighDul,  provoca3ve,  and  promising.      

WISDOM At  Esperanza,  wisdom  is  about  more  than  book  smarts  –  it’s  a  special  kind  of  emo=onal  intelligence  and  world-­‐savvy  that  EA  values.  It’s  applicable.          

“Intelligence  applied  with  a  moral  compass.”    

INTEGRITY

“Morality  +  authen3city.  If  you  have  integrity,  you  do  what’s  

right  without  compromising  your  iden3ty.”  

“Doing  the  right  thing  when  no  one  is  watching”  is  embedded  in  the  EA  community.  I  also  heard  a  clamoring  for  a  more  authen=c  version  of  integrity  –  doing  the  right  thing  because  you  believe  it’s  the  right  thing  to  do.  It’s  “deeply  personal.”      

LEADERSHIP

“Empowering  others  to  fulfill  a  joint  purpose.”  

Leadership  is  described  as  empowering,  unifying,  and  accessible  to  any  member  of  the  community.  That  said,  it  was  the  most  difficult  value  for  people  to  define;  the  girls  demonstrate  leadership,  but  it’s  hard  to  say  how.  Most  agreed  that  it  has  become  an  explicit  focus  only  in  the  last  few  years.    

SERVICE

“We  need  to  make  statements  in  the  wider  world  about  what  we  

believe.”  

Service  was  described  as  a  mindset  and  approach;  respondents  spoke  most  fervently  about  the  small  behaviors  of  “in-­‐between”  moments  that  demonstrate  this  value.  Beyond  Excel  Club  and  Chapel,  there  seems  to  be  an  opportunity  to  define  this  more  deeply.    

Esperanza’s many identities

Esperanza  is  a  school  that  embodies  many  different  iden33es.  Different  individuals  feel  more  personally  connected  to  different  versions  of  Esperanza’s  iden3ty,  based  on  their  mo3va3ons  and  beliefs.      

Esperanza as…

 …a  school  for  underserved  kids    

Esperanza as…

 …part  of  Lawrence  

Esperanza as…

 …a  small  school  

Esperanza as…

 …all-­‐girls  

Esperanza as…

 …Episcopalian  

Esperanza as…

 …independent  

…part  of  Na3vity  Miguel  Coali3on    

Big insights

Based  on  the  stakeholder  interviews  and  analysis  of  EA’s  materials,  the  following  insights  arose  as  consistent  indicators  of  EA’s  culture,  iden3ty,  and  implicitly  held  values.      

There’s an intangible energy that makes EA’s students different

“It’s  the  energy.  Don’t  know  where  it  comes  from,  but  it’s  the  con3nued  mission  to  make  them  into  be5er  

people  versus  just  making  them  into  good  students.”  

We love our students

“We  want  to  express  our  love  for  them  -­‐  that’s  at  the  heart  of  the  educa3on  we  provide.  

but  in  a  way  that’s  professional  and  conscious  of  the  need  for  boundaries.”  

We talk more about what we do than about outcomes

“The  school  has  unbelievable  performance.”    –  Board  member  

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Focus questions

•  How  do  we  ar=culate  Episcopal  iden=ty  in  a  school  without  Episcopalians?    

•  What  do  parents  value  in  a  school  for  their  kids?  How  do  we  beUer  understand  that?  

 •  How  do  we  balance  being  of  Lawrence  and  also  

offering  an  alterna=ve  to  Lawrence?  

asp881@mail.harvard.edu