Cory Merrill Campus Planning Process

December 13, 2007

Where We’ve Been

2 year parent interest in seeing closer connection between Cory and Merrill, want viable neighborhood model

Focus groups and community outreach Letter to superintendent Spring 2007, provides commitment

and seed funds for planning Summer/Fall—staff and parents engaged in conversations to

help complete SIG planning grant on Oct. 1 Launched marketing and data collection Action Teams Nov. 19: Grant is approved December 13: Coordinating Committee is announced

Where We Are Heading

Outcome: present SIG/Beacon grant on October 1, 2008

Process– “Consensus seeking process,” where all views are included

and all agree to support final decision– Coalition weighs in directly on vision and values (design

principles) and rough frame of structure, adopt final plan– Coordinating Committee is “chartered” to coordinate the

effort, do the finish work, offer detailed plans for Coalition to reach agreement on

– Consensus seeking, but with fall-back decision-making plan (supermajority of Coalition (80-90%), supermajority of CC)

Criteria Generated for Coordinating Committee Selection 9.26.07

Merrill and Cory teachers (and perhaps feeder school teachers as well)

Parents from younger and older students Members of the neighborhood associations/groups in

surrounding area Fellow feeder schools (e.g. UPark) ELA Community (teacher or parent) Parents with expertise (marketing, education, research, etc.) A DPS decision-maker, or close ties to them HGT/GT/Honors perspectives Parents who have choiced in Special needs views (parent or teacher)

Additional Qualities We Wanted 9.26.07

Open-mindedness Trustworthiness (perhaps from past

commitment to the school) Overlap with other bodies (like PTA, CSC,

etc.) Expertise and relevant background

Coordinating Committee Members

Administration– Stacy Miller, Principal, Merrill MS– Susan Trimm, GT Coordinator, Merrill/Cory– Julia Shepherd, Principal, Cory Elementary– Margaret Wing, Cory Humanities Facilitator

Coordinating Committee Members

Cory/Merrill Parents– Karl Braun, Merrill/Cory– Bob Dahlen, Cory– Michele Olree, Cory– Michelle Hayden, Cory– Joan Rademacher, Merrill– Mike Stanwood, Cory

Coordinating Committee Members

Cory/Merrill Teachers– Steve Ericksson, Social Studies, Merrill – Ruth Rhodes, Language Arts, Merrill– Brigid Clark, Social Studies, Merrill– Barb Ceron, Math/Science Facilitator, Merrill– Linda Durgin, 1st Grade, Cory– Brent Conklin, 2nd Grade, Cory– Alex Keldin, 3rd Grade, Cory– Martha Biery, 4th Grade, Cory

Coordinating Committee Members

Community Representatives– Connie Clifton/Estelle Matus, Ellis Elementary– Margaret Sobocinski, Steele – South (unknown)– University Park (unknown)– George Todd, Cory Merrill Neighborhood

Association– Community Rep 2

4 Common Needs During a Collaborative Process

The need for information—from friends, technical sources, knowledge-sharing systems, etc.

The need for multiple perspectives—you, bystanders, rivals, etc.

The need to deal with complexity—managing a perhaps bewildering range of possibilities and consequences with a mix of systematicity and intuition

The need to deal with negative emotions—finding and sustaining needed distance (David Perkins, King Arthur’s Round Table, p. 25)