Hope High School's New Principal, Tamara Sterling - November 2013 East Side Monthly

This month's East Side Monthly features a chat that I had with Tamara Sterling, the new(ish) principal of Hope High School. The piece is online here, and I've reproduced it below.

I really enjoyed our conversation, which I had to shorten up quite a bit. I appreciated Ms. Sterling's perspective as a newcomer to Providence and think that Hope and PPSD will benefit from her fresh take.

Great Expectations for Hope High's New Principal: Tamara Sterling brings a fresh perspective to a unique set of challenges

Ms. Sterling at Hope High School - photo by Amy Amerantes

Founded in 1898, Hope High School is the oldest public school on the East Side. Recent reforms intended to raise graduation rates and other indicators of student achievement – particularly the most recent major state-initiated restructuring in which the school was divided into three small schools – have shown promise but were interrupted before they could show lasting results. Hope is now reconsolidated into one school with 915 students.

This year, 74% of Hope High School’s students are economically challenged, as indicated by their eligibility for free and reduced lunch. Twenty-six percent receive special education services, and 15% are English language learners. In 2012, Hope’s graduation rate was 73% – not the lowest in Providence, but not nearly where it needs to be, says Hope High School’s recently appointed principal Tamara Sterling. I recently chatted with Ms. Sterling to get her take on what’s next for Hope High School.

What brought you to Providence?
I became interested in Providence in 2011, when the teacher layoffs here became national news. I wanted to come to Providence because as a transformational leader, Providence felt like a place where I could make a difference. I am now in my second year here. Before moving to Providence, I had worked in Houston, which is where I am from, and Chicago, moving from teacher to principal.

What did you notice when you first arrived?
I noticed immediately that while the data told a story, that Providence is one of the lowest-performing districts in the state, there was a desire for adults to do more for children and for children to do more for themselves. No one was sitting back. Everyone was asking themselves what can we do to make this work? Of course, I also noticed that our dropout rate was more than 20%. I have not ever worked at a school that lost kids in double digits. That’s nearly a whole grade. Where did they go? Why is the graduation rate so low?

Tell me about the approach you took with Hope, considering its dramatic history of change.
I spent the first half of last year observing and learning. I met with all of the teachers and asked them to tell me about their experience of Hope High School, the good, the bad and the ugly. I learned that they valued the small learning communities that Hope had, so during the second half of the year, we asked ourselves, “How can we make this work with our new redesign?” We now have four learning communities divided by grade level: a freshman academy with two houses of 192 students each, and then sophomore, junior and senior houses. The freshmen are together in one centralized area and have their own lunch, teachers, electives and everything else. Our focus with them is on personalization, time management and honing skills. We thought a lot about how we would support our students to stay on track, knowing that if they are successful in ninth grade, they will be more likely to graduate. Those teachers in each freshman academy house have autonomy, the ownership of running their academy. So far, I think it is going extremely well.

Why is autonomy important?
It’s important that the teachers feel empowered. When they influence what happens in their academies, when they come to school to do more than teach, their experience changes. This is a culture shift for the school. It’s all about student achievement and support, and the students buying into it. They understand that it’s important to be here, that Hope is their school, that they take ownership and pride – that they have hope. They are not coming late to school, and daily attendance is up 10%. We’re seeing some immediate benefits.

What’s your message to the community?
We want people to come inside. Come walk the halls with us and feel what it’s like to be a Blue Waver. It’s also our job to make sure that the Hope spirit goes out. Students have to do individual community service projects and a grade-level service-learning project, and those will be meaningful. We’ll be out there representing Hope with pride and making an impact. Most importantly, as we’re going through this transformation, we want the community to sit at the table. We want people who are planning to send their kids to Hope to join us as we plan for the future. I love these students. I have never worked with such a diverse population of students who want the best for themselves. I believe that high school can be one of the best times of your life as you prepare for adulthood, and I am grateful and proud to be part of their world.

PPSD in-district charters - some info and questions (updated)

Without any time for a meaningful post, here's today's ProJo article on in-district charters in Providence, which is the first meaningful description I've heard about this initiative. Bits and pieces of this keep floating by my parental and professional radar and I (and many others) have a long list of questions.

Okay, story first, reproduced in full below (online here):

Schools given the chance to become chartersSo far, nine have accepted invitation by superintendent who intends to shake up system

By LINDA BORG JOURNAL STAFF WRITER 

   PROVIDENCE –– The Providence schools superintendent and the president of the teachers’ union are about to embark on a groundbreaking experiment that will change the way students learn in some of the city’s 42 public schools.

   Every school is being asked to become a district-operated charter school. In a system where more than half of the schools are identified as chronically low-performing, charter school status would enable schools to tap into federal money and have greater flexibility over everything from the length of the school day to the way the school day is divided.

   Susan Lusi, together with Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith and School Board President Keith Oliveira, are promoting the idea of district-operated charters, which would give principals greater say over what happens in the classroom without sacrificing union protection for teachers.

   Charter schools were originally designed to serve as incubators of reform, but that collaboration never took hold in Rhode Island. Lusi wants to change that and combat the often negative perception that charters operate outside the traditional public school system.

   “I think Providence is leading the way,” said Kathy Christie, a spokeswoman for the Education Commission of the States, a national clearinghouse on education policy and research. “You can either moan about charters or you can take the bull by the horns. It’s laudable.”

   Charter schools were originally designed to serve as incubators of reform, but that collaboration never took hold in Rhode Island. Lusi wants to change that and combat the often negative perception that charters operate outside the traditional public school system.

   “I think Providence is leading the way,” said Kathy Christie, a spokeswoman for the Education Commission of the States, a national clearinghouse on education policy and research. “You can either moan about charters or you can take the bull by the horns. It’s laudable.”

   Christie says there aren’t many districts, outside of post-Katrina New Orleans, that have embraced charter schools as a way to jump-start reform. New Orleans turned over a large number of its public schools to national charter school operators after its buildings were devastated by Katrina. 

  Lusi says she wouldn’t impose charter status on any school that wasn’t willing. State law prohibits it. To become a charter, 65 percent of the school’s teachers must vote yes and a majority of parents have to do the same.

   Nonprofit organizations such as Inspiring Minds were always asking Lusi what they could do to help. One day, she woke up and said, “What if I just say yes?”

   After years of watching the latest school reforms come and go, Lusi recognizes that the district can’t do it alone, especially given the enormous cost of turning schools around.

   Each Providence public school that becomes a charter has to find a partner –– another charter like Times2 or the Learning Community or a nonprofit like Inspiring Minds or the Providence After-School Alliance. The partner doesn’t have to be in Providence.

   While the district alone doesn’t have the capacity to make systemic changes, Lusi says, an outside partner brings additional resources to the table along with a fresh perspective.

   “Central Falls,” she said, “showed all of us that there were positive ways for charters and districts to work together.”

   Given the us-versus-them attitude toward charter schools, Lusi was pleasantly surprised when nine Providence schools said they were willing to pursue charter school status. This was especially encouraging given how roiled the district last year when Mayor Angel Taveras fired all of the district’s 1,900 teachers. (They were all rehired.)

   While Central Falls is an exception, many school districts in Rhode Island have traditionally been hostile to charter schools because they are seen as competition, siphoning students and resources away from the traditional public schools.

   Witness the deep-seated opposition last winter to Achievement First, a charter-management operator that successfully applied to open two elementary schools in Providence.

   While Central Falls is an exception, many school districts in Rhode Island have traditionally been hostile to charter schools because they are seen as competition, siphoning students and resources away from the traditional public schools.

   Witness the deep-seated opposition last winter to Achievement First, a charter-management operator that successfully applied to open two elementary schools in Providence.

   With so many schools under the gun to improve student achievement, Lusi knew she had to do something to shake up a system that has remained largely unchanged, despite wave after wave of reform.

   “People don’t think they have permission to think outside the box,” Lusi said Tuesday. “Symbolically, this is a signal to think outside the box.”

   Providence and many other districts, she says, have been trapped by the notion that school has to look the same in every building: 50-minute periods, a 6.5-hour day, 26 students per class. It doesn’t, Lusi says. There is no research that says that the old agrarian model of learning works. In fact, there is a growing body of research that says schools should fine-tune their instruction to meet the diverse ways students learn.

   Providence has already begun to tinker with tradition. This year, most of the city’s high schools have a longer day. They have also adopted a class schedule with longer blocks of time. Some schools are toying with the idea of offering a Saturday academy or afterschool enrichment programs.

   Providence has already begun to tinker with tradition. This year, most of the city’s high schools have a longer day. They have also adopted a class schedule with longer blocks of time. Some schools are toying with the idea of offering a Saturday academy or afterschool enrichment programs.

   Lusi says charter schools do three important things that the district needs: create a school culture that is warm and welcoming, bring in partners with innovative ways of looking at teaching and learning, and attract additional resources. About $5 million in federal money is available for new charters.

   Providence is facing a tough deadline, however. The nine schools that have applied to be charters — seven elementary schools, Nathan Bishop Middle School and E3 High School — have to submit preliminary information to the state Department of Education by Oct. 1. The final applications are due Dec. 1.

   Smith, the teachers’ union president, could not be reached for comment this week.

My top-of-mind questions:

• Why is this happening so hastily? There may be a good reason but without explanation, it's worrisome. Teachers found out about this in some (all?) schools with almost no time to consider before voting to move forward (see this from Tom Hoffman for more on that). Potential partner organizations had a week (or less, depending on when this RFP came to their attention) to respond to indicate interest in the partnership possibility. I understand the concept of carpe diem, of course, but am concerned that this incredibly brief window won't allow strong partners time needed to respond.
• Why is this happening with a lack of clear information from the district? Please, PPSD, put out an FAQ for the public! 
• What's the plan for parent/family involvement???
• How will the teachers of these in-district charters be represented by the union - will they negotiate school-based contracts (like the Boston Pilot Schools)?

Update - more questions that arose during the day:

• What is the specific motivation for introducing in-district charters? Why is this happening now in this way?
• What happens to the neighborhood status of these schools? Do they become schools that have no neighborhood zone and to which any student in the district can apply?
• What will be the governance structure for these in-district charters? Will they have their own boards or be part of PPSD and the Providence School Board?
• Per the statement in the article that 65% of the parents in the school have to vote for charter status. How and when will that happen? Is that accurate? Is it binding as the article seems to imply?
• What's the RIDE policy that spells all of this out? I haven't had time to trawl through RIDE's website - if anyone has a pointer, I'd be grateful.

Second update: my next post summarizes these questions and adds a couple more. Click here for that. 

My top-of-mind response:

I think that this could be a way toward greater autonomy in ways that still allow for teachers' union representation. This could be an exciting development. It's a way to get to the belief that no two schools are alike and away from the cookie-cutter policies we have now. However, it's critical we have more information and clarity. Hoping for that ASAP.

Update - additional response:

Without specific information about neighborhood status, governance, and other questions above (and questions that we haven't yet added), my reaction is more reserved than it was this morning when I wrote the above paragraph. Bottom line: NEED TO KNOW MUCH MORE. Please, PPSD, do more than post media article about this to your Facebook page. Share some coherent and comprehensive information about this process, please.

RIDE's new school classifications and what they may mean for Providence

On Friday, July 13, RIDE released a list of the state's school ranked according to its brand-new classification system that was the result of Rhode Island's ESEA waiver (clicking on that link leads to a PDF from RIDE that provides an overview of the system). The results weren't great for many schools in Providence--as if any real good could come of simplistic rankings of schools. 21 of PPSD's 37 schools are now on "the list," a number that includes the several schools already designated as in need of improvement and receiving SIG funds. 

I use the term "the list' to mean that group of schools that are classified with "warning," "focus" or "priority" statuses. The reasons for those statuses are varied, related to achievement gap concerns, lack of progress overall in scores and other factors that right now seem far too nebulous. Some schools, such as MLK Elementary, have been designated with the "warning label" though there are elementary schools with worse outcomes for kids. Some schools, such as Nathan Bishop Middle School, met all NECAP targets last year yet have been designated as "focus" schools. Priority for great resources that help all kids in the building - that's what that means, right? 

Here are my other questions thus far:

1. What's the timeline and process by which school communities, including families, will use to select intervention strategies? In particular, I am interested in knowing whether and how parents and family members will be included in this decision making.

2. Are there quotas or limits on the intervention methods from which schools can choose?

3. What's the funding to support improvement within these schools (as well as schools districtwide no matter their RIDE status)?

4. How will the various intervention and support options will affect ongoing programs, and to what degree does the school leadership, faculty, and community have control over this?

5. What are the specifics of RIDE's classification? As I understand it, this resulted from RIDE changing the way it classifies schools in terms of their achievement levels. What were the specific triggers that caused so many schools to be classified as needing intervention? What does that tell us about the challenges the schools may be facing? How do those specifics affect the intervention strategies and options that may be available?

6. What are the intervention strategies and options that may be available?

At this point, I have no answers that are likely to enlighten anyone. I'm using what time I have available this week to seek answers that will help me understand more about the new system and what it might mean for all schools that have made it onto "the list." I will share here anything that feels like it might be useful. In the meantime, you might want to check out Tom Hoffman's blog, Tuttle SVC - Tom's been able to get his head around this much more adroitly than I have.

I Was There at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School (and perhaps at your school)

For May's East Side Monthly, I wrote about I Was There, a fabulous multi-dimensional oral history (and much more) fourth and fifth grade project. Text follows and is on the ESM website in prettier form here.

I didn't have the necessary magic ahead of deadline to do the project justice. I Was There is a great example of the ways learning happens inside and outside the classroom seamlessly for kids, of the ways that neighborhoods have valuable resources, of the way the school itself can and should be an essential resource for a neighborhood, and of the abilities of young people when they're engaged and supported in the right ways.

This is the sort of interdisciplinary, community-based learning that could and should happen at all schools, and though it's way late notice, I do want to share that there will be an I Was There  Teaching Institute on Friday, May 11 from 4:30-8:00 PM and Saturday, May 12 from 8:30 AM-5:30 PM at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. If you're interested in participating, let me know via comment or email to jill.davidson (at) gmail.com ASAP and I'll connect you with the organizers.

Illustration BY JESSICA POLLAK

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Living History: Experiential Learning and Place-Based Education
Immigration and neighborhood life. Narragansett Bay. Work in the Jewelry District. These are the themes of I Was There, an annual project at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School at Fox Point, a Providence public school built in 1951 and located on Wickenden Street in the heart of the Fox Point neighborhood. I Was There connects Vartan Gregorian Elementary School’s students and teachers with Fox Point community members, historians, storytellers, scientists, business and industry representatives, public officials, artists and chefs. Together, they all take a deep dive into topics that bring the community together as learners who create content that is displayed all over the walls of the school and shared online.

This year, Vartan Gregorian’s fourth and fifth graders are learning about the role of food in the neighborhood’s families, cultures and memories. “Placebased multidimensional education” best describes I Was There, which provides an arena for students to use resources throughout the entire neighborhood to learn about where they are, how history has evolved and what matters in their lives now. They learn oral history skills – taught first to their teachers by staff members and graduate students from Brown University’s John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage – to interview Fox Point residents and professionals. They go on field trips, this year to Johnson and Wales’ Culinary Arts Museum. They learn about food scientifically, studying taste, refrigeration and sanitation. They incorporate standards-based learning from across the rest of the curriculum to create a final presentation and add to a living museum in the school, for which they serve as trained docents. They create content for the I Was There website. The project provides multiple avenues for students to be historians, archivists, writers, photographers, videographers, event planners and artists. Every Vartan Gregorian fourth and fifth grader learns, develops skills and makes a lasting contribution to their school and its neighborhood.

In collaboration with teachers and the principal, Vartan Gregorian parents Wendy Grossman and Catherine Carr Kelly started I Was There in 2008. Grossman and Kelly wanted to know more about the neighborhood where their kids were going to school and felt that the school urgently needed more arts education in the curriculum. “We thought that there should be some way to honor the school itself, the neighborhood and the past,” said Kelly, the executive director of the Central Square Theater in Cambridge. “We wanted to know what had made the neighborhood important,” added Grossman, an activities therapist at Butler Hospital. To support and sustain I Was There, Grossman and Kelly have secured funding from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Rhode Island Foundation, the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and VSA Arts, which funds arts and humanities projects for people with disabilities (the project fully includes all fourth and fifth graders with learning and other disabilities at the school).

Vartan Gregorian Elementary’s fourth and fifth grade teachers say that I Was There is powerful for them professionally, reporting extraordinary engagement among their students and an appreciation for the professional development opportunities that result from the connection to the John Nicholas Brown Center. They also appreciate the ways that I Was There reinforced the role of the school as the center of the neighborhood. As special education teacher Maureen Kenner described, “People in this area were forward-thinking. Where the school is now had been a park. The neighbors wanted to preserve green space and advocated that the school keep that sense of place with a courtyard, which still has a beech tree that connects the past to the present.”

Fifth grade teacher Jacqueline Fish observed that I Was There created a unique opportunity for experiential learning fused with critical thinking. “One of the best aspects of this project is that our students learn how to ask real, deep, meaningful questions,” Fish commented. Fourth grade teacher Eileen Pedroso Afonso agreed, noting, “This isn’t a textbook. It’s living history through talking with community members - our students learn through conversation.” Pedroso Afonso grew up in Fox Point herself and has brought family and community members to the school to be a part of the project over the years. “Every year, people want to come back. They’re excited to be a part of the history that our students are documenting and sharing.”

This spring, I Was There will culminate with an exhibition and presentation open to the public on May 6-8 CORRECTION: Thursday, May 3 from 6:00pm-8:00pm*. Students and community members will share memoirs, cookbooks, photos, poems and more at a community dinner and other events. They hope you’ll join in.

Visit  http://www.iwasthereproject.org/ for more info.

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*Very sorry to have reported the wrong date!!!

Providence Schools Superintendent Search Advisory Group Community Forum - 2/15/12, 6pm, PCTA

The Providence Schools Superintendent Search Advisory Group, which is conducting the work of identifying a permanent superintendent for the Providence Public Schools, is holding a Community Forum on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 from 6:00-8:00PM at the Providence Career & Technical Academy, 41 Fricker Street.

As well, the search group has created survey, online here and via http://www.educateprovidence.org that allows you to share input through March 3. Information on http://www.educateprovidence.org says that the survey results will be posted after March 12.

I have to say that I remain skeptical about the extent to which community input will be valued and at the same time totally committed to asking you to participate. My skepticism comes from my belief that the process isn't set up to be swayed or deeply informed by community input, so the survey and the forum may simply serve as release valves. I'd love to be wrong. Prove me wrong! I'm not being cynical. At least I hope I am not. 

I do think it's essential to share your views about whom you want to lead our city's schools and the direction you think that person should take. So weigh in. If you believe as I do that the current acting superintendent, Sue Lusi, should continue, use the comment sections at the end to indicate that, and use the rest of the form to try to indicate what you value and think is important. 

I hope that the forum on the 15th is conducted so that there's some public airing of the public's questions and views. I think there's value to small group discussions, as happened at the community conversation on education that I and 50 or so others attended on January 28, but there's a corresponding lack of accountability. I appreciate the opportunity to connect with others concerned about education in Providence, but that doesn't serve the same purpose as asking hard questions of leaders and being part of a group that hears those leaders respond. That's valuable too, and I hope it's part of the upcoming forum.

Family and community engagement: less is more

Would you like to go to a meeting? Because, man, do we have them this week. Tonight, tomorrow night, and Thursday night are full of meetings and hearings related to the Achievement First Mayoral Academies charter school application that's been submitted to RIDE. Tonight, there's a Providence City Council education subcommittee hearing at 5:30 at City Hall (more info here). Tomorrow and Thursday night, the Rhode Island Board of Regents is holding hearings in Providence, tomorrow at 6pm at Kennedy Elementary School, Thursday at 6pm at Alvarez High School (more info, respectively aligned along some sort of spectrum here, here, and here). And that's just what's happening in Providence related to this one particular topic.

In Providence, it's also Open Schools Week for elementary schools, which means that families interested in public elementary schools are likely taking time off work or away from other responsibilities to visit schools. I'm spending evenings and lunch hours getting ready for and giving tours of MLK Elementary, where my kids go to school. This is great! But again, this week? With everything else? Too much.

Read on for schedule-related bitching and moaning, if that's your pleasure...

While I'd be way crankier if there were no hearings or publicly available information, I am sufficiently cranky with all of this happening immediately, right now, one after the other, especially since there is no actual rush as far as I am aware. As Tom Hoffman points out, the deadline for charter applications is four months away. There's ample time for various public entities to schedule hearings in ways that allow families with kids (or any of you out there who may work evenings or just otherwise have plenty going on) to plan to attend. After a strenuous bout of childcare wrangling, I think I'll be able to attend tomorrow night's Regents' hearing at Kennedy but that's it. And I am blessed with a daytime job, fairly easy kids, a car, and a spouse who supports my desire to participate. 

Generally, I regard myself as a fortunate person, especially when it comes to being able to be involved with the schools in my community. Though I work full time, I have enough control over my time to be able to spend time in schools. I have been able to form meaningful relationships with other family members, staff members, students, and administrators. I feel like I am able to contribute to conversations about what's happening in education in Providence and beyond in a variety of ways - in conversations, in public forums, on this blog, in my East Side Monthly column, and in my professional life. And as a member of the dominant culture who speaks English and feels happy and at home in school settings, I am well aware of my privilege and access, and happy to use some of it to ask that we think about ways to schedule hearings and opportunities for family and community involvement that support that involvement. 

When possible, I hope that the various towns involved with this proposal, along with RIDE, communicate with each other about when hearings are happening, and try to make sure they don't happen on weeks when there are other big district-wide events such as Open Schools Week. I have no expectation that all of us can attend everything, but this week's event pile-up is way beyond possible for most regular folks. 

In order to have consistent, inclusive family and community involvement, we really need better planning. Too many events, while better than too few, create their own frustrations that could be avoided by better planning. Moving forward, let's look at the various demands on folks' time and try to schedule them in ways that are possible for the largest possible group of people. 

Info sessions for Kindergarten: tonight and 11/28

This morning, PPSD's Office of Family and Community Engagement shared the flier above that shares dates for information meetings for families with children who will be entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2012, and I am happy to help spread the word. You'll see that there was already a session today, and there's another tonight, with more on Monday, 11/28. Definitely go if you can to get answers to any questions you may have about registration!

Family/parent meeting with R.I. Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, Thurs. 1/20, 6:00pm, Providence Career & Technical Academy

One of the ways to have a stake in what happens in our public schools is to show up to learn more and speak up for what you believe in. In that spirit, here is information about an event that--despite any truly abysmal weather that may linger--I hope you consider attend with friends (and kids! who can also be your friends!). It's for parents/family members from all communities in Rhode Island, not just Providence.

Robin Adams is a Providence Public Schools parent and leader of PPSD's Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), a group of representatives from public school PTOs/parent groups that meets monthly. Robin developed questions for Education Commissioner Deborah Gist and has worked with the PAC and PPSD's Office of Family and Community Engagement to create an event on Thursday, January 20, at 6:00pm that will allow parents and family members from Providence and across Rhode Island to talk with Commissioner Gist about the impact of Rhode Island's Race to the Top funds, parent/family involvement, and school reform.

The meeting will take place at the Providence Career & Technical Academy  (PCTA), 41 Fricker Street, Providence 02903 (near Classical High School, entrance on Cranston Street across from Citizens Bank. Children’s activities for ages 5-12 will be provided. Spanish language translation services will also be provided. 

Please attend! It will be a unique and compelling event; I am interested in meeting connected and curious parents from communities beyond Providence, and grateful that this is an event organized by families, for families. Thanks to Robin, the PPSD PAC leadership, the Office of Family and Community Engagement, and Commissioner Gist for making it happen. Hope to see you there!

Learning Community Charter School reaches out to families

"Learning Community charter school takes its message to parents" ran in today's ProJo--it's an overview of the great-sounding community and family outreach work that the Central Falls charter Learning Community , which serves students in K-5 from Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls, is doing. Teachers and staff from the school are intentionally developing a wide range of ways to connect to family members, moving beyond events at the school to outreach in students' neighborhoods.

A few key points about the school's successful family outreach jump out:

1. The school sees family members as an essential asset for accomplishing its goals with students.

2. Cultural competence: school staff members understand families' backgrounds, constraints due to work and family responsibilities, language backgrounds, and possible trepidation toward school, and plan ways to connect with families that overcome those challenges

3. The school has focused profession development for community outreach, building the capacity of staff members to reach outside the school and connect with parents to give them a "toolbox" of options to use.

4. Clearly, the definition of the kind of work that belongs in a teacher and staff member's day isn't rigidly limited, but rather is established by agreement at the school site level. Teachers do what works for their school rather than adhering strictly to a contract imposed systemwide (not knocking unions there--unions and autonomy can and very much should coexist).

I'd love to hear more from any Learning Community educators, staffers, or family members who come across this. I hope that we can find ways for the public school systems of Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls (and elsewhere) to learn from and adapt your methods of community and family engagement. Congratulations on your success!