Jessica Jozwiak and Lisa Trychta, Co-Chairs; Susan Stuckey, Principal (Naperville District 203)
Row 1:Lisa Trychta (Co-Chair), Jane Wernette, Debbie Whang, Elaine Cosantino, Robin Moss, Lisa Margulis, Lynn Gissler, Kim McCue, Jessica Jozwiak (Co-Chair) Becky Fox and Ana Fattore. Row 2: Jim Polites, Eric Nelson, Ann Vitek, Barb Svarz, Diane White, Susan Stuckey (Principal), Amy VanderVeen, Julie Stern-Young and Kathy Damianides.
Highlands Elementary School joined the National Network of Partnership Schools in 1996, and has been a three-year Partnership School Award winner. Despite changes in principals and Action Team leaders, the school has sustained and improved its program over time.
The School, Family, and Community Partnership team (SFCP) includes up to 40 team members and meets for 2½ hours every other month after school, with childcare provided. There are parent co-chairs, parents from all grade levels, teacher advisors and content experts, and the principal. New members are recruited each spring. Orientation meetings and packets are provided for new members. The school initiated "members at large" for parents who want to help with activities, but who are not ready to organize events. SFCP links to the Building Leadership Team and works in cooperation with the Home and Schools Association. SFCP leaders are chosen one year ahead of time to "shadow" and learn from the present team leaders.
New teachers are oriented to the schools partnership program at a special orientation, and new parents with children entering kindergarten also are oriented to the partnership program at the beginning of the school year. All parents are kept up-to-date on activities through school newsletters, monthly home and school meetings, and the school's website (www.ncusd203.org/Highlands).
In 2003 activities for all six types of involvement were conducted including a Parent Resource Center, Dad's breakfast, parent coffees with principal, parent surveys, family careers night, family math, science, and literacy nights the Building Leadership Team, business partnerships and museum passes, and many more. All activities link to the school improvement plan, with ties to the curriculum.
Some on-going activities improve every year. For example, Ozzie's Reading Program, sponsored by the local AAA baseball team, encourages school-wide reading from January to March, with guest readers at school, reading at home, and parent volunteers to help monitor students' accomplishments. In 2003, a special focus on family involvement with students on writing led to a Family Writing Workshop to help parents understand the writing process used in school. About 120 parents attended. To meet a key challenge, videotapes were prepared for parents who could not attend to view at home. SFCP took another challenge to increase the involvement of parents who are employed during the school day. They developed Career Night for parents to discuss careers with children and families from grades 3- 5. They looked for 12 volunteers and had 50 parents respond.
The school takes evaluation seriously with exit surveys at all events for reactions and suggestion, end-of-year evaluations, discussions with the Building Leadership Team about partnership plans, and a school-wide survey of parents. For example, exit surveys at the new Family Writing Workshop revealed that parents' questions about writing were addressed and they gained an awareness of their children's writing curriculum. Feedback lead the team to plan a similar Family Reading Workshop for two nights rather than three, and to clarify who should attend when the word "family" is used.
NNPS outlines the six types of involvement that are key in explaining how parents, school, and community can connect and work together to benefit children's learning and development. The Network's (framework and assessments) also help the team plan effectively for the following year. NNPS provides a wealth of resources that a school can use to develop or modify their work to meet that school's particular needs and goals. For example, the annual book of Promising Partnership Practices includes many ideas that can be adapted to any school. . .. NNPS provides a solid framework to build new relationships between school, family and community to maximize children's learning and development.
See Highlands Elementary School's history of Partnership District Awards in 2001 and 2002 and examples of Promising Partnership Programs on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section In the Spotlight.