Melissa T. McQuarrie (NNPS Key Contact) and Karen L. Clevinger (NNPS Key Contact).
District-Level Leadership for Partnerships
Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) serves a diverse population, including about 24% of students from military families. One district goal is to reach out to these families to make them feel welcome and connected to the school. The Military Welcome Packet familiarizes incoming families with the schools. It includes a letter from the superintendent, information on school locations and curricula, and community services and resources and military base information for a smooth transition to the area.
At a Military Task Force meeting, a subcommittee of the Director of Community Relations and a Title I Specialist gathered the information and materials. NNPS facilitators provided training on how schools’ partnership programs can address the needs of military families. The response to the packets has been overwhelmingly positive. About 75 packets have been requested since February 2007 from the U.S. and other nations including Djibouti, Germany, and Italy. The Military Welcome Packet will be available as a reference to guidance counselors at every school.
Facilitation of Schools’ ATPs
Since April 2005, 43 schools in the district formed Action Teams for Partnerships, attended one-day team-training workshops, wrote detailed plans for involvement linked to school goals, and built new skills at district-led Quarterly ATP Meetings. Support is offered to the schools’ ATPs by district leaders for partnerships on a regular basis through e-mail, newsletters, and individually, as requested.
In 2007, VBCPS extended outreach to involve military families and single parents more in their children’s education. The VBCPS Office of Community Relations and Department of Curriculum and Instruction convened a Military Task Force, comprised of area military personnel, school administrators and staff and community members to assess the needs of families in Virginia Beach and to design actions to address those needs in schools’ annual plans for family and community involvement. Actions included providing schools with the Military Welcome Packet, more information on the VBCPS website, training in deployment/transition issues for staff, and ensuring that students from military families have access to athletic and extra curricula activities, even when family transitions may interfere with tryouts or sign-ups. For example, on the website, VBCPS initiated Troop Tube which presented all graduation ceremonies live via streaming video. Service members around the world were able to view graduations in real time.
See Virginia Beach City Public School District's examples of Promising Partnership Programs on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section Success Stories. To learn more about this district, visit http://www.vbschools.com.