William H. Gruber, II, Action Team Chair, Jeff Broyles, Liaison to Building Leadership Team
Row 1: Robyn Gruber, Deanna Gehret, Micki Norfleet, Kari Dillman, and Barb Luttrull. Row 2: Matt Curtis, Jeff Broyles, Bill Gruber (ATP Chair), Mike Mastin, and Denny Dyer (Principal).
Westlake Elementary School in rural New Carlisle, Ohio, is a Title I, targeted-assisted school. The school’s Action Team for Partnerships has continually improved its teamwork, action plans, committee structures, delegated tasks, and implemented activities. The Action Team of parents, teachers, and the administrator has a chairperson, a facilitator, timekeeper, recorder, and liaison to the Building Leadership Team. It also is integrated with the PTO to encourage combined efforts on numerous family and community involvement activities to support student achievement and other school improvement goals.
Some activities include a winter festival; Right to Read Week and other Ohio Reads activities; Parent Resource Room; and a project to help parents support student learning at home. Westlake sponsors teacher weekly newsletters; monthly school Parent-Grams; a parent resource directory; Parent Day; Grandparents’ Day; Family Math nights; a before-school-starts social; and other activities. Using the slogan: Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM), the Westlake Action Team for Partnerships produced a video to connect the school and community.
Westlake uses various research-based tools from the National Network of Partnership Schools to guide its work, including the Handbook, Type 2 (newsletters), Starting Points Inventory , and end-of-year evaluations. The Action Team for Partnerships is integrated into a whole-school change approach in which all teachers serve on one committee for a specific component of school improvement.
Since joining the Network, [Westlake] has created a vision for the school...that encompasses an understanding that parents and staff working together will create an atmosphere conducive for student achievement. The Westlake staff believes that to successfully educate a learner, there must be a partnership between home, school, and community.
--William H. Gruber, II and Jeff Broyles, Westlake Elementary School.