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| Row 1: Laura Cialoni, Amy Connelly, Celeste Benak, Rob Sacher, Leslie Cameli, Kristine Bykerk, Jennifer Graeber, and Debbie Whang (NNPS Key Contact). Row 2: Linda Kelly, Barb McCarthy, Amy Vander Veen (NNPS Key Contact), Kim McCue, Stephanie Birch, Lynn Gissler, and Susan Stuckey (Principal). |
A member of the National Network of Partnership Schools since 1996, Highlands Elementary School won its fifth consecutive Partnership School Award in 2005. Its School/Family/Community Partnership (SFCP) team has representatives from every grade level, with new members added each spring. SFCP meets as a whole team every other month for 1¼ hours. From 25-40 teachers, parents, and administrators attend each meeting. The team is co-chaired by the principal and two parents, who oversee the recruiting, training, and assignments for the team members. New team leaders are selected one year ahead so that they can “shadow” and learn from the present co-chairs.
All events and activities in the One-Year Action Plan are co-chaired by at least two parents and one staff or faculty member. These leaders are responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating the varied activities that they conduct throughout the year. SFCP plans and progress are reported to the Building Leadership Team (BLT). One-Year Action Plans for partnerships are developed in conjunction with the BLT's school improvement goals. Highlands developed a matrix to connect school improvement goals with the framework of six types of involvement and to make sure that family involvement activities were well focused and varied to include the most families. The plans also are reviewed and activities are supported by the school's Home and School Association (parent organization).
One successful activity in 2005 was Games Around the World, a cultural enrichment event that addressed the school's goals to increase cultural awareness and sensitivity, and to celebrate personal differences. Designed as a fun-filled interactive evening, the event simulated travel on the Highlands Express - an imaginary train that took students and families to new countries every twenty minutes. They visited many game stations, including backgammon (Greece), chess (India), Mancala (Africa), and dominos (China). The school's student Diversity Club ran the individual stations and explained the game's rules. SFCP members helped set up and clean up, and kept the event running smoothly.
In 2005, Highlands pioneered two family and community involvement activities focused on reading. The first recruited local firefighters, who came to the school and read one-on-one to first-grade students. SFCP believed more young students would begin to enjoy reading with these local heroes as role-models. The second, Parent-Child Book Club, featured books for 4th and 5th grade students in the fall and 3rd graders in the spring written by an author who visited the schools in the district and met with the students. Students and parents read and discussed the selected books. Using the "Esme model," SFCP guided students to take roles as discussion directors, literary luminaries, language lovers, imperial illustrators, and practical predictors. The Book Club was funded by the Partnership School Award Special Recognition prize that Highlands won in 2004. It provided unique shared experiences for children and parents, and enriched students' perspectives and reading comprehension. Like all involvement activities, the Book Club was evaluated to obtain reactions and suggested improvements.
Highlands continued its popular parent workshop series that helps families understand the curriculum so that they can better help their children at home. This year, SFCP conducted and evaluated a Study Skills Workshop for students in grades 3-5 and their families. Over 180 parents and children turned out to learn about good studying conditions, test-taking tips, and ways to improve retention. Highlands is planning its fourth workshop on math for fall 2005.
See Highlands Elementary School's history of Partnership District Awards from 2001 to 2004 and many other examples of activities in Promising Partnership Practices on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section In the Spotlight. Visit the school at www.ncusd203.org/Highlands.