Seven schools, eight districts, two state departments of education, and one organization received NNPS Partnership Awards in 2008. An interesting pattern emerged this year. All of the school award winners were located in award-winning districts.
The districts and schools showing this pattern of “nested excellence” were: Chino Valley Unified School District, CA and El Rancho Elementary School; Naperville Community Unit School District 203, IL, with Highlands Elementary School and Kennedy Junior High School; Pasco School District, WA with Maya Angelou Elementary School, Mark Twain Elementary School, and Robert Frost Elementary School; Saint Paul Public Schools, MN and L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion School. Joyce Epstein, Director of NNPS, explained: “We are learning that when district leaders encourage, guide, and assist their schools, more schools’ Action Teams for Partnerships plan and implement excellent programs of family and community involvement. This is evident in our research studies as well as in practice.”
Four more Partnership District Award winners were Howard County Public School System, MD, Los Angeles Unified School District – Local District 4, CA, Lowndes County School District, GA; and Virginia Beach City Public Schools, VA.
Schools reported specific activities they are conducting to meet the challenge of reaching all families and to involve families in supporting students’ academic and behavioral success. Districts described actions they are taking to establish a culture of partnerships throughout the district and how they directly assist schools’ Action Teams for Partnerships to build capacity for conducting effective programs of family and community involvement linked to school improvement goals.
The winning states were California Department of Education and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the organization winner was Francis Marion University Center of Excellence, Florence, SC. States and organizations provided details on broad leadership activities, policy development, and how they encourage districts and schools to improve their partnership programs.
All programs received an award plaque and one free registration to an NNPS professional development conference. Ten programs also received cash prizes of $500 for sustained work and progress. See pictures of the award winners on pp. 6-7 and throughout this issue, and read about their programs at www.partnershipschools.org in Success Stories.
Award applications are judged on one submission to Promising Partnership Practices, a detailed description of another activity, and attachments that provide evidence of NNPS’s essential elements of good programs: leadership, teamwork, written action plans, implementation of plans, adequate funding, evaluation, support from colleagues, funding, and networking. All members in NNPS for two years or more are encouraged to examine the award applications on the website, organize plans, implement excellent activities, and submit an application in June for the 2009 Partnership Awards.