NESSC School Redesign in Action: Full Schedule

8:00am EDT

Equity Design 101: Co-Creation for Equity in Education

Reflex Design Collective uses a process called Equity Design, which helps organizations generate not only creative solutions to social challenges, but also much-needed collaborative partnerships between influential stakeholders and marginalized populations. In other words, we help organizations design *with*, not for, their communities in empowering ways.

Participants will learn the basic mindsets and skills of the equity design process through a hands-on workshop about a social challenge relevant to the education community. Participants will work collaboratively through a series of equity design exercises to explore the challenge while picking up skills and insights and having fun along the way. At the end of the training, participants will present low-fidelity prototypes of their design solutions. They will walk away with new mindsets and preliminary skills that can be deepened with further learning and practice.

Through this collaborative and hands-on workshop, participants will walk away with:
-Familiarity with the equity design process,
-Understanding of applications of equity design to the education world,
-Onboarding to design tools for future applications,
-Basic skills that can be honed further through training and practice,
-Improved team cohesion, new connections.

Speakers

Brooke Staton

Co-Founder, Reflex Design Collective

Brooke Staton is an equity strategist and co-creation facilitator. She co-founded Reflex Design Collective to shift the way institutions think about solving social problems, providing organizations with the mindsets and tools to work in allyship to those most impacted by social i... Read More →

Reflex Design Collective (CA)

Julia Kong

Managing Partner, Reflex Design Collective

Julia Kong is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Reflex Design Collective, an Oakland-based consultancy building grassroots access to decision making power using design and creativity.

Monday March 25, 2019 8:00am - 11:00am EDT
Room 103

Pre-Conference Community Engagement

1:00pm EDT

Community Engagement 101: Lift Every Voice

Are you sick and tired of low turnouts at the family and community events your school hosts? Are you frustrated by constant pushback from parents, students, and community members on your major initiatives? Well, it’s time to disrupt business-as-usual approaches to involvement and try a more sustainable and powerful approach: engagement. By drawing on lessons learned from Great Schools Partnership’s multi-year community engagement initiative, participants will explore the integral relationship between equity and engagement and a point-by-point rationale for centering engagement in school. Participants will also reflect on and calibrate their engagement-related beliefs and practices to ensure equity for all.

Speakers

Kate Theriault

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Christina Horner

Director of Coaching, Great Schools Partnership

Glennys Sánchez

Director of Coaching, Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership (ME)

Community Engagement 101 Lift Every Voice pdf

The Case for Community Engagement pdf

Foundations of Equitable Community Engagement pdf

Community Engagement Moving Toward Equity pdf

FINALCommunityEngagement101PresentationSlidesNESSC19 pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 1:00pm - 2:15pm EDT
Room 201

Community Engagement

1:00pm EDT

How Partnership Councils Can Support Shared Decision Making in Schools

"Lawrence Public Schools will share their rationale and strategy for devising a districtwide Family Engagement Partnership Council, a learning and leading stakeholder group committed to expanding high quality engagement in our school district. The session will include how the Council is structured, the types of discussions and decisions that take place, and the anticipated outcomes of this shared decision making model. Participants will hear from district leadership as well as a school that is replicating the model. Addressed will be the benefits and challenges of this new structure, including lessons learned, and participants will experience a demonstration exercise around shared leadership.

Participants will gain an understanding of common challenges and the steps they can take to address these in their own rollout of a Partnership Council at their school(s)."

Speakers

Denise Snyder

Assistant Superintendent, Lawrence Public Schools

Nelson Butten

Director, CFSE, Lawrence Public Schools

Michael Sirmaian

Lawrence Public Schools

Lawrence Public Schools (MA)

HLC School Home Compact 2018 2019 (003) pdf

AMS Compact Brochure Final docx

Collaborative Decision Making Handout NESSC pdf

NESSC19 FEPC PPT public sharing pptx

Monday March 25, 2019 1:00pm - 2:15pm EDT
Room 208/209

Community Engagement

1:00pm EDT

How Putting Students at the Center Helped to Spark the Raising of a Black Lives Matter Flag in Montpelier, Vermont

In February of 2018, Montpelier High School became the first high school in the nation to raise a Black Lives Matter flag. The story became an international news story with millions of viewers and readers across a spectrum of media outlets. This session will feature the opportunity to hear the story first hand. A team from Montpelier High School, including students and administration, will share specific action steps taken by the school community to prepare, support, and continue the work in increasing empathy while reducing implicit bias, structural racism, and unchecked privilege in our learning community. The team will also facilitate discussion and reflection time for attendees to consider their own experiences and potential action steps for growth in their own learning communities.

In this session, participants will reflect on their own privilege, identify opportunities to use personalization and student voice to raise engagement levels, and understand the value in connecting personalization, student voice, and competency based learning for deeper and more authentic learning opportunities that reached beyond the classroom.

Speakers

Mandinso Abu Aziz

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Hope Petraro

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Maryann Songhurst

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Michael McRaith

Principal, Montpelier Roxbury SD

My background is in school counseling and school leadership. I have a research interest in social emotional learning and its impact on student learning. I also present and teach on proficiency based learning, assessment, personalization, and structural designs for public high schools... Read More →

Juna Nagle

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Montpelier High School (VT)

NESSC 2019 Montpelier High School BLM pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 1:00pm - 2:15pm EDT
Room 202

Community Engagement

1:00pm EDT

Reimagining Family Engagement as a Tool for Harnessing the Power of Community and Improving Outcomes for Students

In order to authentically engage in meaningful school and community change, it is essential to understand the historical and social context of a community to identify entry points. In this session, participants will learn about the journey of New Bedford Public Schools (NBPS), an urban school district in Massachusetts, as they worked to cultivate an approach to family engagement centered around developing authentic opportunities for building relationships and opportunities for educators, families, and students. Participants will leave with an understanding of key strategies and practices used to engage, educate, and empower all stakeholders.

Participants, in this session, will explore NBPS family engagement framework and learn strategies that can enable families to become more engaged, educated, and empowered. Community resources and supports to engage, educate, and empower families, students, and community members will be identified as well as strategies that effectively engage families in improving school climate and student outcomes.

Speakers

Erin Duarte

Lead Wraparound Coordinator, New Bedford Public Schools

Erin Duarte, Lead Wraparound Coordinator with New Bedford Public Schools, brings 18+ years of progressive and dynamic experience to the student and families of NBPS. Erin is a native of New Bedford and a graduate of its school system, therefore, she understands the needs of the community... Read More →

Maria Spears

New Bedford Public Schools

Kimberly Soto-Hurtado

Wraparound Coordinator, New Bedford Public Schools

New Bedford Public Schools (MA)

Julie Mador

Registrar/Family Welcome Center, New Bedford Public Schools

Julie Mador is the Registrar, Homeless Liaison, and Foster Care Point of Contact for New Bedford Public Schools. Julie also holds a position with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as a Regional Homeless Liaison. She serves on the Executive board of... Read More →

Jariel Vergne

Wraparound Manager, New Bedford Public Schools

Family Engagement Conference PD With Video (1) pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 1:00pm - 2:15pm EDT
Room 204

Community Engagement

2:45pm EDT

Get Parents on Board with School Transformation Through Authentic Engagement

The Sharon Academy team will begin by describing a specific element of our shift to a proficiency-based paradigm: seeking out and responding to feedback from colleges and universities around a truly proficiency-based transcript. We will explain how we engaged with all constituencies—especially with parents—around the conclusions and decisions we came to as a result of that research. Participants will have a chance to talk to each other in small groups about what authentic community engagement looks like (or could look like) at their schools, and some strategies for effectively engaging a school community around a transformational change.

Participants will learn how one school sought information from colleges to get a clear sense of receptivity to proficiency-based transcripts and the value they found in gathering and honoring feedback on school transformation initiatives with parents and other constituencies to help the community get on board.

Speakers

Michael Livingston

Head of School, The Sharon Academy

As the Head of School at The Sharon Academy (TSA) for twenty years, Michael has played an integral role in the growth and success of TSA, building off of the foundation Judy Moore laid when she established the school in 1996 with 12 students. While helping to grow the school to full... Read More →

Mary Newman

The Sharon Academy

Ellen Bagnato

The Sharon Academy

Brian Tonks

The Sharon Academy

The Sharon Academy (VT)

Monday March 25, 2019 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT
Room 202

Community Engagement

2:45pm EDT

Try Everything and Include Everyone: Community Meetings to Promote Student Voice and Engagement

"Students at Next Charter School often openly admit that they like coming to school. We believe this is because of our intentional, enduring efforts to build community through practices like daily morning and closing meetings. This creates a feeling of safety and belonging for every student that results in improvements in overall engagement.

Focusing on engagement is important because we believe that learning is what happens when the learner makes meaning for him/herself. If this is true, we must acknowledge that learning is a truly personalized experience, one that requires active engagement on the part of the learner. So many traditional school practices inadvertently isolate students and diminish motivation, which lead to disengagement in school. We have identified practices aimed at strengthening student voice and engagement in school through whole school activities.

Participants will leave with strategies that we have been successfully using at Next Charter School to build student engagement. They will understand the purpose, steps to implement, and potential pitfalls of each of these strategies. Participants will develop a plan to adapt and implement at least one strategy."

Speakers

Emily Whalen

Next Charter School

Joseph Crawford

Director, Next Charter School

Next Charter School (NH)

Next Charter School Community Meetings 3.25 3.26 pptx

Next Charter School Community Meetings Handout pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT
Room 204

Community Engagement

2:45pm EDT

Who Belongs? The Role of Racism in Schools Not Used to Addressing It

In this session we will watch Vermont filmmaker Bess O'Brien's new film, "I am From Here," which explores the experiences and viewpoints of children of color in predominantly white schools. The film features students of color, teachers, and social justice leaders talking about the realities and impact of racism in Vermont, and it is designed to help educators think about the implications for our teaching and the design of schools. The film will be followed by a facilitated discussion. We welcome all participants at the SRIA conference, particularly our participating students, to join the session.

Speakers

Kate Gardoqui

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Transferable Skills... Authentic Assessment & Instruction... Nature-Based Education.....Literacy and English Language Arts....creating equitable, supportive, creative, community-centered public schools in every community

Christina Horner

Director of Coaching, Great Schools Partnership

Mo Nuñez

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership (ME)

Carrie Young-McWilliams

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Monday March 25, 2019 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT
Room 203

Community Engagement

4:15pm EDT

Equity by Design: Designing Ideal Schools

"What is the role of equity, history, and power in community-centered school development? How might we design more equitable communities and systems through the lens of personal and organizational humility-building? In this interactive introductory workshop, participants will learn about award-winning Equity-Centered Community Design strategies to examine how their own identities shape design and decision-making, practice collaboratively co-designing more inclusive and equitable education communities, and begin to develop the foundation for becoming the equity leader of today and tomorrow. Also, participants will explore the reality that systems produce what they are designed to produce, and that we can and must redesign for equity.

Participants will leave with an understanding of the Equity-Centered Community Design process, the importance of language setting in designing a community-centered school, and techniques of understanding and acknowledging personal identities and power dynamics in a school environment. "

Speakers

Creative Reaction Lab (MO)

Antionette Carroll

President and CEO (Founder), Creative Reaction Lab

Antionette D. Carroll is the Founder and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab, a nonprofit social enterprise designing healthy and racially equitable communities for Black and Latinx populations through education and training programs, community engagement consulting, an online national platform... Read More →

Hilary Sedovic

Learning & Education Manager, Creative Reaction Lab

Hilary Sedovic is a social work professional specialized in planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs that promote equitable community outcomes through systems change. She earned a graduate degree focused on management and social entrepreneurship from the Brown School at... Read More →

EquityPledge pdf

CRXLABxNESSC slidedeck pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT
Room 101

Community Engagement

4:15pm EDT

How Partnership Councils Can Support Shared Decision Making in Schools

Lawrence Public Schools will share their rationale and strategy for devising a districtwide Family Engagement Partnership Council, a learning and leading stakeholder group committed to expanding high quality engagement in our school district. The session will include how the Council is structured, the types of discussions and decisions that take place, and the anticipated outcomes of this shared decision making model. Participants will hear from district leadership as well as a school that is replicating the model. Addressed will be the benefits and challenges of this new structure, including lessons learned, and participants will experience a demonstration exercise around shared leadership.

Participants will gain an understanding of common challenges and the steps they can take to address these in their own rollout of a Partnership Council at their school(s).

Speakers

Denise Snyder

Assistant Superintendent, Lawrence Public Schools

Nelson Butten

Director, CFSE, Lawrence Public Schools

Michael Sirmaian

Lawrence Public Schools

Lawrence Public Schools (MA)

NESSC19 FEPC PPT public sharing pptx

Collaborative Decision Making Handout NESSC pptx

HLC School Home Compact 2018 2019 (003) pdf

AMS Compact Brochure Final docx

Monday March 25, 2019 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT
Room 205/206

Community Engagement

4:15pm EDT

Leading Change: Harnessing Key Principles and Practices of Community Engagement

Core principles of community engagement such as relationship building and power sharing are essential tools for leading change in schools and districts. In this interactive session, participants will explore how to utilize these principles to create policies and practices that increase access and opportunity for all stakeholders.

Resources:
The Pathway to Fortress School to Partnership School
(Education Week Article)

Speakers

Mo Nuñez

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Steve Sell

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership (ME)

Leading Change CE Agenda (NESSC19) pdf

BeyondtheBakeS rubric Sarah Ogeto ISBE pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT
Room 203

Community Engagement

4:15pm EDT

Manchester Proud: The Power—and Reality—of Authentic Community Engagement in a District Strategic Plan

The creation of district strategic plans typically involves a handful of people in an office who first decide the priorities for the next three to five years, and then communicate this information to the community at large. Manchester Proud, however, is in the middle of flipping this model; we’re engaging with the Manchester community—to many people, the only “city” in New Hampshire—to find out their perspectives and experiences first. Then, we will build a strategic plan based on this information. What are we doing to engage the community—and why? What are we learning along the way? How have we adapted our work? What comes next? This session will highlight the power—and reality—of collective impact, as well as lessons learned even as we are currently in the process.

Participants will learn about collective impact and community engagement in an urban school district as well as community engagement methods that can impact district-level change, such as listening sessions, community surveys, neighborhood conversations, and town hall meetings.

Speakers

Evelyn Aissa

Executive Director, Reaching Higher NH

Evelyn Aissa is the Executive Director of Reaching Higher New Hampshire, NH’s leading nonpartisan public education policy resource. Evelyn has fifteen years of experience in development, health, and education policy research and political strategy. She also serves as a director... Read More →

Barry Brensinger

Coordinator, Manchester Proud

Elizabeth Canada

Reaching Higher NH

Reaching Higher NH (NH)

Monday March 25, 2019 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT
Room 204

Community Engagement

4:15pm EDT

Reimagining Family Engagement as a Tool for Harnessing the Power of Community and Improving Outcomes for Students

"In order to authentically engage in meaningful school and community change, it is essential to understand the historical and social context of a community to identify entry points. In this session, participants will learn about the journey of New Bedford Public Schools (NBPS), an urban school district in Massachusetts, as they worked to cultivate an approach to family engagement centered around developing authentic opportunities for building relationships and opportunities for educators, families, and students. Participants will leave with an understanding of key strategies and practices used to engage, educate, and empower all stakeholders.

Participants, in this session, will explore NBPS family engagement framework and learn strategies that can enable families to become more engaged, educated, and empowered. Community resources and supports to engage, educate, and empower families, students, and community members will be identified as well as strategies that effectively engage families in improving school climate and student outcomes. "

Speakers

Erin Duarte

Lead Wraparound Coordinator, New Bedford Public Schools

Maria Spears

New Bedford Public Schools

Kimberly Soto-Hurtado

Wraparound Coordinator, New Bedford Public Schools

New Bedford Public Schools (MA)

Julie Mador

Registrar/Family Welcome Center, New Bedford Public Schools

Jariel Vergne

Wraparound Manager, New Bedford Public Schools

Family Engagement Conference PD With Video (1) pdf

Monday March 25, 2019 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT
Room 103

Community Engagement

9:00am EDT

Constructive Disruption Through a District Wide Equity Review Process

In Salem, Massachusetts, our community and school district are working together to ensure that every child in our city thrives. Under the umbrella of the community-wide movement “Our Salem, Our Kids” the school district has launched a districtwide equity review process. A grassroots effort to identify and disrupt systems that fail so many of our kids, our equity review process is homegrown, imperfect, and authentic. This session will explore why, what, and how we went about developing and rolling out our process. We will try out different tools and share our messy and meaningful work.

Participants will walk through our team's process for uncovering patterns of inequity, try out tools that we have developed and used, and engage in thoughtful problem solving and develop paths for informed action in their own communities.

Speakers

Katherine Wilkins

Salem High School

Ricky Baez

Community School Coordinator, Salem Public Schools

Joanne O'keefe

Salem Public Schools

Sonia Lowe

Collins Middle School

Emily Ullman

Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, Salem Public Schools

Elizabeth Beaulieu

Teacher, Salem Public Schools

Salem Public Schools (MA)

ABCD's of Educational Equity pdf

Salem NESSC pdf

cultural proficiency continuum (1) pdf

authentic engagement (1) pdf

Observations.docx pdf

student focus group protocol equity reviews.docx pdf

staff focus group protocol equity reviews.docx (1) pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
Room 203

Community Engagement

9:00am EDT

District-Level Policy: How Authentic Engagement Can Drive Equitable Education

Local policy impacts schools and communities in many ways. At its best, district-level policy can be a lever for positive change, equitable practices and outcomes, and a solid foundation in the face of sometimes constant administrative turnover. At its worst, it can be an out-of-date and rarely considered compliance framework or a barrier to best practices and authentic engagement. Far too often, practitioners and community members are left out of policy conversations and end up feeling as though policy changes are being imposed upon them. As a practitioner or community member, having an understanding of the policy landscape where you live and work can elevate your voice and help you drive powerful and proactive student-centered change. And as a policymaker, organizing ideas and empowering people—especially those who have been historically disenfranchised—is a critical element of ensuring cohesive, equitable policy impacts.

Participants will learn how policy can be a driver for dismantling and disrupting inequities at the district, building, and classroom levels, and how the policymaking process can help create and bring to life a shared community vision. Participants will leave with a framework for engaging with policy in their own district and strategies for creating and safeguarding a shared vision for equitable education.

Speakers

Kate Theriault

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Duke Albanese

Senior Policy Advisor, Great Schools Partnership

Sarah Linet

Policy Specialist, Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership (ME)

NESSC19 District Level Policy Agenda pdf

NESSC19 Sample Community Engagement Policy Discussion Protocol pdf

GSP Sample Engagement Policy Draft pdf

NESSC19 District Level Policy Keynote pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
Room 202

Community Engagement

9:00am EDT

Get Parents on Board with School Transformation Through Authentic Engagement

"The Sharon Academy team will begin by describing a specific element of our shift to a proficiency-based paradigm: seeking out and responding to feedback from colleges and universities around a truly proficiency-based transcript. We will explain how we engaged with all constituencies—especially with parents—around the conclusions and decisions we came to as a result of that research. Participants will have a chance to talk to each other in small groups about what authentic community engagement looks like (or could look like) at their schools, and some strategies for effectively engaging a school community around a transformational change.

Participants will learn how one school sought information from colleges to get a clear sense of receptivity to proficiency-based transcripts and the value they found in gathering and honoring feedback on school transformation initiatives with parents and other constituencies to help the community get on board."

Speakers

Michael Livingston

Head of School, The Sharon Academy

Mary Newman

The Sharon Academy

Ellen Bagnato

The Sharon Academy

Brian Tonks

The Sharon Academy

The Sharon Academy (VT)

Tuesday March 26, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
Room 103

Community Engagement

9:00am EDT

Manchester Proud: The Power—and Reality—of Authentic Community Engagement in a District Strategic Plan

"The creation of district strategic plans typically involves a handful of people in an office who first decide the priorities for the next three to five years, and then communicate this information to the community at large. Manchester Proud, however, is in the middle of flipping this model; we’re engaging with the Manchester community—to many people, the only “city” in New Hampshire—to find out their perspectives and experiences first. Then, we will build a strategic plan based on this information. What are we doing to engage the community—and why? What are we learning along the way? How have we adapted our work? What comes next? This session will highlight the power—and reality—of collective impact, as well as lessons learned even as we are currently in the process.

Participants will learn about collective impact and community engagement in an urban school district as well as community engagement methods that can impact district-level change, such as listening sessions, community surveys, neighborhood conversations, and town hall meetings."

Speakers

Evelyn Aissa

Executive Director, Reaching Higher NH

Barry Brensinger

Coordinator, Manchester Proud

Elizabeth Canada

Reaching Higher NH

Reaching Higher NH (NH)

Tuesday March 26, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
Room 204

Community Engagement

9:00am EDT

Student-Centered Ethnic Studies through School and Community Partnerships

The Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE) was founded to mobilize policies, programs and partnerships to prepare, promote and empower Rhode Island's Southeast Asian students for educational and career success. Participants will briefly learn about the need for an organization like ARISE (holistic support and development for Southeast Asian students). The session will debunk the model minority myth and establish the importance of ethnic studies as it relates to community investment, representation, and student academic achievement. Successes of the organization will be highlighted as it relates to the partnership and implementation of our ethnic studies course, which explores the impact of the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia and groups who are indigenous to Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos.

Participants will learn about resources diverse stakeholders can utilize to support the effort for ethnic studies and will examine a successful model for district- and community-based organization partnership.

Speakers

Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE) (RI)

Ngan Nguyen

Alliance of Rhode Island for Southeast Asians Education

Chanda Womack

Alliance of Rhode Island for Southeast Asians Education

NESSC ARISE pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
Room 213

Community Engagement

10:45am EDT

A Critical Conversation about Racial Equity in Northern New England

How should states in northern New England approach issues of racial and ethnic equity in their education systems? What does it mean to achieve equity and close gaps in a largely homogenous region? This session will draw on Maine’s experience of developing a big-tent alliance of organizations in the education sector and beyond to address these crucial issues. We’ll share key lessons from the efforts of the New England Alliances for College and Career Readiness more broadly, then explore in depth the Maine alliance’s work to balance its focus on racial and economic equity. Session participants will learn about, analyze and discuss the work of MaineSpark’s Future Success track to empower racially diverse student populations to reach college and career readiness. Educate Maine will then lead participants in a critical conversation about approaching equity in their own classrooms, schools and districts.

Session participants will learn about approaches to discussing and working toward racial and ethnic equity in education systems, reflect on lessons learned from Maine in this area, and leverage their own expertise and experiences to generate new ideas for connecting with and engaging diverse communities in authentic ways.

Speakers

Maine Spark (ME)

Ed Cervone

Executive Director, Educate Maine

Kate Leveille

MaineSpark

Emily Weiss

Principal, Education First Consulting

MS NESSCPresentationMarch2019 pptx

Tuesday March 26, 2019 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Room 105/106

Community Engagement

10:45am EDT

Collaboration with Higher Education and Community-Based Organizations to Provide Educational, Cultural, and Mentoring Opportunities

Research shows that having diverse faculty can motivate students of color and more recent work shows how it benefits the whole school community. Closing the diversity gap decreases the achievement gap, increases graduation rates and provides role models. Given the lack of diverse teachers in many educational systems community partnerships can offer alternatives.

This presentation explores strategies to address the alienation, academic and behavioral challenges that some low income and students of color experience; and successful collaborations with community organizations and higher education institutions.

Using the lens of Cultural Competency participants will gain knowledge on identifying the needs of underserved and often unresourced students, learn strategies to engage and partner with low income and communities of color. As well as highlight promising approaches to create culturally responsive learning environments and increase diverse role models; and connect classrooms to communities.

Speakers

Marie Richardson

Caseworker/ trainer, Pittsfield Public Schools

I have worked for Pittsfield Public Schools for 25 years in several different positions. Currently. I am a caseworker for our high school alternative ed program. I also co-facilitate trainings in the district and community on topics of cultural competency, racism, bias and privilege... Read More →

Shirley Edgerton

PittsfieldPublic School

Pittsfield Public Schools (MA)

Tuesday March 26, 2019 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Room 108/109

Community Engagement

10:45am EDT

Equity by Design: Designing Ideal Schools

What is the role of equity, history, and power in community-centered school development? How might we design more equitable communities and systems through the lens of personal and organizational humility-building? In this interactive introductory workshop, participants will learn about award-winning Equity-Centered Community Design strategies to examine how their own identities shape design and decision-making, practice collaboratively co-designing more inclusive and equitable education communities, and begin to develop the foundation for becoming the equity leader of today and tomorrow. Also, participants will explore the reality that systems produce what they are designed to produce, and that we can and must redesign for equity.

Participants will leave with an understanding of the Equity-Centered Community Design process, the importance of language setting in designing a community-centered school, and techniques of understanding and acknowledging personal identities and power dynamics in a school environment.

Speakers

Creative Reaction Lab (MO)

Antionette Carroll

President and CEO (Founder), Creative Reaction Lab

Hilary Sedovic

Learning & Education Manager, Creative Reaction Lab

EquityPledge pdf

CRXLABxNESSC slidedeck pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Room 204

Community Engagement

10:45am EDT

How Putting Students at the Center Helped to Spark the Raising of a Black Lives Matter Flag in Montpelier, Vermont

"In February of 2018, Montpelier High School became the first high school in the nation to raise a Black Lives Matter flag. The story became an international news story with millions of viewers and readers across a spectrum of media outlets. This session will feature the opportunity to hear the story first hand. A team from Montpelier High School, including students and administration, will share specific action steps taken by the school community to prepare, support, and continue the work in increasing empathy while reducing implicit bias, structural racism, and unchecked privilege in our learning community. The team will also facilitate discussion and reflection time for attendees to consider their own experiences and potential action steps for growth in their own learning communities.

In this session, participants will reflect on their own privilege, identify opportunities to use personalization and student voice to raise engagement levels, and understand the value in connecting personalization, student voice, and competency based learning for deeper and more authentic learning opportunities that reached beyond the classroom."

Speakers

Mandinso Abu Aziz

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Hope Petraro

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Maryann Songhurst

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Michael McRaith

Principal, Montpelier Roxbury SD

Juna Nagle

Montpelier Roxbury SD

Montpelier High School (VT)

NESSC 2019 Montpelier High School BLM pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Room 203

Community Engagement

10:45am EDT

Leading Change: Harnessing Key Principles and Practices of Community Engagement

Speakers

Mo Nuñez

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Steve Sell

Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership (ME)

BeyondtheBakeS rubric Sarah Ogeto ISBE pdf

Leading Change CE Agenda (NESSC19) pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Room 201

Community Engagement

1:15pm EDT

Collaboration with Higher Education and Community-Based Organizations to Provide Educational, Cultural, and Mentoring Opportunities

Speakers

Pittsfield Public Schools (MA)

Tuesday March 26, 2019 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT
Room 108/109

Community Engagement

1:15pm EDT

Constructive Disruption Through a District Wide Equity Review Process

Speakers

Ricky Baez

Community School Coordinator, Salem Public Schools

Joanne O'keefe

Salem Public Schools

Katherine Wilkins

Salem High School

Elizabeth Beaulieu

Teacher, Salem Public Schools

Sonia Lowe

Collins Middle School

Emily Ullman

Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, Salem Public Schools

Salem Public Schools (MA)

Salem NESSC pdf

ABCD's of Educational Equity pdf

cultural proficiency continuum (1) pdf

authentic engagement (1) pdf

Observations.docx pdf

staff focus group protocol equity reviews.docx (1) pdf

student focus group protocol equity reviews.docx pdf

Tuesday March 26, 2019 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT
Room 203

Community Engagement

1:15pm EDT

Student-Centered Ethnic Studies through School and Community Partnerships

Speakers

Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE) (RI)

Ngan Nguyen

Alliance of Rhode Island for Southeast Asians Education

Chanda Womack

Alliance of Rhode Island for Southeast Asians Education

Tuesday March 26, 2019 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT
Room 213

Community Engagement

1:15pm EDT

Try Everything and Include Everyone: Community Meetings to Promote Student Voice and Engagement

Students at Next Charter School often openly admit that they like coming to school. We believe this is because of our intentional, enduring efforts to build community through practices like daily morning and closing meetings. This creates a feeling of safety and belonging for every student that results in improvements in overall engagement.

Focusing on engagement is important because we believe that learning is what happens when the learner makes meaning for him/herself. If this is true, we must acknowledge that learning is a truly personalized experience, one that requires active engagement on the part of the learner. So many traditional school practices inadvertently isolate students and diminish motivation, which lead to disengagement in school. We have identified practices aimed at strengthening student voice and engagement in school through whole school activities.

Participants will leave with strategies that we have been successfully using at Next Charter School to build student engagement. They will understand the purpose, steps to implement, and potential pitfalls of each of these strategies. Participants will develop a plan to adapt and implement at least one strategy.

Speakers