april 9 - 11, 2014 cincinnati, oh - community schools...4 2014 community schools national forum...

2014 Community Schools National ForumApril 9 - 11, 2014

Cincinnati, OH

Opportunities Supports

People communitie

s

Systems Policies

Successful Stud e n t s

Strong Communities

Healthy Familie s

We applaud the Coalition for Community Schools and the Cincinnati Community Learning Center Institute on convening the field

at this exciting conference!

Please come to our workshops and visit our exhibit to learn more about how the National Center for Community

Schools can help your initiative become an Engine of Opportunity.

Practice Based Nation Wide Twenty Years

forCommunity Schools

1Community Schools: The Engine of Opportunity

Table of contents

Agenda At-A-Glance........................................................................................................................... 2Letter from the Cincinnati Mayor..................................................................................................... 3Letter from Coalition Leadership..................................................................................................... 4Community Schools Leadership Awards........................................................................................ 5Pre-conference Institutes.................................................................................................................. 6Site Visit (Time Information)............................................................................................................. 7Plenary – Excellence for All Means All............................................................................................. 7Workshop Key...................................................................................................................................... 7Session I – Concurrent Workshops................................................................................................... 8Role-Alike Sessions........................................................................................................................... 13Plenary – The Cincinnati Story........................................................................................................ 14State Networking Breakfast............................................................................................................ 15Mini Plenary Sessions...................................................................................................................... 15Plenary – The Challenges of Educating Today- Community Schools as an Answer............. 18Session II – Concurrent Workshops............................................................................................... 18Session III – Concurrent Workshops.............................................................................................. 23National Underground Railroad Freedom Center...................................................................... 28Session IV – Concurrent Workshops.............................................................................................. 29Session V – Concurrent Workshops............................................................................................... 33Plenary – Because Every Child Deserves Every Chance............................................................. 38Health Drill Down Session............................................................................................................... 38Site Visit Profiles................................................................................................................................ 39Speaker Biographies........................................................................................................................ 44Coalition Staff Biographies............................................................................................................. 62About the Coalition.......................................................................................................................... 65About IEL............................................................................................................................................ 65Coalition Steering Committee........................................................................................................ 66Coalition Partners............................................................................................................................. 67Exhibitors........................................................................................................................................... 68Thank You’s......................................................................................................................................... 70Maps........................................................................................................................ Inside Back CoverSponsors............................................................................................................................. Back Cover

2 2014 Community Schools National Forum

Sta r t Ti m e E n d Ti m e E ve n tTuesday, April 8

11:00AM 6:00PM Registration

2:00PM 5:00PM Principals Pre-Conference Institute

2:00PM 5:00PM Scaling Up Community Schools Pre-Conference Institute

2:00PM 5:00PM Site Visits

Wednesday, April 97:00AM 8:00PM Registration

8:00AM 12:00PM Principals Pre-Conference Institute

8:00AM 12:00PM Scaling Up Community Schools Pre-Conference Institute

8:00AM 12:00PM Community Schools 101 Pre-Conference Institute

8:00AM 12:00PM Coordinators Network Pre-Conference Institute

8:30AM 12:00PM Site Visits

12:30PM 2:00PM Plenary - Excellence for All Means All

2:15PM 3:30PM Session I - Concurrent Workshops

4:00PM 5:15PM Role Alike Session

6:00PM 9:00PM Plenary - Cincinnati Story

Thursday, April 10 7:30AM 5:00 PM Registration

8:30AM 10:00AM State Networking Breakfast

10:15AM 11:45AM Mini Plenaries

12:00PM 1:45PM Plenary - The Challenges of Educating Today: Community Schools as an Answer

2:00PM 3:15PM Session II - Concurrent Workshops

3:45PM 5:00PM Session III - Concurrent Workshops

5:30PM 7:30PM National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Friday, April 117:30AM 12:00PM Registration

7:30AM 8:30AM Breakfast

8:30AM 9:45AM Session IV - Concurrent Workshops

10:00AM 11:15AM Session V - Concurrent Workshops

11:30AM 12:30PM Plenary - Because Every Child Deserves Every Chance

1:30PM 4:15PM Health Drill-Down Session

Agenda At-A-Glance


Mayor John Cranley

Mayor John Cranley

Equal Opportunity Employer

801 Plum Street, Suite 150

Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Phone (513) 352-3250

Fax (513) 352-5201

Email: [email protected]


April 9, 2014

Dear Friends and Allies,

Welcome to Cincinnati for the 2014 Community Schools National Forum!

We are at a crucial juncture in the development of the community schools movement. Our work continues to expand at the local, state and national levels, and we have the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of young people and their families and communities.

But as community schools grow, we must pay even more attention to the complexity of the challenge we face and the deep and systemic inequities that our nation faces as it work to educate its children and youth, particularly those of color. This is why the Forum theme focuses on community schools as the engine of opportunity.

We believe that community schools, with their deep and sustained relationships between schools and community partners, are the “engine” that can create the opportunities that will prepare our young people to succeed. Achieving that success requires that we look carefully at the disparities that young people and their families experience however. Disparities that exist across economic, social, health, family and other indices; disparities that begin early and too often gather momentum and prevent success as young people grow up.

Overcoming these disparities demands that community school leaders and advocates extend their efforts to bring together all the organizations and institutions with a stake in the learning and development of our young people. And it also means working with others to advocate state and national policies to finance the opportunities and supports the young people and their families and communities need.

During this Forum you will learn how Cincinnati is doing just that. Together the Cincinnati Public Schools, the Cincinnati Community Learning Center Institute, and their many public, private and community-based partners have now established 35 Community Learning Centers (aka community schools) in the city. Other Ohio cities including Cleveland and Toledo, are pursuing the vision, and cities like Knoxville and New York have visited and are acting as well. And now there is legislation supported by Governor Kasich that has been introduced in the Ohio legislature through the efforts of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Working together we can make this happen all across the country. Enjoy the next few days. Have fun, share your ideas, and return home with renewed energy and even stronger commitment and exciting plans for the next stage of your work.

Sincerely,

Martin J. BlankPresident, IEL

Director, Coalition forCommunity Schools

Lisa VillarrealChair, Coalition for Community Schools

Education Program Officer, The San Francisco Foundation

Robert MahaffeyVice-Chair, Coalition for Community Schools

Director, Communications and Marketing Rural School and Community Trust

Letter from Coalition Leadership


The Coalition for Community Schools is proud to present an inaugural set of awards recognizing excellence in leadership. We are especially gratified to dedicate the Community Schools Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of Joy Dryfoos, someone who committed her scholarship and advocacy to creating more community schools.

Community Schools Leadership Awards

S u p e r i n te n d e n t L e a d e r s h i p Awa r dDr. Ramona Bishop

Vallejo City Unified School District

Vallejo, CA

The Superintendent Leadership Award is co-sponsored by our

par tners at AASA, the School Superintendents

Association.

J oy D ry f o o s C o m m u n i t y S c h o o ls L i f e ti m e A c h i e ve m e n t Awa r d

Jane Quinn

Children’s Aid Society Vice President for

Community Schools and Director of the National Center for Community Schools

New York, NY

N ati o n a l Pa r tn e r Awa r dAmerican Federation of Teachers

Washington, DC

C o m m u n i t y S c h o o ls I n i ti ati ve L e a d e r s h i p Awa r d

Julia Baez

Senior Director of Education Initiatives,

Family League of Baltimore, Baltimore Community Schools

Baltimore, MD

C o m m u n i t y S c h o o ls I n i ti ati ve L e a d e r s h i p Awa r d :

José Muñoz

Executive Director, ABC Community School Partnership

Albuquerque, NM

2 0 13 C o m m u n i t y S c h o o ls N ati o n a l Awa r d s f o r E xc e l l e n c eInitiative Awardees

Cincinnati (OH) Community Learning CentersHartford (CT) Community Schools

School AwardeesHarmon Johnson Elem. School (Sacramento, CA)Hillcrest Elementary School (San Francisco, CA)Roosevelt Elementary School (Allentown, PA)


Principal Leadership in Community SchoolsLocation: Room 201

Schedule of Pre-Con: Tuesday, April 8th 2 PM - 5 PM; Wednesday, April 9th 8AM - 12 PM

Schools and districts developing, implementing and sustaining community schools require school leaders who have deep experiences with their peers to solve dilemmas of practice, hold each other collectively responsible for outcomes, and are evaluated using multiple metrics. This seven-hour workshop, spread over two days, engages participants in dialogue, reflection, imagination and innovative practices that they can take home to their school communities and districts. The workshop format is grounded in the South African concept of UBUNTU: I am because you are and you are because I am. Join other community school principal leaders in a deeper exploration of what it takes to lead a community school and be-come part of a new community school principal’s network. Together we can explore, practice, and develop.

Presenters: • Lynda Tredway, Senior Associate, IEL’s Leaders for

Today and Tomorrow Initiative; Former Academic Coordinator, Principal Leadership Institute at UC Berkeley;

• Janette Hernandez, Regional Executive Officer, Oakland Unified School District

• Kwesi Rollins, Director of Leadership Programs, Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL)

Scaling Up Community SchoolsLocation: Room 204

Schedule of Pre-Con: Tuesday, April 8th 2PM - 5 PM; Wednesday, April 9th 8AM-12 PM

Bring your team to learn what a scaled up system of community schools looks like. Work through the stages and milestones for community school plan-ning and development. This session is designed for teams that are planning or in the early stages of scaling up their community schools work.

Presenters:• Martin J. Blank, President, Institute for Education-

al Leadership, Director, Coalition for Community Schools

• Reuben Jacobson, Senior Associate for Research & Strategy, Coalition for Community Schools

Scale Up Coaches:• Cathy Gray, Associate Superintendent for Family,

School and Community Partnerships, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Indiana

• Adeline Ray, Senior Manager, CPS Community Schools Initiative, Chicago Public Schools, Illinois

• Ellen Pais, President & CEO, Los Angeles Education Partnership, California

• Peggy Samolinski, Division Manager, SUN Service System, Multnomah County, Oregon

• Brent Schondelmeyer, Communications Director, Local Investment Commission, Kansas City, MO

• Jill Pereira, Director, Education, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley

• Carol Paine-McGovern, Director, Kent School Ser-vices Network, Grand Rapids, MI

Community Schools 101: A Strategy, Not a ProgramLocation: Room 205

Schedule of Pre-Con: Wednesday, April 9th 8AM-12 PM

Join us for a “nuts and bolts” overview of the core concepts that define the community school strategy and explore the four Critical Capacities for Commu-nity Schools as articulated by the National Center for Community Schools (NCCS): Comprehensive-ness, Collaboration, Coherence, and Commitment. Presenters will discuss practices related to each capacity, including the development of a needs assessment, program development, community engagement, coordination, advocacy, and strategic financing. Each participant will receive a copy of the NCCS publication, Building Community Schools: A Guide for Action.

Presenters:• Abe Fernández, Director of Collective Impact, The

Children’s Aid Society • Sarah Jonas, Director of Regional Initiatives, Na-

tional Center for Community Schools, The Children’s Aid Society

Pre-Conference institutes

Community Schools Leadership Network(Invitation Only)

Location: Room 200

Schedule: Tuesday, April 8th 5:30PM - 8:00PM


Pre-conference institutes(Continued)Coordinators NetworkLocation: Room 206

Schedule of Pre-Con: Wednesday, April 9th 8AM-12PM

A peer learning opportunity for people who are now or are soon to become community schools coordina-tors (aka, site managers, resource coordinators, site coordinators). Learn from your peers and help build a developing coordinators network.

Presenters:• Carol Hill, Bayview Beacon Director, Burton High

School, San Francisco, CA• Annie Bogenschutz, Director of Training and De-

velopment, Community Learning Center Institute

Community School Site Visits Community School site visits require pre-regis-tration and payment. If you are still interested in attending a site visit, please visit the registration desk.

Tuesday, April 8th visits will depart from the Main Lobby of the Duke Energy Convention Center at 2:00 PM.

Wednesday, April 9th visits will depart from the Main Lobby of the Duke Energy Convention Center at 8:30 AM.

Buses will leave on time. You will not be able to attend a site visit without a ticket. Please be sure you recieved the correct ticket at registration!

Opening Lunch PlenaryWednesday, April 9th, 12:30PM - 2:00PM

Location: Grand Ballroom

Welcoming Remarks:

• The Honorable John Cranley, Mayor of Cincinnati • Lisa Villarreal, Chair, Coalition for Community Schools; Program Officer, Education, San Francisco Foundation• Martin J. Blank, President, Institute for Educational Leadership and Director, Coalition for Community Schools

Introduction of Community Schools Video: Oakland Unified School District & Media Enterprise Alliance KExcellence for All Means All

Keynote: Christopher Edley, Jr., Co-Chair of the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity and Excellence Com-mission and former Dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law

Christopher Edley offers a unique perspective on the equity challenges our nation faces. He will explain the Commission’ recommendations, what we all must do to make equity and excellence a reality, and how com-munity schools can contribute.

Health & Social Support

Early Childhood Development

Family Engagement

Engaging Instruction

College, Career & Citizenship

Youth Development

Expanded Learning Opportunities

Community Engagement

W O R KS H O P K E Y

K Youth-Led Session

B Cincinnati Session


High-Performing Community SchoolsTransformation and Equity From Within and Outside the Community School ClassroomLocation: 209

Understand how to establish inclusive community school practices within the classroom and among teams of educators to support equity, access and voice. Using Spry Community Links High School, a successful three-year Chicago high school, work with teachers to create a community school best-practice support blog, and learn how this work unfolds in the classroom.

Presenters: Francisco Borras, Spry Community Links High School & Dr. Carlos Azcoitia, National-Louis University

Leadership and Professional DevelopmentFacilitating Conversations of Race and Equity Location: 233

Preparing and supporting school, district, and com-munity leaders who successfully navigate conversa-tions of equity and excellence is an ongoing respon-sibility. Come discover processes and protocols that have been successful in creating dialogue about identity and inequities in school and community settings. Join us in a gracious space to engage with “strangers to learn in public”.

Presenter: Lynda Tredway, Institute for Educational Leadership

Using Social Media to Provide a Menu of Communication Offerings Location: 200

Using technologies like e-mail and webpages to connect with families is quickly becoming “old news” with the introduction of social media tools—mobile school apps, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and blogs. Come learn how your organization can safely lever-age these social media tools and how their use affects communication between schools and par-ents. Participants will leave with a “menu” of low and high tech communications to infuse into their own schools and organizations.

Presenters: Dr. Joe Mazza, Knapp Elementary / Uni-versity of Pennsylvania GSE & Andrea Lawful-Train-er, Children. And. Parental. Educational. Services. (C.A.P.E.S.)

Multi-Site Community School InitiativesEffective Use of Space to Create Community Learning Centers B Location: 262

Cincinnati Public Schools recently completed a $1.2 billion Facilities Master Plan, creating 50 new or fully renovated buildings to serve as community learn-ing centers. Through a process of neighborhood by neighborhood engagement, architects worked with school community teams to design schools with an innovative use of standard spaces for co-located partners, including school based health centers and early childhood programs. Come learn how to effec-tively use spaces in your own school facility.

Presenters: Robin Brandon, Cincinnati Public Schools; Marcene Kinney, GBBN Architects; & Dick Krehbiel, Roth Partnership, Inc.

Enhancing Student Learning and Development through the Canyons Community School InitiativeLocation: 202

Discover how the Canyons Community Schools Initiative in Utah utilizes school-family-community partnerships to enhance student learning and devel-opment. Presenters will share successful implemen-tation strategies and two year outcomes data, while highlighting the importance of collaboration among schools, health and social service agencies, families, and youth. Learn what the implications and rewards are for your own community.

Presenters: Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Professor, The Ohio State University; Rich Landward, Canyons City Schools; & Carol Anderson, Utah State Department of Education

Session i - CONCURRENT WORKSHOPsWednesday, April 9th, 2:15PM - 3:30PM


Session I - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)Leave No Child Inside! Connecting Schools with the Great Outdoors BLocation: 236

Evidence-based research confirms that spending time in nature improves the health and well-being of children, families, and communities. Discover the ways in which community schools can help to recon-nect children with nature, with specific examples of community partnerships that have helped Cincinnati Community Learning Centers connect students with the outdoors.

Presenters: Betsy Townsend, Leave No Child Inside- Greater Cincinnati; Sam Dunlap, Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati; & Katie Keller and Sally Shee-han, Greenacres

Neighborhood and Community RevitalizationReading Black Boy and Planning a World Renowned Community KLocation: 203

“How is hunger a predominate theme in Richard’s life?” Discover how Richard Wright’s Black Boy and cross sector collaboration have informed 9th graders’ recommendations for activating an underutilized underpass in the center of New Orleans. Hear about a project that directly connects experts, educators, and community revitalization efforts to students and their future. Learn how you can do it, too.

Presenters: Bobbie Hill, Concordia; Lisa Green-Derry, Urban Strategies; Angela Taylor, City of New Orleans - Livable Claiborne Communities Initiative; & Sophie Teitelbaum, Dawn Goodwin, and 9th Grade Students, Clark Preparatory High School

Opportunities and Supports in Community SchoolsAligning Out of School Time Programs with Common Core State StandardsLocation: 260

Learn how to effectively develop and implement curricula aligned with Common Core standards, particularly in the areas of Literacy, Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering, Mathematics and Social Emotional Learning. Discuss how these Common Core State Standards (CCSS) impact out of school time pro-gramming and how to effectively implement CCSS benchmarks into such programming.

Presenters: Jaynemarie Enyonam Angbah & Arnery Reyes, The Children’s Aid Society

Creating Equity and Change One Student at a TimeLocation: 234

Addressing the “whole child” can seem impossible in overcrowded classrooms and under-resourced schools. But Individualized Pupil Education Plans (IPEPs) provide useful platforms for making this a re-ality. Discover and simulate the Social Justice Huma-nitas Academy’s strategy for tackling the challenge of IPEPs and the tools and data that come with them.

Presenters: Jennie Carey, Los Angeles Education Part-nership & Jose Luis Navarro, Social Justice Humanitas Academy

Cross-Cultural Competency and Teacher Engagement of FamiliesLocation: 232

Cross cultural communication struggles are common and can be addressed through focused reflection that enables educators to unpack their presump-tions regarding culture, class, childrearing, and family influences. Engage in a process of examining individual biases and explore strategies for moving beyond bias and toward culturally sensitive ap-proaches.

Presenters: Pamela Higgins Harris, Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium; Cheryl Suliteanu, Oceanside Unified School District; Bianca Sanchez, Los Angeles Unified School District; & Tracy Hill, Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Empowering Oakland Youth through Journalism and Multimedia Location: 252

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) students in the Media Enterprise Alliance (MEA) journalism and multimedia program, sponsored by OUSD’s Com-munications Department and KDOLTV-27, recently created an animated video on the role community schools can play in uplifting children and neighbor-hoods. Hear firsthand from the students how the project came about and the process of creating the video. Gain an in-depth look into a program that is empowering and uplifting youth through multime-


Session I - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)dia programs.

Presenters: Jake Schoneker, Media Enterprise Alliance at KDOL-TV; Nancy Tafoya, Envision Academy; & Dam-ari Lawrence, Skyline High School

Families Can Make a Difference Location: 251

The evidence is clear. When families, schools, and communities work together children do better. Still, many schools struggle to develop effective part-nerships with diverse families. Start to gain a better understanding of effective practices for engaging ALL families in partnerships for improving student achievement and leave with “actionable” items to take home and implement!

Presenters: Dianne Malley & Debra Jennings, State-wide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN)

Family Engagement in Early Learning and Literacy InitiativesLocation: 205

In communities across the country, comprehensive initiatives designed to ensure school readiness and early reading and offer expanded learning oppor-tunities, while combating chronic absenteeism and summer learning loss, are gaining in prominence. Examine how elements of family engagement are intertwined with a range of school readiness and birth to 3rd grade reform efforts, including national campaigns like the Campaign for Grade Level Read-ing and Attendance Works.

Presenters: Hedy Chang, Attendance Works; Janice Chu-Zhu, National Center for Community Schools; & Laura Bornfreund, New America Foundation

Enhancing Social-Emotional Learning & Development: The Alameda County School-Based Behavioral Health Initiative

Location: 261

School environments play a critical role in promoting and preventing race- and income-based disparities in academic, health, and social outcomes. Learn how a public agency in a large urban area can partner ef-

fectively with schools and school districts to improve student social emotional outcomes and address trauma. Explore how to transform your school envi-ronment and share strategies for blending funding streams for different partners.

Presenter: Tracey Schear, Center for Healthy Schools and Communities

Homework Diner: Our Recipe for SuccessLocation: 204

Featured on NBC’s Nightly News, Manzano Mesa Elementary’s Homework Diner aims to increase family engagement, student academic success and improve the culture of the school community through a unique partnership of community based organizations, institutes of higher learning, and teachers at the school. Participants will be given time to assess their own family engagement strategies and tools to replicate the successful Homework Din-er program and discuss challenges, solutions, and lessons learned.

Presenters: Deanna Creighton Cook and Peggy Can-delaria, Manzano Mesa Elementary School & Jose Munoz, ABC Community Schools Partnership

Innovative Approaches to Engaging Fathers: Cradle-to-CareerLocation: 206

Educators often point to the lack of parent engage-ment as a barrier to student access. When schools put forth the appropriate efforts to engage fathers and families, they not only show up but also en-gage. And their children are more successful. Strong Fathers-Strong Families, LLC has worked with over 120,000 fathers and families in Texas public schools. Through interactive lessons and hands-on activi-ties, AVANCE’s Fatherhood Initiative is designed to increase the father’s role in his children’s education and strengthen families. Learn about this two im-pactful approaches to parent engagement.

Presenters: J. Michael Hall, Strong Fathers-Strong Families, LLC & Charles P. Wilson, AVANCE Unlocking America’s Potential


Session I - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)No More Gobbledygook and MumboJum-bo: How to Craft Communication that EVERYONE Can Understand

Location: 201Educators have seen the research and understand the importance of reaching out and partnering with families. But do you know how to effectively do so? To create meaningful relationships, schools must communicate with families in ways they can under-stand. This workshop will leave participants with ideas and skills for doing just that.

Presenters: Patricia Weinzapfel & Marsha Jackson, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation

Partnerships Sustain the Work: Building Stakeholder Capacity Location: 238

Strong partnerships are key to attaining results. Learn how Lincoln, NE’s Community Learning Cen-ters are building the capacity of diverse stakeholders. The Lincoln CLC results framework and action team plans will illustrate how one community aligned and connected multiple initiatives to ensure the success of its students and families.

Presenters: Lea Ann Johnson, Lincoln Public Schools

Positive Partnerships: Union and District Collaboration Leads to SuccessLocation: 208

This year, the Evansville Teachers Association and Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, with the support of National Education Association Priority Schools, partnered to institute two new initiatives. Participants will gain an understanding of the im-pact of these partnerships, how to facilitate and use union and district collaboration, and how to maxi-mize teacher participation.

Presenters: Mark Lichtenberg, Evansville Teachers Association & Patricia Weinzapfel, Evansville Vander-burgh School Corporation

Project LIFTT!: Community Orga-nizing for Powerful Family En-gagement

Location: 250

Want to engage teachers and parents to become co-educators in the classroom and resources for one another? Discover Project LIFTT! Explore the com-munity organizing strategies Project LIFTT employs to productively engage teachers and parents. And see how your own school’s approach aligns with the values underlying this powerful model of family engagement.

Presenters: Maritza Dominguez & Shareki Chaney, Alliance for Community Teachers and Schools (ACTS)

Promoting Family Engagement in Schools through Quality Family Support Location: 211

Dive into the Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support, which were developed by the California Network of Family Strengthening Networks. Participants will understand how these standards can be used as a tool by a wide array of stakeholders for promoting quality work with fami-lies.

Presenters: Christina Huff, Southern Humboldt Unified School District & Debbie Comstock, California Network of Family Strengthening Networks

Think Win-Win: Leader In Me and Community SchoolsLocation: 235

Want to inspire your students to become respectful, compassionate problem-solvers and empowered leaders? Learn how Leader In Me, based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, engages students to become the drivers of change in their schools, local communities, and beyond.

Presenters: Lisa Regan & Deborah Bowman, United Way Community Schools


Session I - Concurrent Workshops (Continued) Using High Quality Individualized

Learning Plans to Increase Personalized Learning and College and Career

ReadinessLocation: 210

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), currently used by 37 states and the District of Columbia, are becom-ing an important tool for personalizing the learning experiences of middle and high school students and engaging them in college and career readiness activities. This workshop will explore components of a quality ILP and strategies for implementing them successfully for all students.

Presenter: Curtis Richards, Center for Workforce Devel-opment - Institute for Educational Leadership

Results, Data, and EvaluationDynamic Evaluation as a Developmental ToolLocation: 230

What climate, relationships, strategies and processes will help evaluators engage in authentic assessment of the complex ecology of community schools? Engage in a group discussion to discover common tools for evaluating whether or not community school programs are effective in accomplishing their missions.

Presenters: Neil M. Bonavita, Lyn Crowell, & Dr. Mi-guel A. Guajardo, Texas State University

Using Data to Create Greater Educational EquityLocation: 212

Data can serve as a powerful tool for addressing education inequity. The Chicago Public Schools Community Schools Initiative collects and compiles multi-level data into data profiles that are shared with schools and lead partner agencies. Discover how to use these tools to create action plans to increase program quality for your students with the greatest level of need.

Presenters: Adeline Ray, Ebony Burnside, & Shawn Dimpfl, Community Schools Initiative, Chicago Public Schools

Special Populations Facing InequitiesAddressing Racial Disparity in School Discipline: Community School Strategies from OaklandLocation: 207

Suspension and expulsion rates in schools across the county are disproportionally high for students of col-or, and Oakland Unified School District is working to change that. In this session, come learn how the Dis-trict is using whole school, child-centered approach-es such as PBIS and RJ to turn the tide by reducing suspensions, expulsions, and the racial disparity that exists among them.

Presenters: Barbara McClung & Christopher Chat-mon, Oakland Unified School District

Getting Policies That Work for YouLocation: 231

How strong is your collaboration? How effective are its leaders? How can you make it better? With-out attention to your collaboration’s strengths and weaknesses, your community school will fail! In this workshop, participants will explore contributions they can make to improve their collaboration.

Presenters: Melissa Mitchell, Federation for Community Schools; Diana Hall, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Community Schools; & Deanna Niebuhr, Part-nership for Children and Youth

Youth and Community OrganizingThe Youth-Adult Partnership Initiative KLocation: 237

Want to ignite youth and community engagement in your community school? Based on findings from an initiative taking place in six NYC Beacon Community Schools, the Youth Development Institute reveals the structures and supports, promising practices, and cautions for those attempting to increase the amount and quality of youth-adult partnerships. Join us in the service of creating more equitable schools and communities!

Presenters: Sarah Zeller-Berkman, The Youth Devel-opment Institute & Yanelis Collado, Student, Beacons Community Schools


Role-Alike SessionsSpecial thanks to the Coalition’s parnters who are co-sponsoring these Role-Alike Sessions!

Community School CoordinatorsLocation: Room 200

PrincipalsLocation: Room 201

Community PartnersLocation: Room 211

Teachers/UnionsLocation: Room 232

IntermediariesLocation: Room 233

Central Office LeadersLocation: Room 252

Elected OfficialsLocation: Room 202

Student Support PersonnelLocation: Room 204

ResearchersLocation: Room 203

Business and Foundation LeadersLocation: Room 208

Family Engagement Leaders/PractitionersLocation: Room 205

National OrganizationsLocation: Room 250

Rural SchoolsLocation: Room 236

United WaysLocation: Room206

Families, Community Members, and OrganizersLocation: Room207

Higher Education InstitutionsLocation: Room 262



Learn what our host city has achieved to become a nationally recognized community schools initiative. Discover the story of how “unusual suspects” came together to revitalize their schools and neighbor-hoods and the story of one of the 36 community learning centers. Hear from a national leader pro-moting community schools as a critical education reform strategy and vital resource for supporting teachers.

Presenters:• Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation

of Teachers

• Eve Bolton, President, Cincinnati Board of Education

• Mary Ronan, Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools

Moderator: • P.G. Sittenfeld, Member, Cincinnati City CouncilPanelists:• Darlene Kamine, Executive Director, Community

Learning Center Institute • Jim Schiff, President, Schiff Foundation • Dr. Ivan Lugo, Regional Manager of Professional

and Scientific Relations, Procter & Gamble• Dr. O’dell Owens, President, Cincinnati State

Dinner PlenaryWednesday, April 9th, 6:00PM - 9:00PM

The Cincinnati Story

NEW YORK C ITY COmmuNITY LEaRNINg

SChOOLS INITIaTIvE

Strengthening Schools, Strengthening Communities


Pair your pastries and coffee with a discus-sion about state support for community schools. You will sit by state to network with one another; discuss your states’ policy and advocacy support for community schools; and make plans to expand and strengthen your state network moving forward. Coa-lition staff will provide you with key ques-tions to guide your discussion.

All state tables are located in the Grand ballroom unless noted below.

� Illinois: Room 237 � Indiana: Room 203 �Maryland: Room 250 � New Mexico: Room 202 � Ohio: Rooms 230 & 231 � Pennsylvania: Room 208 � Tennessee: Room 207

State Networking BreakfastThursday, April 10th, 8:30AM - 10:00AM

Mini Plenary SessionsThursday, April 10th, 10:15AM - 11:45AM

Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Location: Junior Ballroom A

The Campaign uses a simple metric: all children reading at grade-level by the end of 3rd grade. Learn about the solutions it promotes: school readi-ness and quality teaching, reducing chronic absence, improved summer learning, and engaging parents as their children’s first teachers. Hear how communi-ty schools are part of the answer.

Moderator: Ralph Smith, Annie E. Casey Foundation Presenters: Hedy Chang, Attendance Works; Sarah Pitcock, National Summer Learning Association; & Helen Blank, National Women’s Law Center

Community Organizing and Community SchoolsLocation: Room 205

Schools are the main intersection for youth, parents, community members and community organizers who want to improve entire neighborhoods. Learn how community school advocates, community organizers, and labor groups are working together nationally and locally for better schools, better jobs, and better communities.

Speakers: Jitu Brown, Journey for Justice; Dr. Keith Catone, Annenberg Institute for School Reform; Henry Perez, InnerCity Struggle; Bill Shiebler, American Feder-ation of Teachers; Quanisha Smith, ACTION United Philadelphia; & Ronnette Summers, Coalition for Educational Justice

Better Learning through PartnershipsLocation: Room 232

High-quality, engaging, and motivating learning experiences are central to community schools. Community partners, working closely with educators, have a vital role to play in creating these kinds of learning opportunities with a focus on community problems, learning linked to the work place, arts and technology. Learn how your community can help schools with their core mission – better and more effective learning.Moderator: Reuben Jacobson, Coalition for Commu-nity Schools Speakers: Dr. Paul Heckman, University of California Davis; Carlos Azcoitia, Ed.D., National Louis University; Dr. Cathy Gray, Evansville Vander-burgh School Corporation; Jennifer Peck, Partnership for Children & Youth


Mini plenary sessions (Continued)Family and Community Engagement – A Look at Systemic Approaches and Equity-Focused Solutions Location: Junior Ballroom B

Scaling up community schools demands strong sup-port from families and communities. Learn what con-stitutes a ‘systemic approach to family engagement’ in a community school and across a school district, and how to make it happen in your community.

Moderator: Dr. Valorie Johnson, Kellogg FoundationSpeakers: Karen Mapp, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Tracy Hill, Cleveland Metropolitan Public Schools; & Sherri Wilson, National PTA

Early Childhood Development and Community Schools Location: Junior Ballroom C

Based on the local work of community school initiatives, participants will learn about the systems that need to be in place to create a more seamless transition between early childhood and the early grades, while also gaining a deeper understanding about the policies that currently support early childhood.Moderator: Kwesi Rollins, Institute for Educational LeadershipSpeakers: Ellen Galinsky, Families and Work InstitutePanelists: Paige Whalen, Community School Service Council, Tulsa; May Cha, SUN Schools, Multnomah County OR; & Lisa Garafalo, Child Care Network, Cin-cinnati

Dismantling the School to Prison PipelineLocation: Junior Ballroom D

Schools should put students on a pathway to suc-cess, but far too often, and disproportionately for minority students, pathways to prison are more likely than pathways to college. Explore the causes behind the school-to-prison pipeline, the progress of various efforts to end this crisis, and promising strategies to address the problem in a community school.

Moderator: Mary Kingston-Roche, Coalition for Com-munity Schools

Speakers: Robert Vidana, John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles; Dianne Piche, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; & Joseph Bish-op, National Opportunity to Learn Campaign

Addressing Health Disparities in Schools Location: Room 200

Limited access to health care and social supports have a substantial impact on a student’s ability to successfully learn and develop. Across the nation, the number of students facing health challenges, from vision problems, asthma, and learning disabil-ities, to mental disorders is growing. (1) Discover what a School Based Health Center (SBHC) is; (2) the difference between operating inside community schools vs. non-community schools; and, (3) why health providers/partners value the model.

Moderator: Paul Rudolph, Growing Well Speakers: Laura Brey, School-Based Health Alliance; Dr. Marilyn Crumpton, Growing Well and City of Cincinnati Health Department; Francie Wolgin, Senior Program Officer at Interact for Health; Andrew Peters, Chief Story Teller at Luxottica’s OneSight; & Jaime Huertas, Children’s Aid Society

The Role of Community Schools in Place Based Strategies Location: Room 233

There is excitement in many communities about weaving initiatives like community schools, Prom-ise Neighborhoods and similar efforts together in a clearly defined “place” to collectively improve out-comes for children, youth, families, and communi-ties. Explore the central role of community schools in this conversation and learn how local practitioners are positioning community schools in relationship to these strategies.


Mini plenary sessions (Continued)Moderator: Bill Potapchuk, Community Building Institute; Comments: Michael McAfee, Promise Neigh-borhoods Institute; Speakers: Diana Hall, SUN Com-munity Schools; Ellen Pais, L.A. Education Parternship; Rebecca Boxx, Child and Youth Cabinet, Providence, RI

Youth Development: Fostering Student LeadersLocation: Room 204

How are young people leading change in partner-ship with schools, programs, and communities? Young people and adults from community schools across the country will share their experience, pres-ent recommendations for building relationships to support these youth-adult partnerships, and imag-ine possibilities for expanding youth leadership in community schools.

Moderator: Sarah Zeller-Berkman, Youth Develop-ment Institute; Students: Yanelis Collado, Beacon Community Schools, New York, City; Jayna Ramirez, Esteban E. Torres High School, Los Angeles Educa-tion Partnership; Laura Lazo, Esteban E. Torres High School, Los Angeles Education Partnership; Nancy Tafoya, Envision Academy, Oakland Unified School District; & Damari Lawrence, Skyline High School, Oakland Unified School District; Adults: Christina Patricio, Esteban E. Torres High School, Los Angeles Education Partnership & Jake Schoneker, Media En-terprise Alliance at KDOL-TV, Oakland Unified School District

The Promise of Higher Education Partnerships in School ReformLocation: Room 211

Institutions of higher education provide signifi-cant human and financial capacity for schools and neighborhoods, including volunteers as tutors and mentors, providing direct health services, creating curricular-based academic partnerships, teacher pro-fessional development, evaluation and governance. This session will explore the capacities of institutions of higher education in developing university-assist-ed community schools through the lens of partner-ship development, sustainability and funding, and evaluation.

Moderator: Joann Weeks, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Penn-sylvania. Speakers: Cory Bowman, Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania; Paula Byrd, University of Maryland School of Social Work; Gavin Luter, Center for Urban Studies- University at Buffalo, State University of New York & Maria Lovett, Florida International University

Community Schools Basics from Rural and Urban PerspectivesLocation: Room 212

Community schools are not a new strategy in edu-cation, but the strategy is still complex. Hear how leaders from rural, suburban and urban communities respond to a series of frequently asked questions about community schools:

Speakers: Bob Brown, Reconnecting McDowell, American Federation of Teachers; Jan Creveling, Tul-sa Area Community Schools Initiative (TACSI), Tulsa, OK; Darlene Kamine, Community Learning Center Institute, Cincinnati, OH; & Robert Mahaffey, Rural School and Community Trust

Mobilizing Policy and Advocacy Support at the State LevelLocation: Room 206

States are taking the lead in approving legislation and funding to support community schools. Hear from state legislative leaders and community school advocates about how they mobilize support at the state level. Ask and talk about you own state-specif-ic strategies to increase awareness and supportive policies for community schools.

Moderator: Julie Bell, National Conference of State Legislatures; Speakers: Denise Driehaus, Ohio State Representative (D); Melissa Mitchell, Federation for Community Schools (IL); & Frank Mirabal, Youth De-velopment Institute (NM)


Mini plenary sessions (Continued)Leadership in the Public Sector: Forging Partnerships to Create and Sustain Community SchoolsLocation: Room 201

The country’s persistent education and health ineq-uities require innovative leaders who think and act across boundaries to realize the promise of public institutions. Join representatives of city, county, and state level leadership as they use Alameda County’s Healthy Schools and Communities Framework to discuss the public sector’s role in promoting and institutionalizing community schools.

Speakers:Tracey Schear, Center for Healthy Schools and Communities, Alameda County Health Care Ser-vices Agency, California; Carol Paine-McGovern, Kent School Services Network, Michigan; Peggy Samo-linski, SUN Service System, Multnomah Department of Human Services, Oregon; & P.G. Sittenfeld, City of Cincinnati

Lunch PlenaryThursday, April 10th, 12:00PM - 1:45PM

The Challenges of educating Today - Community Schools as an AnswerLocation: Grand Ballroom

Join key stakeholders who understand that there are multiple challenges to educating our young people – and multiple opportunities. Learn how and why community schools are an essential part of the answer.

Moderator: • Jane Quinn, Vice President, Children’s Aid Society;

Director, National Center for Community SchoolsComments:

• The Honorable Christopher B. Coleman, Mayor of St. Paul, MN; President, National League of Cities

Panelists: • Ira Harkavy, Chair Emeritus, Coalition for Com-

munity Schools and Associate Vice President of the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania

• David Johns, Executive Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans

• Carol Liu, State Senator, California • C. Kent McGuire, President, Southern Education

Foundation• The Honorable Pedro Segarra, Mayor of Hartford,

CT

High-Performing Community SchoolsCommunity Self-Empowerment through Community SchoolsLocation: 208

Does today’s community schools concept actually help empower communities or is it a paternalistic paradigm enabling a neo-colonial approach that actually makes communities dependent? Come discuss the role of community schools in fostering communities that meet their own needs through self-reliance and self-determination.

Presenters: John Harris Loflin, Education-Community Action Team; Mike Sage, Branches of Life Foster Care

It Takes a Village to Create a High Performing School BLocation: 232

Discover how a neighborhood school is transformed into a community learning center from various school and community perspectives. Hear about the successes, obstacles, and lessons learned from those deeply involved in the process, and learn how the community learning center strategy has contributed

Session II - CONCURRENT WORKSHOPsThursday, April 10th , 2:00PM - 3:15PM


Session II - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)to high academic performance, strong enrollment, and neighborhood vitality in Cincinnati.

Presenters: Ilene Hayes, Mt. Washington Community Learning Center; Debra Klein & Kerry Cassinelli, Mt. Washington School; Rayma Waters, University of Cin-cinnati; Bob Wetterer, Mt. Washington Urban Redevel-opment Corporation

Putting Common Core in Community SchoolsLocation: 203

See how educators from Oshkosh, WI put together an innovative problem-based curriculum rooted in community based learning. Partnering with over 100 different community members in their first year of existence, intentional expansion and growth has led to a more engaged community. Learn how you can expand within your school and district and imple-ment a new way of “doing school.”

Presenters: Julie Dumke, Richard Leib, & Brad Weber, Communities School at Oshkosh North

Leadership and Professional DevelopmentLeading the Way: Transforming Cincinnati Schools into Community Learning Centers BLocation: 206

Cincinnati’s Community Learning Centers (CLC) award-winning model is the result of school and community leaders who had a vision for change that would unite the district and community in the effort to improve schools and transform communities. This panel of school and community leaders will share their story and specific strategies that can be repli cated in your own school district and community.

Presenters: Mary Ronan, Cincinnati Public Schools; Kathy Merchant, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation; & Patricia Nagelkirk, United Way of Greater Cincinnati

Multi-Site Community School InitiativesConnecting the Business Community to Schools One Classroom at a Time BLocation: 262

Adopt A Class Foundation (Cincinnati, OH) facilitates personal, sustained connections between members of the business community and civic groups and students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade in Title 1 schools. These mentorship connec-tions provide students with positive role models,

introduce them to career possibilities, and help de-velop social and emotional skills for students to take into the future workplace. Learn how the combined power of these connections, forged one classroom at a time, can change your community.

Presenter: Katie Burroughs, Adopt A Class Foundation; Rick Chouteau, Paycor / Adopt a Class Foundation Board; & Jill Smith, Cincinnati Community Learning Institute, Academy of World Languages

Learning from Each Other: Creating a Cross Agency Professional Learning CommunityLocation: 237

Want to foster a community of cross boundary learn-ing and leadership? Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) has created a community schools profes-sional learning community that crosses agency and funding streams. Learn how OUSD has brought together organizations and individuals to move towards implementation of a cohesive community school model.

Presenters: Andrea Bustamante & Mara Larsen-Flem-ing, Oakland Unified School District

Passport to Community Schools: Travel the Indy Experience in Family/School/Community EngagementLocation: 250

Experience a hands-on group adventure as you “trav-el” to discover best practices in equity-based family, youth, and community engagement, university-as-sisted support, results-based vision, and data and evaluation. Hear from school leaders throughout Indianapolis school communities about best prac-tices from the Circle City and its 20 years of diverse community schools work. You will leave with practi-cal ideas to adapt for your own local work. Have your passports ready!

Presenters: Elizabeth Odle, Bridges To Success; Jim Grim, Tamika Riggs, and Ann Kreicker, Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center/George Washington Community High School; Mary Studley & Nicole Oglesby, Mar-tindale Brightwood Alliance for Educational Success; Jacqueline Garvey, The Indiana Center for Family, School and Community Partnerships; & Starla Officer & Monica Medina, Indiana University-Purdue University


Session II - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)Pipeline to Prosperity “Equity, Excellence, and Educational Effectiveness”Location: 207

Vallejo City Unified School District (VCUSD) Super-intendent Dr. Ramona Bishop has created a pipeline to prosperity through her vision for a full-service community school district. Engage in a discussion about her leadership decisions and the connections between equity, excellence, and educational effec-tiveness, with a keen focus on the critical connection to community voice and partnerships. Explore the ways we can create a positive school environment for all students, while also addressing the social chal-lenges students face and enabling them to flourish in school systems that have historically failed.

Presenters: Dr. Ramona Bishop & Dr. Alana J. Shack-elford, Vallejo City Unified School District & Kindra Montgomery-Block & Bel Reyes, School of Education - CRESS Center

Scaling Up: A Community School District’s ExampleLocation: 211

Union Public Schools is committed to ensuring equi-table access to community schools at all levels of ed-ucation- early childhood, elementary, and secondary. We believe that every school has the potential to be a community school. Hear from educators through-out Union Public Schools about their journey to becoming a district that embraces the community schools model for all of its students.

Presenters: Tamra Bird & Theresa Kiger, Union Public Schools

Neighborhood and Community RevitalizationConnecting the Dots: Aligning Multiple Initiatives to Improve Outcomes for Louisville YouthLocation: 209

Explore how leaders in Louisville, KY are working to align out-of-school time and school efforts to link the city’s ambitious goals across age spans, from 3rd grade reading to postsecondary completion. Attendees will hear about successes and pitfalls and learn basic strategies on how to better connect all learning environments in their communities.

Presenters: Larry Pasti, The Forum for Youth Invest-ment; Karen Napier, Metro United Way

Promesa Boyle Heights: Building Success TogetherLocation: 234

Promesa Boyle Heights is a collaborative of organi-zations, schools, and institutions working together to transform a thirty-block area in the Eastside of LA. Learn about its collective-impact model, including the collaborative’s grassroots governance and com-munity-school structures.

Presenters: Maria Brenes, InnerCity Struggle; Gloria Gutierrez, East LA Community Corporation; Deycy Hernandez, Promesa Boyle Heights; & Xochitl Luna, Communities in Schools

Putting the Public Back in Public Education through Genuine Community Engagement KLocation: 205

Genuine community engagement and governance at the school-community level is the critical foun-dation for the transformation of public education that can be embraced by the public. Discover and trace the development of the policy and processes for community engagement from community-wide conversations to neighborhood by neighborhood planning to ongoing engagement.

Presenters: Darlene Kamine, Community Learning Cen-ter Institute; Calista H. Smith, CH Smith & Associates, LLC; & TJ Smith, Mt. Airy Community Learning Center

Opportunities and Supports in Community SchoolsAttendance Improvement: Presenting “A Do It Together” Toolkit for Community Schools

Location: 200Chronic absence is a proven early warning sign of academic risk and an easily understood and readily measured goal that can help unify and validate the contributions of multiple stakeholders. Learn about tools to help you engage partners in addressing chronic absence and use it to drive planning and action. Presenters: Hedy Chang, Attendance Works & Sarah Jonas & Abe Fernandez, The Children’s Aid Society


Session II - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)BAM: Addressing the Social-Emotional Needs of Marginalized YouthLocation: 202

Youth Guidance was invited to the White House twice this year to highlight an evidence-based behavioral intervention program called Becoming a Man (B.A.M.). A randomized controlled trial, in partnership with the University of Chicago Crime Lab, demonstrated significant reduction in violent crime arrests, weapons crime, vandalism, and the likelihood of engaging juvenile justice. The re-search-grounded model also showed that the grad-uation rate of participants increased by as much as 23%. These promising results led Youth Guidance to infuse performance-driven behavioral supports such as B.A.M. and Working on Womanhood (W.O.W.) into their Community Schools and Workforce Devel-opment programming. Learn how to develop this integrated model, avoid some of the recognized challenges, and continue to leverage resources to-ward student success.Presenters: Kathryn Rice, Jeannine Chester, & Juan Alegria, Youth Guidance

Engaging Parents in an Intentional Way: An Inside Look at Rothenberg Preparatory Academy B

Location: 201

What is the key to truly engaging parents in their child’s education? Beech Acres Parenting Center’s “Intentional, Mindful and Strength-based Parenting Model” has the answer and provides clear framework for schools looking to increase parent engagement involvement. Hear how the Rothenberg Preparatory Academy boosted its parent engagement and the impact it’s had directly from the parents themselves.

Presenters: Barbara Bell, Jill Huynh, Jennifer Wikette, & Mary Flagg, Beech Acres Parenting Center

Improving Health Access in Oakland through a Cross-Agency Central Family Resource Center

Location: 235

How can providers across sectors partner together to streamline, strengthen, and sustain family access to critical wellness supports like health insurance,

medical care, food, housing, legal assistance, and other basic need services? Highlighting the story, design, and successful practices of the Central Family Resource Center at the Oakland Unified School District, participants will be provided with strategies and tools for building cross-sector partnerships that support school-based access to supports that fami-lies need to help their students be healthy, well, and successful in school.

Presenters: Eliza Schiffrin, East Bay Agency for Children& Jessica Woodward, Alameda County Center for Healthy Schools and Communities

People of the Word: Culturally-Grounded Literacy Development in a Collaborative Context

Location: 261Rich traditions of language, literature, and culture reside in communities of color, yet effective reading instruction remains a struggle in urban classrooms serving these communities. Explore how a powerful literacy campaign model engages families, commu-nity partners, teachers and children to select chil-dren’s books that reflect community experience and share the richness of that literature in settings inside and outside of school.

Presenters: Peter C. Murrell & Jessica Strauss, Alliance for Community Teachers and Schools (ACTS)

Promoting Health, Nutrition, and Fitness through University-Assisted Community Schools

Location: 251

According to the 2000 census, neighborhoods in West Philadelphia rank among the poorest urban communities in the U.S., lacking basic resources such as grocery stores and suffering from disproportion-ately high rates of diet-related disease. Discover how the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative has used uni-versity and other local resources to enhance health, nutrition, and fitness programming in community schools across West Philadelphia.

Presenters: Folasshade Laud-Hammond, Jettie Newkirk, Esq., & Jarrett Stein, Netter Center for Com-munity Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania


Session II - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)RAMP’n Up for Work: Career-Focused Mentoring & Community Partnerships

Location: 212Career-focused mentoring provides career infor-mation and workplace experiences to all youth. Through post-secondary, employer, and local pro-gram partnerships, community schools can promote equal opportunity, career exposure, and high as-pirations. Come hear success stories and strategies from a national multi-site program, share your own effective approaches, and receive a free guide to use in your communities.

Presenter: Eric Cline, Institute for Educational Leader-ship

Setting the Standard: Integrating CORE Academic Standards into Expanded Learning Opportunities

Location: 236

Discover practical strategies and tools that you can use to integrate local and Common Core standards in your school, while using data to inform program-ming, strengthen relationships, and expand learning to support all youth.

Presenters: Fausto Lopez & Jessica Newman, American Institutes for Research

The Community Learning Center as a Hub for an Internationally Diverse Community B

Location: 252

Through a comprehensive community engagement process, the Roberts Academy school-community team created a neighborhood hub that connects the school to the neighborhood revitalization effort. Learn about the Roberts Academy’s vision and plan to become not only an excellent academic program but also a magnet to attract new families to the area and enhance the quality of life for all.

Presenters: Tracy Power, Roberts Academy Communi-ty Learning Center; Daniel Minera, Cincinnati Public Schools; Luz Elena Schemmel, Santa Maria’s Interna-tional Welcome Center; Lisa Garofalo, 4C for Children; & Pam Bowers, Ready to Learn- Central Clinic

The POWER of Strategic Community Collaboration for the Success of OUR KidsLocation: 238

Collaborative work starts and ends with the commu-nity. Share and discuss the importance of collabora-tion between local universities, schools, community organizations and community members. Presenters will outline and highlight the strategic work of a university, elementary school, afterschool program, and community partners to support and envelop students and families.

Presenters: Wilisha G. Scaife, Dr. Patricia Clark, & Dr. Eva Zygmunt, Ball State University

Results, Data, and EvaluationCommunity Achieves: Integrating Evaluation Strategies into an Outcomes-Driven Approach to Scaling Up Community SchoolsLocation: 210

Want to hear from people in the process of scal-ing up community schools? Metro Nashville Public Schools have moved from planning to implemen-tation in its third year of scaling up community schools. Learn about their comprehensive evaluation model that allows schools to be responsive to the needs of their school community while utilizing an outcome driven approach to coordinate partners.

Presenters: Alison McArthur, Metro Nashville Public Schools & Kelly Noser, Noser Consulting

Dutch community schools: Equal Opportunities for All ChildrenLocation: 231Dutch research on community schools shows that they succeed in reaching students most in need of additional support and opportunities. Come discuss these and other findings from the perspective of ed-ucators and researchers outside the US. Which issues do we share and which solutions can we continue to explore? How can we learn from and reinforce each other?

Presenters: Dr. Johanna H. Kruiter, Oberon Research Agency; Dr. Jeannette Doornenbal, Hanzehogeschool Groningen; & Job van Velsen, Landelijk Steunpunt Bre-de Scholen (Dutch Coalition for Community Schools)


Special Populations Facing InequitiesEmbedding Equity into the Consciousness and Practice of Community SchoolsLocation: 204

Discover how community schools can serve as a strategy to deepen and accelerate a school district’s racial equity work. You will have the opportunity to explore your own racial consciousness and use that awareness to increase your efficacy in addressing racial inequality. And learn how this work can be linked to program design and implementation in your community school.

Presenter: Dunya Minoo, Portland Public Schools Learning English and Beyond: A Holistic Approach for Supporting English LearnersLocation: 230

Schools and out-of-school time programs across the country are experiencing an increase in English learners. It’s critical that educators get the support and training to understand the unique academic and socio-emotional needs of immigrant students and English learners. Come expand your definition of English learner success so we can appropriately address the socio-emotional needs of English learner students.

Presenter: Jhumpa Bhattacharya & Lissette Gomez, Development Without Limits

Youth and Community OrganizingCommunity Organizing 101Location: 260

Community organizing has secured every right that we have today, and it can create and sustain commu-nity schools as well. Learn what community orga-nizing is and how it differs from community service, what the essential ingredients of a community or-ganizing campaign are, and how you can work with community organizers to strengthen your schools and expand the movement.

Presenter: Ocynthia Williams, Coalition for Education-al Justice; Jitu Brown, Journey for Justice; & Bill Shie-bler, American Federation of Teachers

Eastside Stories: ELA Youth Organizing for a Better Tomorrow KLocation: 233

Want to engage youth to be the engine of change in their local communities? Learn how East Los Angeles Youth’s Esteban E. Torres Youth Mentorship Council empowers students to identify opportunities and develop cross-generational strategies that help break the cycles of high pushout rates, teen preg-nancy, and high poverty in the East LA community.

Presenters: Cristina Patricio, Los Angeles Education Partnership; Eduardo Estrada, Jayna Ramirez, & Laura Lazo, Esteban E. Torres High School

Session II - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)

High-Performing Community SchoolsThe Navigators’ Center at Kamaile Academy: What Is Your Canoe? KLocation: 204

The Navigators’ Center in Wai’anae, HI uses local traditions of Polynesian voyaging as the inspiration for serving 950 students at a local PreK-12 charter school. As a universal source of pride within a region bombarded by negative stereotypes, the traditional Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe and the act of voyaging itself ground the Center’s practic-es of utilizing community resources to support its

students’ academics, health and wellness, and com-munity connections. Participants will be guided in finding the “canoe” within their own communities to inspire efforts at future or developing community schools.

Presenters: Kenny Ferenchak & Isaiah Pule, The Nav-igators’ Center at Kamaile Academy Public Charter School

Session IIi - CONCURRENT WORKSHOPSThursday, April 10th, 3:45PM - 5:00PM


Session III - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)Using the Children’s Aid Society Community Schools Model to Enhance Learning for Children in Wales, UKLocation: 203

Educators from Wales share their journey of creating local community schools based on the Children’s Aid Society model. Hear how these schools have increased the academic achievement and well-being of children and families in Wales through a variety of in-school and community activities, including the Bangladeshi Learning Forum and the Families Learn-ing Signature projects.

Presenters: Colin Skinner, Roath Park Primary Commu-nity School; Joe Cudd, Ysgol Y Maes Morfa; Lorraine Smith, Ysgol Gynradd Pencaerau Primary School; Helen Turner, Pencaerau Primary School; & Lindsey Watkins, Millbrook Primary School

Leadership and Professional DevelopmentMulti-Jurisdictional Community Schools Partnership: Building True Collaboration across Large OrganizationsLocation: 205

Engaging leaders across a community to build true collaboration for a community school initiative takes time, energy and commitment. Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Community Schools in Mult-nomah County, Oregon has successfully deepened partnerships and support to expand to 70 commu-nity schools. Dive into SUN’s key strategies for school success and engage in a dialogue about developing cross-sector collaboration.

Presenters: Bill Scott, SUN Community Schools; Lolenzo Poe, Portland Public Schools; & Brian Detman, Mult-nomah County Chair’s Office

Multi-Site Community School Initiatives4-D PD: Creating a Framework for Developmental Capacity-BuildingLocation: 210

A systemic community school initiative requires con-tinuous development of excellent people in many diverse roles. The Alliance for Community Teachers and Schools will present a draft capacity-building framework based on the National Center for Com-munity School’s Stages of Development and seek input on its 4-dimensional, developmental approach

to community school excellence.

Presenters: Jessica Strauss & Lisa Bleich, Alliance for Community Teachers and Schools (ACTS) A Commitment to Equity: Elev8 in ActionLocation: 201

Working in diverse, low-income communities around the country, the Elev8 initiative provides important lessons on overcoming inequities to give all students access to a good education. Come explore strate-gies that have effectively broken down barriers to give students and families health care, educational enrichment, and support services and learn how to implement these strategies in your own community.

Presenters: Chris Brown, Elev8 Chicago; Mark Carter, Elev8 Baltimore; Frank Mirabal, Youth Development Inc.; & Nina Moreno, Elev8 Oakland

A Year at a Glance: Successes and Challenges of a Multi-Site Community School Initiative from the Site, Intermediary, and School District’s PerspectivesLocation: 250

To address the inequity experienced by so many lo-cal children and their families, Toledo Public Schools and the United Way of Greater Toledo, along with a multitude of other partners, brought the Schools as Community Hubs initiative into fruition. Come learn about this multi-site, multi-partner initiative from those on the ground as well as in the central office.

Presenters: Angeline Lee, United Way of Greater Toledo & James Gault, Toledo Public Schools

Building a Community Healthcare Coalition to Build Capacity for Community Learning Center Partnerships BLocation: 262

Community schools are surrounded by a variety of health providers working in their respective silos to care for children, but too often there is limited coor-dination between these providers. Listen and share success stories about building partnerships with healthcare organizations to create patient-centered care based around community schools.

Presenter: Paul Rudolph, Growing Well & Dr. Lisa Ru-dolph, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Junior League of Cincinnati


Session III - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued) The School Based Mental Health Network: Part-nering with Cincinnati Public School’s Communi-ty Learning Centers BLocation: 200

MindPeace and the School Based Mental Health Network work together to help children with men-tal health challenges and their families through the expansion and improvement of sustainable school-based mental health partnerships across Cincinnati Public Schools. Learn about this collaborative part-nership and how it is meeting its commitment of helping to meet critical mental health needs through the Community Learning Center model.

Presenters: Susan Shelton, MindPeace & Carolyn Jones, JOURNEY to Successful Living

Neighborhood and Community RevitalizationBuilding HOPELocation: 209

Dive in and explore the New Highland Academy and Rise Community School Family Resource Center (FRC) in Oakland, CA. The FRC acts as a community hub and source of healing, economic development, and community engagement in a neighborhood im-pacted by crime, violence and poverty. Walk through the Center’s needs assessment and planning process, the implementation period and its ongoing evolu-tion from the perspective of those on the ground.

Presenters: Susan P. Andrien & Annabella Flores, Lin-coln Child Center

University-Assisted Community Schools’ “Place” in Equitable Comprehensive School ImprovementLocation: 212

The community school is one framework for estab-lishing comprehensive school improvement efforts given its ability to transform both academic perfor-mance and social-emotional learning. Many com-munity school efforts link school reform and neigh-borhood transformation by positioning the school as an active, progressive neighborhood-rooted institution. How does this linkage actually happen? Presenters will explain this phenomenon and show participants paths to achieving this important link.

Presenter: Gavin Luter, Center for Urban Studies- Uni-versity at Buffalo, State University of New York

Opportunities and Supports in Community SchoolsAddressing Chronic Absence: Community Schools as an Equity StrategyLocation: 251

Want to consider how to use the community school strategy to develop and implement a chronic ab-sence initiative? Explore and take away effective practices, lessons, and ideas for strategies addressing chronic absence to implement in your own commu-nity.

Presenters: Jorge Cruz, Metropolitan Family Services; Frances Hall, Neighborhood House; & Florence Proto-papas, David Douglas School District

Aligning PEEPS® & PhD’s in Purposeful Partnership: How Corporations and Higher Ed Institutions Support

Community SchoolsLocation: 252

Find out how United Ways can help you engage corporations and higher education institutions in community schools as catalysts to transform com-munities, leverage additional resources, and further demonstrate the win-win of this model to school district leadership.

Presenters: Jill Pereira, Director, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley; Vivian Robledo-Shorey, Beth-lehem Area School District; Matthew J. Pye, Just Born Quality Confections; & Alicia Creazzo, Broughal Middle School, Lehigh University

Connecting School and Community through the Rebirth of the School Newspaper B K

Location: 236When Oyler teachers Justin Leach and Sandra Smythe were asked to resuscitate the Oyler student newspaper—Oyler Griffin—they envisioned a pub-lication that would give students an instrument for school pride and a conduit for the surrounding com-munity to learn about the school and the Commu-nity Learning Center. Two years later, the newspaper has achieved this goal. Hear from Oyler students and advisors about the techniques and results that have brought both local and national recognition to the Griffin.

Presenters: Sandy Smythe & Student Staff, Oyler Griffin & Justin Leach, Oyler Community Learning Center


Session III - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued) Driving a Successful Partnership with an

Urban Full-Service Community SchoolLocation: 207

This workshop provides an overview of the partner-ship and collaborative resources generated between Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and George Washington Community High School that harnesses undergraduate research by teachers in training to address and improve issues in education.

Presenters: Vicki L. Bonds & Monica A. Medina, Indi-ana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

It’s All About Relationships: Voices of Community School Coordinators Location: 233

This session will present the results of community school coordinator interviews that covered a variety of topics including family engagement, prerequisites for being a successful coordinator, the meanings they make of their roles, and strategies they use to build and maintain collaborative relationships in and outside the school. Session participants will be en-couraged to share reactions, experiences, and ideas about these and related topics.

Presenters: Erika C. VanDyke, Kristen J. Mills, & KSSN Community School Coordinators, Kent Schools Services Network

Learning Happens Any Place, Any Time: ELO’s in Action Location: 231

The skills young people need to be successful after high school are complex, and learning experiences in school alone are not sufficient to prepare them for their future. Expanded Learning Opportunities in Providence allow youth to earn graduation credit for learning that takes place beyond the traditional classroom. Discover how you can implement similar opportunities in your community.

Presenters: Alex Molina & Jackie O’Hara, Providence After School Alliance

Schools need HEROES: A Health InitiativeLocation: 261

Learn how to implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Coordinated School Health model within your district. Highlights will include how a public school district collaborates with a community based organization to change the culture of the school community to improve the well-being of its students and families.

Presenters: Rhonda Meade, The HEROES Initiative, Welborn Baptist Foundation & Linda Lutz, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation

Strategies for Developing College-Going Cultures in High-Poverty High SchoolsLocation: 232

Examine multiple college access strategies and lessons being learned at university-assisted com-munity schools in Indianapolis, Miami, Philadelphia, and Tulsa. Each partnership works with predomi-nately African-America or Latino school populations to increase high school graduations rates and help develop college-going cultures. Learn how to em-bed this work in your school and higher education community.

Presenters: Dr. Maria Lovett, College of Education- Flor-ida International University; Rick Roach, Tulsa Commu-nity College; & Starla Officer, Neighborhood Partner-ship Midwest Center for University-Assisted Community Schools

The Life-Enhancing Benefits of Reading in Out of School Programs Location: 260

In our dynamic, fast-paced world, students will succeed to the extent they are proficient readers who can comprehend a wide range of demanding texts. Out-of-school time programs are in a position to provide students with access to a wide variety of reading materials, such as books, magazines, comic books, blogs, and fan sites. Learn how to create a lit-eracy rich environment in your after school/summer program and how it impacts student achievement.

Presenter: Nicole Bosworth, Scholastic Classroom and Community Group


Session III - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)The New American Summer: Addressing the Summer Reading Slide

Location: 237

Students face a “summer reading slide,” and studies show that access to books during the summer can prevent a drastic loss in students’ reading skills, espe-cially for kids in need. Discover how a community—its mayor, libraries, teachers union, and a national partner—organized to address summer reading loss in Kansas City.

Presenters: Brent Schondelmeyer, Local Investment Commission (LINC); Shannon Burke-Kranzberg, First-Book; Paul York, J.A. Rogers Elementary - Kansas City Public Schools

Results, Data, and EvaluationAssessing Implementation Quality to Address Educational InequityLocation: 206

The Chicago Public Schools Community Schools Initiative developed a Self-Assessment Quality Improvement Rubric for Chicago community school personnel to assess, and consequently improve, their community school implementation quality. Present-ers will share this tool and facilitate discussion of community school implementation specifically as it relates to educational inequity.

Presenters: Adeline Ray, Chicago Public Schools; Neil Naftzger, American Institutes for Research; & Dan Die-hl, Diehl Evaluation and Consulting Services, Inc.

Creative Ways to Solicit Youth INputLocation: 230

Break out of the survey box! There’s more than one way to learn what youth think, care about, want to do, or have learned in your program. So why not use them? In this session, participants will learn about verbal, kinesthetic, and visual ways to solicit young people’s input through hands-on practice and review of Public Profit’s comprehensive implementa-tion manual for youth work professionals.

Presenters: Corey Newhouse, Public Profit

Special Populations Facing InequitiesCircus Arts as a Method for Healing Trauma in ChildrenLocation: 238

Children from racially diverse and economically dis-advantaged school populations often have traumat-ic experiences that directly impact their ability to be successful in the traditional classroom. The Pond Gap University-Assisted Community School (UACS) Circus Arts program uses circus learning to address these inequities and increase student success. Circus Arts programs can offer valuable tools for all children, giving them a chance to learn new skills in an atmo-sphere that encourages each person’s best work, requires concentration and persistence, and builds self-confidence, trust, and teamwork.

Presenters: Lissa McLeod & Jake Weinstein, Pond Gap

School is for SELF: Safety, Emotions, Learning, and FamilyLocation: 235

Families living in poverty often experience high stress and intermittent traumatic events. Lack of understanding of the physiological impact of toxic stress compounds existing inequities and widens the gulf between school personnel and families. Learn and discuss trauma-informed culturally responsive approaches to enhance family engagement and student performance in your community.

Presenters: Dr. Lisa V. Blitz, Binghamton University- Center for Family, School, and Community Partner-ships; Luann Kida & Carla Murray, Broome Co Promise Zone

Success not just Access: Helping Students and Families Navigate the Yellow Brick Road to Post-Secondary EducationLocation: 211

For many of our most vulnerable students and families access to higher education seems a faraway dream. Hear from Indianapolis coordinators who are making that dream a reality in their community. Take away practical strategies to help familiarize students and families with the tools necessary to succeed in the unchartered world of higher education. Discus-sions will center on FASFA, scholarships, campus vis-its, and practical student and family programs from


5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Dont miss this opportunity to explore the entire Center and enjoy a light reception.

Don’t forget to take advatnage of the retuarants near by. Check out the “badge club” restuarants/bars for deals just for our group. Just show your name badge!

50 East Freedom WayCincinnati, Ohio 45202

(Approximately Half a Mile)

�Turn Right out of the convention center (toward hotels) �Turn left on 5th Ave � Turn right on Vine Street (continue onto Rosa Parks Street) �Turn left on East Freedom Way

elementary through post-secondary education.

Presenters: Ann Kreicker & Kathi Dee, Indianapolis Public School #46/ Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center & Kharmin Dixon, IPS School #49/Mary Rigg Neighbor-hood Center

Supportive Policy and FundingLinking Health and Education to Change Lives and Achieve EquityLocation: 234

Since 1996, the Center for Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC) has worked to improve health and education outcomes for Alameda County youth. In partnership with Oakland Unified School District, CHSC has developed the Alameda County Communi-ty Schools framework as a comprehensive approach to transform Alameda County public schools into centers of community. Explore how the CHSC-OUSD partnership supports the development, scaling up, and sustainability of community schools in Oakland.

Presenters: Jamie Harris, Center for Healthy Schools and Communities; & Curtiss Sarikey & Andrea Busta-mante, Oakland Unified School District

Youth and Community OrganizingREACH Youth Center: Creating a Culture of Safety, Belonging, and PossibilityLocation: 202

What does it take to meaningfully engage young people as change agents in their own lives, schools, and communities? Come hear about the youth-adult partnerships that led to the creation of the transfor-mational REACH Youth Center in San Leandro, CA. Explore how its innovative youth-centered programs integrate health and wellness, youth leadership, and social justice.

Presenters: Robin Noel Morales & Lamont Thompson, REACH Ashland Youth Center

Relational Power and Community OrganizingLocation: 208

Education organizing works to build the power of families, youth, and community members to shift the traditional paradigm positioning them as clients and consumers to a new paradigm in which they are engaged actors and key decision-makers for schools. This shift requires a sharing of power with constitu-encies that have historically not had a seat at the de-cision-making table and a rethinking of the way we traditionally understand how power works. Building on the idea of “relational power,” challenge yourself to envision the overall decision-making structures and leadership of your change efforts through an organizing lens.

Presenter: Keith Catone, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University

Session III - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)

Join us this evening at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center!


High-Performing Community SchoolsRe-imagining Schools: Expanded Learning Time and Community SchoolsLocation: 210

High-quality expanded learning time (ELT) enables schools to re-imagine the way time is used, just as community schools use strong partnerships to re-imagine the purpose of a school. Hear how an ELT school is using the community schools model to pro-vide support services for students and their families.

Presenters: Emily Raine, National Center on Time & Learning & Harry Potter and Lori Jodoin, Matthew J. Kuss Middle School

The Oyler Story: A National Model for Transformation through the Community Learning Center ModelLocation: 238

Learn from one of the most widely-recognized and successful community learning center leaders, the former principal of Oyler School who launched the nationally acclaimed community learning center in a distressed urban Appalachian neighborhood. Now the Superintendent of a rural school district, Craig Hockenberry will trace the journey of the develop-ment of Oyler as a community learning center from the perspective of a school administrator. Discuss the rationale, process, and benefits of genuine engagement with the community and hear tips for creating a committed “village” of more than 600 part-ners and volunteers, which was featured in a year-long piece on National Public Radio’s Marketplace.

Presenter: Craig Hockenberry, Manchester Local Schools (Adams County, OH)

Tips for Engaging with Colleges and UniversitiesLocation: 204

How do I determine which campus contact is the best fit for me? What else should I consider related to my school-community needs and how to best partner with a campus? How do I connect with faculty in a productive way? Get the answer to these questions from experienced school-community and university campus professionals and gather ideas for connecting with colleges and universities to meet your school improvement and engagement goals.

Presenters: Jim Grim, George Washington Community School; Starla Officer and Monica Medina, Midwest Center for University-Assisted Community Schools; & Nicole Oglesby, Martindale Brightwood Alliance for Educational Success

Leadership and Professional DevelopmentSite Based Governance of Cincinnati Community Learning Centers BLocation: 206

Engage in a practical discussion of what it means to have site-based governance of a community learn-ing center. Explore how it works and how to make it happen for your community school.

Presenter: Ruth Anne Wolfe, Ridge Montessori Commu-nity Learning Center

Multi-Site Community School InitiativesBecoming a Promise Neighborhood Full-Service Community SchoolLocation: 230

Explore the Youth Policy Institute’s (YPI) strategies to strengthen partnerships amongst charter, public, comprehensive, and pilot Schools within its Promise Neighborhood. YPI employs strategies to deepen collective efforts within 19 school sites to improve program effectiveness and provide high quality in-struction. Presenters will provide examples of what collaboration looks like and how it can be achieved.

Presenters: Karina Favela Barreras and Yvette King-Berg, Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood, YPI & Paul Hirsch, Principal, STEM Academy

Session IV - CONCURRENT WORKSHOPSFriday, April 11, 8:30AM - 9:45AM

Community Schools Superintendent Leadership Network

(Invitation Only)

Time: 8:00AM - 10:30AM

Location: Room 260


Session IV - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)Building Community Partnerships to Develop a County-Wide System of Community Schools

Location: 200

Learn about the partnership efforts of three major institutions—a state university, county department of mental health, and a system of school districts—in developing a county-wide system of community schools. Participants will take away strategies they can adapt in their own urban, suburban and rural communities.

Presenters: Laura Bronstein, College of Communi-ty and Public Affairs - Binghamton University; Katie Cusano, Broome County Department of Mental Health; Kathy Sheehan, Broome-Tioga BOCES; & Luann Kida and Melinda Kmetz, Broome County Promise Zone

Neighborhood and Community RevitalizationUnited Ways: Collective Impact through Community SchoolsLocation: 212

United Ways across the country are investing in com-munity schools. They play roles of funder, mobilizer, trainer, evaluator, champion, connector, strategy partner and messenger in efforts to help create col-lective impact in public education and our commu-nities. Find the best angle to effectively engage your United Way in Community Schools!

Presenters: Jill Pereira, Director, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley; Angeline Lee, United Way of Greater Toledo; & Sandra Mahoney, United Way of Long Island

Opportunities and Supports in Community SchoolsAligning Community Schools and Expanded Learning Opportunities toward a Shared Vision

Location: 233

Learning opportunities beyond the school day are an integral part of the broader system of supports that community schools offer. By strategically align-ing resources, community schools and expanded learning providers can work towards achieving shared goals for students and target those most in need. Hear from education and youth development leaders from Baltimore, MD, California’s Bay Area, and Hartford, CT on how community schools and ex-panded learning programs are partnering to achieve

student success.

Presenters: Jonathon Rondeau and Julia Baez, Family League of Baltimore; Jennifer Peck, Partnership for Children and Youth; & Charlene Perez, Hartford Com-munity Schools

Both/And, Not Either/Or: Collective Impact and Community Schools Location: 235

Collective Impact and Community Schools do not have to be mutually exclusive strategies. When com-bined, they have an amplifying effect on the ability to organize and coordinate resources to meet the comprehensive needs of children, families, and com-munities. This session will highlight the approach underway in New York State to build effective, sus-tainable and informed partnerships at multiple levels by aligning community schools and cradle-to-career initiatives.

Presenters: Yolanda McBride & Abe Fernández, The Children’s Aid Society; Elizabeth Clay Roy, Phipps Neighborhoods; Amanda Curley, Yonkers Public Schools; Vanessa Threatte, NYS Cradle to Career Alli-ance & Lorelei Vargas, ANDRUS

Creating High-Quality School-Community Partnerships for Expanded Learning Opportunities

Location: 236

High-quality school-community partnerships are necessary for high-quality expanded learning pro-grams. Learn how to develop strong relationships with schools and/or community partners, and how to work jointly to design and improve an expanded learning program.

Presenter: Nora Niedzielski-Eichner, New York State Afterschool Network

Creative Communities: Using the Arts to Build Relationships and Engagement in Schools

Location: 208

The arts and creativity can be a powerful tool for building a collaborative school culture. Dive into strategies for developing effective community arts-based partnerships, increasing parent engagement and youth leadership, and using the arts as a catalyst


Session IV - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)to expand community partner networks. Learn how to work with schools to integrate creativity into the classroom culture so that all students excel.

Presenter: Ryan Hurley, Arts @ Large

Early Childhood Networks: Using the Community Learning Center to Support School Readiness B

Location: 201

Formal relationships between community-based early childhood programs and local schools, called Early Childhood Networks (ECN), can be an import-ant agent in supporting school readiness. These networks maximize the use of existing services while exploring opportunities for the delivery of additional services, such as parent education and kindergarten transition programs. Explore how ECNs are making an impact in nine Cincinnati Public School commu-nities.

Presenters: Lisa Garofalo, 4C for Children; Patricia Gleason and Tracy Power, Cincinnati Early Learning Centers, Inc.; & Pamela Knox, John P. Parker School

Engaging All Students in Blended Learning ExperiencesLocation: 237

Participate in a blended rotational classroom that utilizes technology to enhance and differentiate the experience for all students. Learn how a program is providing all students with 40 days of college and career intensive courses based on their individual in-terests through a unique community school model. Take home usable education strategies that can be incorporated into your community school setting.

Presenters: Jon Reinhard, Chad Cookinham, and Marcia Kish, Generation Schools Network & Amanda Novak, West Generation Academy

From Vision to Action: Engaging Families at the Start Location: 232

Engage in meaningful dialogue about the most common barriers to consistent parent involvement, and learn strategies to foster family-driven change. Participants will take away skills to engage families, create developmental pathways to support parent learning about their children, and explore tiered levels of parent engagement. The workshop will

also highlight current research on the importance of parent engagement for the student.

Presenters: Katie Kuhl, Parent Services Project & Della Ezell and Juan Alegria, Youth Guidance

Keiki Steps: A Parent Empowerment Early Education Program Location: 251

Today Native Hawaiians have the worst statistics in education, prison, health, and well-being in Ha-waii. This story is not unlike many communities of color across America—communities with assets that aren’t necessarily understood or tapped into by mainstream education. Keiki Steps is a parent empowerment model of early childhood education that combats those statistics and honors the assets of community. Learn about its successes in teaching parents how to navigate the K-12 system and advo-cate for their children.

Presenter: Dr. C. Kanoelani Naone, Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE)

Making, Managing, and Refining School Program Partnerships (K-12)

Location: 203

Community Learning Schools work when the right partners work with a school to move it in the right direction. This workshop will draw on case studies from New York City Community Learning schools that illustrate best practices for identifying a good program partner, structuring the relationship, man-aging expectations, enrolling the right students and families, and assessing progress and impact.

Presenters: Karen Alford, Elementary Schools, United Federation of Teachers; Dane Martinez, Harlem RBI / Real Kids; Sophie Aponte & Norma Ortega, PS18X; Brenda Shufelt & Shell Lewis, PS30M; Dominique Jones, Food Bank for New York City; & Reverend Matt Heyd, The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest

Partnership-Driven Attendance Intervention Programs Location: 207

A partnership among a school corporation, the juve-nile judge and probation officers, law enforcement, and the county’s child services department can work to change a culture of excessive absences and tardi-


Session IV - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)ness through carefully designed and implemented tiered interventions. Learn to design and implement a collaborative community partnership to improve school attendance and promptness for students in kindergarten through high school.

Presenters: Marcia Staser, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation; Brett Niemeier, Vanderburgh Superior Court Juvenile & Probate; & Shirley Starks, Vanderburgh County Indiana Dept. of Child Services

Successful Transitions Are Critical to Student SuccessLocation: 234

Why is “transition planning” important and relevant to student success? Come participate in an activity and discussion that demonstrates how experiential learning activities help prepare students for difficult transitions as they move from one grade to the next and from one school to the next. And learn how you can implement these activities in your own school.

Presenters: Dr. Diane Hensley & Dr. Carrie Taylor, Tulsa Public Schools & Paul Thomas, Kendall-Whittier Elementary, TPS

Results, Data, and EvaluationTransforming Schools through Cross-System Collaboration in the United StatesLocation: 209

Examine the extent to which the passage of No Child Left Behind (2001) has influenced the adoption of cross-system collaboration and data collection vis–à–vis full service community schools in the Unit-ed States during the past decade. Discuss the experi-ences of one community as it transformed it schools through collaboration and partnerships.

Presenter: Jeffrey A. Anderson, Indiana University

Using School Data to Leverage Partnerships, Align Efforts, and Maximize Impact B Location: 205Community Learning Centers (CLC) are nationally recognized community hubs that offer academic support and resources to students, families, and neighborhoods through strategic and targeted coordination. Learn about the innovative data-fo-cused process and evaluation tool that supports the success and continuous improvement of this

award-winning model and how key stakeholders can better align, integrate, and support these tools for continued success.

Presenter: Sarah Trimble Oliver & Julie Doppler, Cin-cinnati Public Schools

Special Populations Facing InequitiesCommunity Schools: Responsive to Barriers of Homelessness and PovertyLocation: 211

The community schools strategy is more responsive to the needs of homeless children through its part-nerships between community organizations and schools. Unlike traditional schools, the Children’s Aid Society community schools bring in resources to improve the educational achievement of children by removing barriers brought on by poverty and home-lessness, such as high mobility, chronic absenteeism, and lower performance. Explore a local case study of implementation at a school in East Harlem and learn the best practices for assisting homeless youth to improve their educational future.

Presenters: Janice Chu-Zhu, National Center for Com-munity Schools & Jeanette Then, PS/IS 50, The Chil-dren’s Aid Society

Supportive Policy and FundingDeveloping Community Schools Infrastructure through Supportive Federal Funding and PolicyLocation: 231

While community schools are by definition “local,” federal policy and funding streams can provide key support. From specific components, like school based health clinics and afterschool programs, to general coordination and infrastructure, get an update on education, healthcare and other federal legislation that can benefit your community school initiative.

Presenters: Erik Peterson, Afterschool Alliance; Lindsay Torrico, United Way Worldwide; & Kevin Lindsey, First Focus


Communications and AdvocacyCrafting Your MessageLocation: 207

A Learning First Alliance review of opinion data reveals what messages resonate with the general public when it comes to public education. Learn what to say and what not to say, and begin develop-ing a message map to guide communication efforts in building support for community schools.

Presenter: Anne O’Brien, Learning First Alliance

High-Performing Community SchoolsPowerful Partnerships at Community SchoolsLocation: 203

The community school model is based on shared leadership and partnership. By having strong part-nerships with folks at your site, you can build the

basis for a thriving community school. Come learn how Taft’s partnership with extended day learning has helped to establish a strong community school in the heart of Redwood City, CA.

Presenters: Esmeralda Martin & Jose Gonzalez, Taft Community School

Leadership and Professional DevelopmentA Day in the Life of a Resource Coordinator: Leading Down Multiple PathsLocation: 201

Resource coordinators serve a vital role in the suc-cess and forward progress of community schools. RC’s are responsible for leading and working in the community and side by side with school personnel, students, parents, church based leaders, business professionals and social service agencies. Discuss

Session IV - Concurrent WorkshopS (Continued)Youth and Community Organizing

The Impact of Community Engagement on the Start-up of a Community Schools InitiativeLocation: 202This year the Detroit metropolitan area will roll out 24 community school sites across Detroit Public Schools, the Educational Achievement Authority (EAA) and 2 Charter Schools. Understand and ex-plore the importance of community engagement at three levels: leadership (macro), community agen-cies (intermediate), and community residents (grass-roots). And create an action plan to start a communi-ty schools initiative in your community.

Presenters: Ines De Jesus & Donna Cielma, Southwest Counseling Solutions

Transforming Low Performing Schools: Campaign and Organizing Strategies for a Community SchoolLocation: 250

The Community Coalition’s community-driven reform model is rooted in youth leadership, parent engagement, and cross-sector collaborations and

policy advocacy. Hear the story of John C. Fremont, one of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s low-est performing schools as a case study for develop-ing a community school model led by African-Amer-ican and Latina/o students and parents. Through effective organizing and campaign strategies, John C. Fremont has demonstrated that a low performing school can change and improve.

Presenters: Sandra Hamada & Miguel Dominguez, Community Coalition

Working with Elected Officials to Advocate for Community SchoolsLocation: 252

Support from elected officials can help make com-munity schools more sustainable for the long term. Discuss how to recruit elected officials to be partners and champions for community schools and use their influence to strengthen your schools.

Presenters: Megan Hester, Annenberg Institute for School Reform & Ronnette Summers, Coalition for Educational Justice

Session V - CONCURRENT WORKSHOPsFriday, April 11, 10:00AM - 11:15AM


Session V - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)the importance of the resource coordinator role and how it is pivotal in the guiding of your community school program.

Presenter: Mark Benson, University of Tennessee

Enhancing our Understanding of Culture by Identifying Assets in Urban Schools and CommunitiesLocation: 234

As urban schools experience persistent inequities in graduation rates, academic achievement, and school funding, teachers and school staff must become familiar with community assets to improve structural factors to bolster educational equality, forge effective school-community partnerships, and spur community involvement. Learn about an as-set-based community assessment tool designed to help you identify community resources, understand urban school culture, and introduce cultural relevant pedagogy in your school community.

Presenter: Monica Medina, Indiana University School of Education- Indianapolis

Hands-on Collaboration: We Can do Better!Location: 230

The centerpiece of successful community schools is successful collaborative leadership. How strong is your collaboration? How effective are its leaders? How can you make it better? In this workshop, par-ticipants will explore contributions they can make to improve their collaboration.

Presenters: Hank Rubin, Institute for Collaborative Leadership

Multi-Site Community School InitiativesCitizen Catalyst in an Urban District for LEED Schools KLocation: 200

Cincinnati Public Schools contended with deteriorat-ing and substandard facilities. And the Alliance for Leadership and Interconnection, a Cincinnati citizen catalyst organization, believed that CPS could raise the school performance expectations and outcomes of its students through state of the art LEED certified new schools. In 2003. The Alliance and CPS set out to accomplish this goal. Hear their journey of collab-

oration and partnerships to bring new resources to Cincinnati Public Schools.

Presenters: Ginny Frazier, Steve Schumacher, & Valda Karmo Freema, Alliance for Leadership & Interconnec-tion

Culture Shift: Can Nonprofits and Schools Really Work Together?Location: 202

A collaborative team of representatives from United Way of Greater New Haven and New Haven Public Schools share tools and strategies for communica-tion, collaboration, implementation and analysis of Boost!, the community schools model in New Ha-ven, CT. Real-life situations of teacher leaders and non-profit partners in various levels of Boost! Imple-mentation will be demonstrated, and participants will be given opportunities to practice collaboration and communication through the perspective of vari-ous stakeholders.

Presenters: Laoise King, United Way of Greater New Haven; Sue Weisselberg, New Haven Public Schools; Shelia Brantley, NHPS and Yale University

Neighborhood and Community RevitalizationCommunity Schools to Reduce ViolenceLocation: 211

When school violence exists, it deteriorates the qual-ity of education in our community schools. In a soci-ety with growing school violence, violence preven-tion and reduction is an important strategy. Learn about a method to address, reduce, and prevent violence in both your school and local community that rectifies inequities and provides a foundation for those who are marginalized.

Presenters: Monique Barling, Rebel with a Cause & Camille Davidson, Yale University

Opportunities and Supports in Community SchoolsCommunity Engagement at Every StageLocation: 236

Community engagement at every stage of community school development isn’t just a means to an end; it is the end. Dive into community engage-ment principles, types, processes, and strategies for creating community schools that are both successful


Session V - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)and long-lasting.

Presenters: Dina Hatchuel & Dr. Melissa Brown, Center for Strategic Community Innovation

Community Involvement through a Response to Intervention ApproachLocation: 251

Educators face complex concerns on a daily basis, as the effort to help students learn can be clouded by the social and emotional needs of children and families. Response to Intervention (RtI) is a three-tiered model for addressing academics and behav-ior through the early identification of behavioral concerns and the appropriate interventions that match the student’s needs. Discuss the importance of involving community partners in the dialogue and work of the RtI framework in order to strengthen agency ties and provide youth and families in need access to comprehensive care.

Presenters: Davi Stein-Kiley, Youth First, Inc. & Susan Phelps, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation

Early Childhood Linkages: The Birth through Eight LensLocation: 212

Schools and communities define early childhood in different ways. By focusing on early childhood as a birth through eight years continuum, community schools can support families and children who are transitioning into the school and/or across grades. Gain knowledge of the many ways to engage the child, the family, and the community in transitions.

Presenters: Paige K. Whalen, Christina Starzl, & Jan Creveling, Community Service Council

Empowering Families and Communities in Support of Teaching and LearningLocation: 235

The importance of the family’s and community’s role in children’s academic, social and emotional devel-opment is widely recognized throughout the educa-tion community. In the age of Common Core State Standards numerous schools and districts are work-ing with community-based organizations to inte-grate family and community engagement into their academic strategies. Learn about the five essential components that comprise family engagement—

early literacy, family involvement, access to books, expanded learning, and mentoring partnerships—to empower families and your community.

Presenter: Randell Bynum, Scholastic Inc.

Expanded Learning and Equity: From Rhetoric to Reality Location: 250

How can we ensure all young people are ready for college, work and life? Expand learning! Come and explore the latest thinking on “readiness” and what it takes for schools and communities to expand learn-ing opportunities, partners and outcomes. You’ll leave armed with knowledge to spark dialogue and take key action steps in your own community.Presenter: Stephanie Krauss, The Forum for Youth Investment

GRAD Cincinnati ‘Turnt Up’ for Student Success: Taking Resources & Services to the Next Level B

Location: 232

Raise your school’s expectation and achievement by building high impact partnerships within the school and outside community. Discuss the role of a lead agency in establishing multifaceted programs and services for student success. Let’s get “Turnt Up”!

Presenters: Patricia Stewart-Adams, GRAD Cincinnati; Angela Campbell Harris, GRAD Cincinnati - Western Hills High School; Monica Keenon, GRAD Cincinnati - Taft IT High School

Linking Social Services with Teaching and LearningLocation: 208

Attention leaders of emergent community schools! With empirically-driven practices and case exam-ples, discover school-based strategies that foster the strengths of families in need of support. Learn how to integrate the work of school-based service teams into teacher classroom practices in support of the ef-fective implementation of Common Core Standards.

Presenters: Dr. Tania Alameda-Lawson, Dr. Michael A. Lawson, & Dr. Cassandra Bransford, Binghamton University


Session V - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)On the Path to Linked Learning: Creating Student Career Pathways in Health and Human Services

Location: 237

Learn specific strategies to develop a model for Linked Learning in your community school that includes partnership development, curriculum inte-gration, and authentic work-based learning opportu-nities for all students.

Presenters: Ezequiel De La Torre, Haide Arriaza, & Monica Puentes, Los Angeles Unified School District

The Nuts and Bolts of Creating and Sustaining a High School Site CouncilLocation: 252

Wm. Henry Harrison High School has worked for the past two years to develop a Site Council, where community partnerships focus on meeting students’ needs and improving the graduation rate. Learn the essential questions to ask before bringing part-nerships “to the table” how to develop supportive school-community collaboration to positively im-pact students at the high school level.

Presenters: Kenton McDonald & Dr. Elizabeth Wells, Wm. Henry Harrison High School/EVSC

Supporting Transitions in Mental Healthcare from Elementary to Post-Secondary Education B

Location: 262

MindPeace and the School Based Mental Health Network are focused on improving the continuum of mental healthcare for Cincinnati Public Schools’ stu-dents transitioning from elementary to high school and from high school to adult services. Discover the challenges to seamless services and the processes and tools that were developed to overcome them.

Presenter: Susan Shelton, JOURNEY to Successful Liv-ing, MindPeace

Transition from School House to Community School Location: 233

Sharing a common vision of providing high pover-ty, urban students with equitable opportunities for success, the Meriden Federation of Teachers and Superintendent established two Extended Learning

Community Schools in Meriden, Connecticut. Ex-plore and address the interconnectedness of labor/management collaboration, extended learning time, family engagement and the components of a com-munity school.

Presenters: Erin Benham, Dr. Mark D. Benigni, and Dave Salafia, Meriden Public Schools & Elsie Tor-res-Brown, John Barry Elementary School

Results, Data, and EvaluationCreating a Learning System for a Community Network of Organizations to Improve OutcomesLocation: 238

Learn how to introduce a learning system to help diverse organizations work as a system to improve outcomes, by aligning existing resources and using measures, regular parent feedback, and improve-ment processes.

Presenters: Moira Inkelas, UCLA School of Public Health & Patricia Bowie, UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities

Defining Intent and Mapping Results: Tools for Community SchoolsLocation: 209

Hear about the development of a comprehen-sive evaluation structure for Hartford Community Schools. Working with ActKnowledge, an evaluation firm based in New York City, a multidisciplinary team of educators, funding partners, and municipal and community based staff worked to develop an over-arching Theory of Change for this initiative. Dive into this Theory of Change system and learn how to track the outcomes in five domains: school, student, fami-ly, community and systems.

Presenters: Charlene Perez, Hartford Community Schools & Eoin Collins, ActKnowledge

Measuring Social Return on Investment for Community SchoolsLocation: 206

Through a study conducted by the Finance Project for The Children’s Aid Society, discuss and under-stand the concept of social return on investment as a methodology for monetizing the social benefit of public and private investments. Explore what value


Session V - Concurrent Workshops (Continued)

this social return on investments has for community schools.

Presenter: Jane Quinn, The Children’s Aid Society/Na-tional Center for Community Schools

Using Data to Drive ResultsLocation: 204

A recent five-year independent study conducted by ICF International found Communities In Schools to be the most effective, fully-scaled dropout preven-tion organization in the nation, and the only one both reducing dropout rates and increasing grad-uation rates. Come understand the CIS model at a deeper level and how proven results and research can help your organization gain more funding, lever-age sustainability, and stand above similar commu-nity organizations.

Presenters: Gary Chapman & Dr. Heather Clawson, Communities In Schools

Using Social Emotional Data to Plan for InterventionLocation: 231

Researchers have identified critical, interrelated resil-iency skills including academic

self-efficacy, connectedness, and intrinsic motivation that are directly tied to student attendance, achieve-ment, and graduation rates. Examine validated resiliency assessment tools that yield comprehensive school and student data profiles on essential social emotional skills and take away proven classroom strategies that improve resiliency skills and academic achievement for middle and high school students.

Presenter: Melissa Schlinger, ScholarCentric

Special Populations Facing InequitiesAll Our Sons and Brothers: Supporting Boys and Young Men of Color to Heal, Succeed, and ThriveLocation: 205

Engage with an innovative and effective program working to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and improve the outcomes of Latino youth in Ala-meda County, through mentorship, academic sup-port, healing circles, and other restorative practices. Discover how the principles in this program can be applied in your communities to holistically support boys and young men of color.

Presenters: Paul Flores & Kimi Sakashita, Latino Boys and Men Program Manager, Unity Council

Midwest Center for University-Assisted Community Schools

The Midwest Center for University-Assisted Community Schools provides an array of services designed to support institutions of higher education, and other key stakeholders in implementing community school strategies.

Customized Workshops and Training

Find/Contact Us:http://go.iu.edu/midwest-center Twitter.com/midwestcenter_ Facebook.com/midwestcenter

Informal and Formal Consultation

Evaluation and Research

Asset and Need-Based Assessment

IUPUI MIDWEST CENTER FOR UNIVERSITY-ASSISTEDCOMMUNITY SCHOOLS

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY


CLOSING PlenaryFriday, April 11, 11:30AM - 12:30PM

Because every child deserves every chance


Introduction:

• Robert Mahaffey, Director of Communications and Marketing, Rural School and Community Trust

Serving as the President of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, Rev. Barber has helped to lead the fight for education equality, voter rights, just redistricting, health care reform, labor and worker rights, protection of immigration rights, and reparation for women survivors of Eugenics, release of the Wilmington Ten and educational equality. He continues to lead the charge, and will close out

the conference by challenging participants to take action and make the changes needed in their com-munities.

Presenter: • Rev. Dr. William Barber, II

Closing Remarks: • Lisa Villarreal, Chair, Coalition for Community

Schools, Program Officer, Education, San Francisco Foundation

• Martin J. Blank, President, Institute for Educational Leadership and Director, Coalition for Community Schools

Health Drill-Down Session

Cincinnati Community Learning Centers have developed innovative health partnerships which are fi-nancially self-sustaining and offer comprehensive services to children, their families and the community during and beyond the school day. Please join us for a a special drill-down session especially designed for those interested in learning what it takes to successfully implement health partnerships within the context of a community school. We will travel to the nationally acclaimed Oyler Community Learning Center to visit their primary health center, dental clinic, mental health team, and the first school based vision center in the country. The experts in each of these areas will provide useful tools and tips to help you create these partnerships with your community schools.

This session requires pre-registration and payment. If you are still interested in attending a site visit, please visit the registration desk.

This session will depart from the Main Lobby of the Duke Energy Convention Center at 1:15 PM.

Buses will leave on time. You will not be able to attend a site visit without a ticket. Please be sure you re-cieved the correct ticket at registration!

Tweet with US!!!

#Opp4All@CommSchools

@IELconnects

Tweet at @CommSchools with the hashtag #Opp4All with inspiration-

al quotes, conversation snippets, questions, photos, and Vine videos.


Academy of the World Languages (Afternoon, April 8th & Morning, April 9th)

AWL is a prek-8 magnet school with a focus on for-eign language including English as a second lan-guage. More than half of the students are refugees from more than 50 countries. With no refugee reset-tlement infrastructure in the city beyond the initial placement, AWL has become the hub of support services for refugee families in the community. An annual International Festival brings together more than a thousand families and community members in celebration of international and ethnic diversity. Despite the challenges of limited English proficiency, high poverty and families scattered throughout the city and far from the school without accessible trans-portation, academics have continued to improve and the school earned an overall “A” in Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s academic growth.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 525 � Racial: 72.4% Black; 11.5% Asian; 6.7% Hispanic; 7.6% White

� Socio-Economic: 90.5% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 10.9% � Limited English: 48.3% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Community Learning Center Institute

Dater High School (Morning, April 9th)

Dater High School was established in 2000 and is one of only 2 schools in the district which offers a classic college preparatory program for advanced students in grades 7-12. Latin and advanced place-ment courses are offered to those who have passed the Special College Preparatory Program entrance exam. The school also offers a Culinary Arts Program to juniors and seniors. This school shares a campus with Western Hills University High School including a shared health and dental center, shared sports teams, marching band and some extracurricular activities. Both the school and the partnerships are

still developing and provide an opportunity to visit an emerging community learning center.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 736 � Racial: 55.1% Black; 2.2% Hispanic; 5% Multiracial, 36.9%% White

� Socio-Economic: 70.7 % Economically Disadvantaged


Ethel Taylor (Morning, April 9th)

Ethel Taylor is a prek-6 neighborhood school sur-rounded by a Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Project. It is the center of the community for the children and families. Year round programming, a focus on connecting with the parents and commu-nity, and strong academic improvement earned this community learning center the 2011 Coalition for Community Schools Award of Excellence.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 337 � Racial: 92.7% Black, 3.1 Multiracial, 3% Hispanic � Socio-Economic: 93.2% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 20.6% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Central Clinic

Evanston Academy (Morning, April 9th)

Evanston is a prek-6 neighborhood school which has been embraced as a vital part of the revitalization of the community. The priority of the school commu-nity is a strong academic program which will attract and retain families. The Resource Coordinator is the former Community Council President who worked in the school for many years as a volunteer, linking the school and the community. Since becoming a com-munity learning center, the school has had strong academic outcomes and earned an “A” for overall

Site Visit Profiles


site visit profiles (Continued)value added on the 2012-13 state report card.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 340 � Racial: 94.7% Black � Socio-Economic: 93.2% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 19.4% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Families Forward

Frederick Douglass School (Afternoon, April 8th)

Douglass is a prek-6 neighborhood school which is a new facility that was intentionally relocated as part of a central community campus with the Cincinnati Recreation Center and across the street from the public library. One of the few elementary schools with an active alumni association, Douglass is supported both financially and with volunteers by alumni and the community. Despite a very high poverty rate, the school has earned an overall “A”rat-ing for Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s academic growth.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 335 � Racial: 95.4% Black � Socio-Economic: 96.6% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 20.3% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Imani Family Center

Mt. Airy (Afternoon, April 8th)

Mt. Airy is a prek-6 neighborhood school in a diverse neighborhood about 20 miles from the city center. The vision is to develop the school as the center of the community and a catalyst for the revitalization of the neighborhood. The Resource Coordinator was elected as the President of the Community Coun-cil and the school is now the site of Community Council meetings, candidates’ nights and other civic functions. The school earned an “A” in overall Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s worth of academic growth

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 629 � Racial: 89% Black, 21% Hispanic; 4.4% White � Socio-Economic: 93.6% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 16.7% � Limited English: 4% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Community Learning Center Institute

Mt. Washington (Afternoon, April 8th & Morning, April 9th)

Mt. Washington is a prek-6th neighborhood school with a college prep focus. The vision of the school is to stabilize the community and to attract new young families to the neighborhood. Beginning with their outreach and engagement of families of preschool children and day care providers to hosting the neighborhood’s annual 5K, the community learning center has been a dynamic force in the popularity of the neighborhood and families from outside of the district are enrolling their children in Mt. Washington School. This school has maintained strong academic performance and increased enrollment. The school earned an overall “A” in Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s academic growth.

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 400 � Racial: 23.6% Black, 2.8% Hispanic; 63.4% White � Socio-Economic: 73.8% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 13.1% � Limited English: 4% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Community Learning Center Institute

Oyler School (Afternoon, April 8th & Morning, April 9th)

Oyler is a prek-12 community learning center located along the Ohio River in a heavily industrial area and populated primarily by Urban Appalachians. Prior to the engagement of the community in the plan-ning for the transformation to a community learning center, Oyler had the highest dropout rate in the city and the neighborhood had one of the highest adult illiteracy rates in the country. Through the organized


Site visit profiles (Continued)advocacy of the school community, Oyler added a high school and saw more high school graduates in the Lower Price Hill neighborhood after the first two graduating classes than in the prior collective 85 years. Over the decade since the transformation to a community learning center began, the academic performance index has doubled and students are matriculating to college. Oyler has been featured frequently in the national press including a yearlong series on NPR Marketplace.

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 636 � Racial: 25.7% Black, 5.8% Hispanic; 6.8% Multiracial, 61.6% White


� Students with Disabilities: 27.3% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Community Learning Center Institute

Pleasant Ridge Montessori (Morning, April 9th)

Pleasant Ridge Montessori is a prek-6th grade neigh-borhood school, one of the few neighborhood Mon-tessori schools in the country. A remarkable advoca-cy effort by community successfully kept the school from being relocated to another neighborhood, transformed the curriculum to Montessori, and created the first LEED certified public elementary school in the state. The school community has been dedicated to creating a genuinely integrated neigh-borhood school, reflective of the diversity in the neighborhoods it serves and they have succeeded in doubling the size of the school with new families who are attracted to the neighborhood because of the school. While PRM center includes many co-lo-cated and linked partnerships, the engagement of the families and community is the most outstanding and compelling feature of this community learning center.

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 500 � Racial: 57.4% Black, 3.7% Hispanic; 8.3% Multiracial, 29.9% White


� Students with Disabilities: 16.7% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: YMCA

Rockdale Academy (Morning, April 9th)

Rockdale is the first of the new facilities that was part of the CPS Facilities Master Plan which renovated or rebuilt every school in the district over the last ten years. It is a neighborhood prek-6 with a co-located health center. Located in an urban core neighbor-hood which has been struggling to revive, Rockdale is now part of an extensive community redevelop-ment initiative. Through the efforts of the Resource Coordinator, Rockdale is the go to place for parents and was the 2011 Extra Mile Award Winner for Being a Parent and Community Friendly School. Rockdale was also one of the first schools to participate in the Safe Routes to School Campaign which was headed by the Resource Coordinator.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 355 � Racial: 89.1% Black. 6.4% Multi-racial, 3.3% White � Socio-Economic: 95% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 21.1% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: St. Aloysius

Roberts Academy (Afternoon, April 8th)

Roberts Academy is a prek-8 magnet school with a Paideia focus. Located in a neighborhood which has seen a rapid increase in immigrant families, the vision of the Roberts school-community leadership team was to become a welcoming center of this newly diverse community and a catalyst for the re-vitalization of the community. Because of the inten-tional outreach and engagement of the community and the partners selected to support the Hispanic students and their families, the Hispanic enrollment of children with limited English has soared from negligible to almost 40% since 2007. The 22 acres of green space has also been dedicated to attracting the community and includes a community garden and a farmer’s market. The school earned an overall “A” in Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s academic growth.

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 587 � Racial: 48% Black, 38.3% Hispanic; 6.2% Multiracial, 7.3% White


site visit profiles (Continued) � Socio-Economic: 96% Economically Disadvantaged


Rothenberg Preparatory Academy (Morning, April 9th)

Located in the historic and newly redeveloped Over the Rhine district in downtown Cincinnati, the architecturally significant building was renovated rather than rebuilt as a result of dedicated advocacy by the community. As part of the restoration, the community and the Over the Rhine Foundation led the planning and raised the funds to create a green roof which will serve as a rooftop learning garden. In its transition to a community learning center, Rothenberg has become embraced and energetical-ly supported by the OTR community. Since becom-ing a community learning center, the school has had strong academic outcomes and earned an “A” for overall value added on the 2012-13 state report card.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 322 � Racial: 95.4% Black. 3.6% Multi-racial, � Socio-Economic: 96.7% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 22% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Beech Acres

Sayler Park (Afternoon, April 8th)

Sayler Park is a prek-8 neighborhood school locat-ed along the Ohio River in a semi-rural area with a small town feeling about 11 miles from downtown Cincinnati. The school is physically and emotionally the center of the community and is now working to become a community learning center with partner-ships to better serve this remote community which is without a nearby grocery store, medical services, dental care, restaurants and other enhancements to retain and attract young families. Parent and community engagement is strong and the Principal is an icon in the neighborhood, known for his home-made ice cream which he serves after every meet-

ing. Enrollment has been increasing and the school earned an overall “A” in Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s academic growth.

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 338 � Racial: 11.3% Black; 6.4% Multiracial, 80.7% White


� Students with Disabilities: 25.2% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Community Learning Center Institute

Taft Information Technology High School (Afternoon, April 8th)

Taft is located in the downtown area in a neighbor-hood which was recently transformed from housing projects to new mixed income housing. The school was also transformed from a failing school with a high dropout rate to an information technology pro-gram with Cincinnati Bell as a signature partner pro-viding busloads of Cincinnati Bell tutors which leads to opportunities for summer apprenticeships, and Bell Scholarships. A newly built facility features 9 computer labs and a business-like setting to prepare students for college and career. Taft was named a Na-tional Blue Ribbon School in 2010 and was featured on ABC news in 2011 for its dramatic turnaround.

Demographics: (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 577 � Racial: 95.7% Black; 2.4% White � Socio-Economic: 85.7% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 25.9% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Grad Cincinnati

Western Hills University High School (Morning, April 9th)

Western Hills University High School is a school of choice available to any 7th-12th grade student in the district. Through its partnership with Grad Cincinnati, the school provides an intensive college prep pro-gram that is fully integrated during and beyond the school day and during the summers. A partnership with Cincinnati State Technical and Community Col-


Site visit profiles (Continued)lege enables students to earn college credit through a dual enrollment program in their junior and senior years. In a newly renovated but iconic historic build-ing located in a community with a strong tradition of parochial education, the energy and visibility of the community learning center has earned the Resource Coordinator the 2013 Citizen of the Year from the Cheviot – Westwood Kiwanis Club which has is ac-tively involved with the school.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 1039 � Racial: 79.1% Black. 5.1 % Multi-racial, 14.6% White


� Students with Disabilities: 30.1% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Grad Cincinnati

Winton Hills Academy (Morning, April 9th)

Winton Hills Academy is prek-6 neighborhood school located in a Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority community resulting in high mobility. The vision of this community learning center is to pro-vide a welcoming, nurturing and safe hub for the community. This vision drove the physical design of this new building with the two wings representing outstretched arms. Winton Hills was honored as a semi-finalist for the 2007 Richard Riley Award from the American Architectural Foundation and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation for a school that best exemplified the building of schools as centers of community. As one of the earliest community learn-ing centers, the Principal, faculty and parents worked

together to create a new approach to school based mental health services which became the model for the Cincinnati community learning center mental health partnerships. The school earned an overall “A” in Value Added on the 2012-13 state report card reflecting at least a year’s academic growth.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 355 � Racial: 90.9% Black. 5% Multi-racial, 3% White � Socio-Economic: 96.6% Economically Disadvantaged

� Students with Disabilities: 22% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: St. Aloysius

Woodward Career Technical High School (Morning, April 9th)

Woodward is a 7-12th high school with three Career Academies focusing on Advanced Manufacturing, Building Technology and Health and Biotechnology. This $41 million facility is designed especially to al-low students to have hands-on experience. Partners in the career fields are integrated into the curriculum and offer mentoring and apprenticeships. Spring intercessions offer students learning opportunities beyond the classroom including the building of homes in New Orleans for victims of Katrina.

Demographics (2012-2013) � Average Daily Enrollment: 726 � Racial: 92.8% Black, 3.4% Multi-racial, 2.1% Hispanic


� Students with Disabilities: 22% � Resource Coordinator Lead Agency: Urban League


Carlos AzcoitiaCarlos Azcoitia has been a teach-er, administrator, and has served as principal in the Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Azcoitia is the Founding Principal of a new “Comprehensive

Community School” concept on Chicago’s Little Village Neighborhood. He served as the Deputy Chief of Education in the Chicago Public Schools. In this role, he was administratively responsible for a large number of wide-ranging departments, pro-grams and services. He left central office to become Principal again at John Spry Community School and Community Links High School. He also served thirty five schools and 33,000 students as Interim Chief of Midway Network in Chicago during the 2011- 2012 school year.

Dr. Azcoitia received his Doctorate in Leadership and Educational Policy from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Currently, Dr, Azcoitia serves as Distinguished Professor of Practice in Educational Leadership at National Louis University. He was ap-pointed by the Mayor to serve on the Chicago Board of Education and is Chair of the Board of Trustees at Northeastern Illinois University.

Rev. Dr. William BarberRev. Dr. William Barber II is the Pres-ident of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP (2005), and was re-elected National Board Member (2011) and appointed as

the National NAACP Chair of the Legislative Political Action Committee. Under his leadership, the NAACP developed a new 21st Century voter registration/voter participation system.

Rev. Dr. Barber graduated Cum Laude from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham, N.C., receiving a B.A. in Political Science. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University, was a Benjamin Mays Fellow and a Dean scholar. Rev. Dr. Barber has a Doctoral degree from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, with a concentration in Pub-lic Policy and Pastoral Care and he has receives an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from NCCU.

The Honorable Governor Beverly Purdue presented Rev. Dr. Barber with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest citizenship award presented to outstanding North Carolinians who have a proven record of service to the state.

Julie Davis BellJulie Davis Bell is the Education Program Director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. She has been with NCSL for 23 years and has directed the Education Program

for 20 years. In that capacity she oversees the 12 person Education Program staff and is responsible for setting Program priorities, responding to constit-uent needs and requests, developing new education projects, and interfacing with other national edu-cation policy organizations. She also serves as the program policy specialist for higher education issues. She speaks and writes regularly about education and legislative issues. Julie received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Davis in 1986. Prior to joining NCSL, she was a policy associ-ate with the Center for Policy Research in Denver and taught political science courses at the University of Colorado.

Joseph BishoPDr. Bishop is the Director of the Opportunity to Learn (OTL) Cam-paign with the Schott Foundation for Public Education, a national equity initiative. He is also Executive

Director of Opportunity Action, an initiative that pro-motes policies for early learning, effective teachers, and college and career readiness.

Prior to this, Dr. Bishop was the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) and Director of Education for the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund.

Dr. Bishop served as a member of California En-gaging Latino Community in Education (ENLACE) leadership team and appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Postsecondary

Speaker Biographies


Speaker Biographies (Continued)Education Commission. He worked with the Office of Educational Partnerships and State Governmental Relations office at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has a bachelor’s degree in Communica-tion and Media Studies from California State Univer-sity, Chico and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Educational Lead-ership, Policy and Organizations from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Helen BlankHelen Blank, Director of Child Care and Early Learning, works to expand support for positive early care and educational experiences for women and children. She currently leads

the federal Child Care/Early Learning Coalition and works to improve and expand federal and state early care and education programs. Ms. Blank led a suc-cessful effort to pass the first comprehensive federal child care legislation, the Child Care and Develop-ment Block Grant, and organized the Alliance for Better Child Care. Ms. Blank has worked for nearly two decades to ensure that the Head Start program was not only expanded to serve more children, but also maintained its focus on community-based, high-quality, comprehensive services to children. She has a master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College of the City of New York and a bache-lor’s degree from the University of Michigan.

Annie BogenschutzAfter nearly a decade of involvement with Cincinnati Public Schools’ Com-munity Learning Centers, Annie Bo-genschutz is the Director of Training and Development at the Community

Learning Center Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Be-fore joining CLCI, she held the position of Resource Coordinator at Ethel M. Taylor Academy which was recognized as a 2011 Coalition for Community Schools National Award of Excellence. Bogenschutz has also been a featured panelist on MSNBC’s Edu-cation Nation Teacher’s Town Hall and highlighted in numerous publications including the cover story in the American Teacher magazine. Bogenschutz holds a national position as the Co-Chair of the Coalition for Community Schools Coordinator’s Committee and is a frequent and popular speaker throughout the country on the impact of community learning

centers on academic turnaround and community revitalization.

eve boltonEve is a current President of the Cincinnati Public School Board of Education. She served as a master teacher during her 35 years with the Wyoming City Schools, and was

elected Wyoming Teacher’s Union President. During her teaching tenure, Eve’s students ranked #1 in the Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics category across the world. Eve is the former Presi-dent of the College Hill Redevelopment Corporation, Mt. Healthy City Council District and At-Large mem-ber. Politically active herself, Eve also served as the first woman elected to executive office in Hamilton County as County Recorder. She graduated in 1973 from the College of Wooster, attaining BA in Political Science and an Ohio Teaching Certificate for Political Science and History.

CORY BowmanCory Bowman has been working for Penn Program for Public Service since 1991 and for Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships since its inception in 1992. As an

Associate Director, Cory helps coordinate the core functions of the Netter Center, particularly develop-ing academic partnerships with schools, non-profits, and communities of faith. His primary focus is the development of University-assisted community schools that are designed to function as centers of education, services, engagement and activity for all members of the community. Cory supervises the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, Moelis Access Science program, College Access and Career Readi-ness program, Community Arts Partnership, Extend-ed Day and Summer programs, and other school and community partnership efforts at Penn. He is a founding board member and was the interim Exec-utive Director of the Sayre Health Center, a 501(c)3 federally qualified health care center at Sayre High School focused on the joint missions of clinical care, community health promotion and job training.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)rebecca boxxRebecca Boxx is director of Provi-dence’s Children and Youth Cabinet – a consortium of more than fifty agencies and institutions dedicated to improving results for Providence’s

children and youth from cradle to career – which is housed at the Annenberg Institute. She is an educa-tor with over ten years of experience including class-room teaching, community-based adult education, nonprofit management, and district leadership. Prior to her career in education, Rebecca worked in mar-keting and design. She is bilingual in Spanish and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island.

laura breyLaura Brey joined the School-Based Health Alliance in 2000. During her 13 year tenure she has served the organization as Director of SBHC Training and Technical Assistance

Center, Associate Director, Director of Program and Professional Services, and as of 2013, Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist.

She was the Director of North Carolina’s SBHC Pro-gram and American Medical Association’s Guidelines for Adolescent Services (GAPS) in SBHCs, Senior Partner with Chicago Healthcare Management Con-sultants, Director of Women’s Ambulatory Care Pro-grams for Fantus Health Center, Cook County Hospi-tal, and Director of Illinois Migrant Council’s Bilingual Health Education Programs. Laura has a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching, French, Spanish, and School Health Education; a Master of Science in Community Health Education and Administration from University of Illi-nois in Urbana; and post graduate studies in qualita-tive research at the University of Chicago.

jitu brownJitu Brown is the national director for the Journey for Justice Alliance, a network of 30 grassroots commu-nity based organizations in 23 cities organizing for community driven

school improvement; and he was formerly the ed-ucation organizer for the Kenwood Oakland Com-munity Organization (KOCO). Jitu studied at Eastern

Arizona College and Northeastern Illinois University, majoring in communications with a minor in Span-ish.

Jitu started volunteering with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) in 1991, became a board member in 1993 and served as the organiza-tion’s board president. He joined the staff as educa-tion organizer in 2006. He helped develop the Mid-South Education Association, a grassroots advocacy group that has successfully organized to stop several school closings in the area and secured resources for neglected neighborhood schools. Jitu also teaches African-American history at St. Leonard’s Adult High School. Jitu has taken youth leaders from KOCO to the United Nations, to the Pas-samaquoddy Native American reservation in Maine and to the UN Conference on Racism in South Africa.

bob brownBob Brown works in the Office of the President for the American Federa-tion of Teachers as Project Manager for Reconnecting McDowell. Bob resides in Charleston, WV and was

educated in Kanawha County, WV public schools, WV Institute of Technology and WV University. He is a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and serves as Senior V.P. of the WV AFL-CIO, Chair of the WV Public Employee Grievance Board, Chair of the WV Community and Technical College Council, commis-sioner of the WV Higher Education Policy Commis-sion and commissioner of the Malden Public Service District.

paula byrdPaula Byrd is the Interim Director of Community Services for the Univer-sity of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Social Work, Social Work Commu-nity Outreach Services (SWCOS). Ms.

Byrd manages SWCOS’ five Community Schools and staff along with other SWCOS school-based pro-grams and staff. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bucknell University in Sociology and Spanish and a Master of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University in clinical and community counseling. Prior to working for SWCOS she was Vice President


Speaker Biographies (Continued)of Community and Human Services at Park Heights Renaissance where she managed three community schools and staff along with three additional school-based programs, a Community Center, and several community-based programs and partnerships. She has experience as an after school program coordi-nator, a private school and university administrator, along with counseling and social work experience. Her areas of expertise include program manage-ment, school administration, case management and youth and family counseling.

dr. keith catoneKeith Catone manages the Annen-berg Institute’s technical assistance and capacity building support for community organizing and engage-ment in the New England region. He

also assists on research projects related to education organizing and engagement and is a member of the Center for Education Organizing program staff. Prior to joining the Institute, he was the project director for the Youth 4 Change Alliance in Providence, RI. Previously, he taught high school social studies at Banana Kelly High School in the South Bronx and co-founded the New York Collective of Radical Edu-cators, a citywide teacher activist organization. He serves on the boards of the Education for Liberation Network and College Visions. He holds an A.B. in Public Policy from Brown University, Ed.M. in School Leadership from Harvard University an Ed.D. in Cul-ture, Communities, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

may chaMay Cha is the Linkage Project Coor-dinator with the SUN Service Sys-tem Division of Multnomah County Human Services where she supports school readiness and success by con-

necting the county’s SUN Community Schools model to its early childhood system of supports to pro-mote coordinated, successful transitions to school and community engagement in the science of early learning through Mind in the Making. May has over 13 years of experience working with SUN Commu-nity Schools, including the last six years focused on early childhood.

hedy n. changHedy is the founder and director of Attendance Works, a national and state level initiative aimed at advanc-ing student success by addressing chronic absence. A skilled presenter,

facilitator, researcher and writer, she co-authored the seminal report, Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades, as well as numerous other articles about student attendance. As a result of her work on attendance, Hedy was named by the White House as a Champion of Change for her com-mitment to furthering African American Education in February 2013.

Deeply committed to promoting two-generation solutions to achieving a more just and equitable so-ciety, Hedy has spent more than two decades work-ing in the fields of family support, family economic success, education and child development. Hedy is also the mother of two school-aged sons who attend public school in San Francisco.

mayor michael b. colemanChris Coleman took office as Saint Paul’s Mayor in 2005 after sever-al years as a city council member, community and neighborhood leader. Immediately, Mayor Cole-

man set forth initiatives to make Saint Paul the most livable city in America. Bridging the education gap for children has been at the core of Mayor Coleman’s agenda. Mayor Coleman has introduced revolution-ary programs that focus on how our students spend their crucial time outside of the classroom and how to extend social and academic opportunities beyond the school day, opening new doors of opportunity to a better life and creating a safe environment for them to live and play.

Mayor Coleman is currently the President of the National League of Cities, a national organization of city leaders across the United States. In 2012, Mayor Coleman was elected as the Second Vice President of National League of Cities, and became the League’s Vice President in 2013.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)jan crevelingJan Creveling began working at the Community Service Council in 1989 and currently serves as the Senior Planner for the Tulsa Area Communi-ty Schools Initiative (TACSI). Her re-

sponsibilities include program, resource, and policy development, community mobilization and capacity building, hiring and training of resource center staff, sustainability and communication planning, staff-ing TACSI committees and collaborating with state, regional and national partners.

Prior to her current position, Ms. Creveling was the Community Service Council’s Consultant to the Metropolitan Human Services Commission provid-ing research and guidance in the development of the local community school concept. She has also served as the Sr. Planner for Family Support and directed the implementation and management of the Tulsa Alliance for Families collaborative family support/family preservation federal Department of Health and Human Services grant. She is a founding member and past president of the National Network of Child Abuse Centers. She holds a B.A. from Okla-homa State University.

dr. marilyn crumptonMarilyn Crumpton, MD, MPH, is a pe-diatrician who has served as medical director for the Division of School & Adolescent Health at Cincinna-ti Health Department since 2008,

including medical consultant for Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). She is the senior advisor for Growing Well, the school health collaborative working in CPS’ Community Learning Centers.

Prior to this, Dr. Crumpton served as Associate Medical Director at the Alabama Medicaid Agency, Director of Maternal and Child Health at the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, and Houston County Health Officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Dr. Crumpton received her undergraduate degree at Birmingham Southern College, her medical degree from and completed her residency at the Birming-ham School of Medicine University of Alabama and a

master of public health from Johns Hopkins Univer-sity. Dr. Crumpton is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a Fellow of the American Acade-my of Pediatrics.

denise driehausState Representative Denise Drie-haus (D – Cincinnati) is a lifelong res-ident of Cincinnati and is honored to continue to serve the area as a state representative for the 31st House

District. A graduate of Seton High School, Rep. Drie-haus earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Miami University of Ohio. She has a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Andrew. She previously co-owned Philipps Swim Club and the Front Porch Coffeehouse both in West Price Hill.

Proudly representing her district in Columbus, Rep. Driehaus currently serves as the Ranking Member on the Economic Development and Regulatory Reform Committee as well as a member of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, Agriculture and Devel-opment Subcommittee, and Education Committee. Issues that Rep. Driehaus focuses on include foreclo-sure prevention, environmental issues, improving education, and domestic violence.

christopher edley, jr.Christopher Edley, Jr. was dean of the U.C. Berkeley School of Law from 2004 to 2013, after 23 years as a Harvard Law professor. His academic work is in administrative

law, civil rights, education policy, and domestic public policy generally. Professor Edley has moved between academia and public service, giving him broad familiarity with many areas of public policy. He served in White House policy and budget positions under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Edley held senior positions in five presidential campaigns, including senior policy adviser for Barack Obama; he then served on Obama’s Transition Board with responsibility for Education, Immigration and Health. More recently, Edley co-chaired the congressionally chartered National Commission on Education Eq-uity and Excellence (2011-13). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Public Administration, Council of For-


Speaker Biographies (Continued)eign Relations, and Gates Foundation’s National Programs Advisory Panel. He continues as a Berkeley Professor.

ellen GALINSKYEllen Galinsky, President of Families and Work Institute (FWI), is a founder of the work-family field. Her more than 100 books and reports and 300 articles include the best-selling

Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs, Ask The Children, and the now classic The Six Stages of Parenthood. At FWI, Mind in the Making is an unprecedented effort to share the science of children’s learning with the general public, families and professionals who work with them. She was a presenter at the 2000 White House Conference on Teenagers, the 1997 White House Conference on Child Care, and the 2010 White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility. She appears regularly in the media and is the recipient of many awards, includ-ing the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award from Vassar College, the Seven Wonders of the Work Life World from Working Mother magazine and the Friend of Children Award from the Southern Early Childhood Association.

DR. CATHLIN GRAYCathlin Gray, Ph.D., is the associate superintendent for family, school, and community partnerships for the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Cor-poration in Evansville, Indiana, and is

responsible for expand¬ing this community school concept throughout the school district. Dr. Gray has a doctor of philosophy degree in educational admin-istration from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. She has done extensive work in the areas of community col-laboration and family engage-ment. Dr. Gray has served as a classroom teacher and building level principal. In her role as principal, she facilitated the development of the first “full-service community school” in the school district. Dr. Gray serves as Co-Chair of the Community Schools Lead-ership Network.

DIANA HALLDiana Hall holds the position of Program Supervisor in the SUN Service System, a division within the Department of County Human Ser-vices of Multnomah County, OR. In

this capacity, she provides oversight for the System’s program development staff, supports policy devel-opment and serves as Technical Assistance and Pro-gram Development Coordinator for the SUN Com-munity Schools initiative. Ms. Hall has worked in the nonprofit and public sectors for 20 years. Thirteen of those have been spent working with community school coordinators, non-profits, school principals, school district leaders, parents and governments to support the development full-service community schools locally and nationally. She has served as Chair of the Diversity and Equity Committee of the Department of County Human Services since 2008. Ms. Hall holds a Masters in Education from Portland State University and received her undergraduate de-gree from Reed College. Ms. Hall serves as Co-Chair of the Community Schools Leadership Network.

DR. IRA HARKAVYIra Harkavy is the Associate Vice Pres-ident and founding Director of the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, Univer-sity of Pennsylvania. A historian with

extensive experience building university-communi-ty-school partnerships, Harkavy is a member of the National Science Foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE); Harvard College National Advisory Board for Pub-lic Service; Widener University Board of Trustees; and the Anchor Institutions Task Force (Chair). The executive editor of Universities and Community Schools, Harkavy is co-author and editor of five books, including Dewey’s Dream (2007), The Obesity Culture (2009), and Reimagining Democratic Societ-ies (2013). Harkavy is the recipient of the University of Pennsylvania’s Alumni Award of Merit, Campus Compact’s Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service Learning, and a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant. Harkavy now serves as the Chair Emeritus after chair-ing the Coalition for Community Schools’ Steering Committe from 1997 to 2012.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)PAUL HECKMANPaul Heckman is a Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Edu-cation at the University of California, Davis. His research interests focus on educational change and invention in

urban communities, schools, and afterschool pro-grams. One of the current sites is West Sacramento Early College Prep in West Sacramento, California. Lessons learned appear in articles and book chap-ters, as well as in two books: The Courage to Change: Stories From Successful School Reform, and a soon to be published book by Heckman and Viki Montera, tentatively entitled Waking Up: The Power of Com-munities and Their Schools. He has taught at the elementary and secondary levels and served as a middle and senior high school assistant principal. He has also held professorships and administrative positions at the University of Southern Maine, the University of Arizona, and the University of Washington. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

TRACY HILLTracy Hill is the Executive Director of Family and Community Engage-ment for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District since 2010. Her work focuses primarily on working with

schools, community partners and stakeholders to develop programs that are aligned to district goals and build the capacity of parents/caregivers to sup-port their children’s academic achievement. Her staff work directly in schools to provide opportunities for parents/caregivers to be involved in school improve-ment. Prior to this position she served as the Coor-dinator of the Family School Connection Program at the Heights Parent Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and as Pupil Services Coordinator for Strongs-ville City Schools. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and M.Ed. from Kent State University. She began her education career as a teacher/counselor for students with Severe Behavioral and Cognitive challenges at the Positive Education Program.

JAIME HUERTASJaime S. Huertas – Bachelor of Sci-ence from the University of Puerto Rico; Doctor of Medicine from the Autonomous University of Santo Do-mingo, Dominican Republic; Master

in Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in the City of New York. Jaime has over thirty years of experience in the ad-ministration and management of FQHC community health centers and School-Based Health Centers. He has been at The Children’s Aid Society for ten years as the Deputy Director for Health Administration in The Children’s Aid Society’s Health and Wellness Divi-sion. Jaime Huertas also serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Asian and Pacific Island-er Coalition of HIV and AIDS (APICHA), Community Health Center.

David JoHNSAs executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Ex-cellence for African Americans, Johns will work to identify evidence-based best practices to improve African

American student achievement—from cradle to career. The initiative will work across federal agencies and with partners and communities nationwide to produce a more effective continuum of education programs for African American students.

Prior to joining the Department, Johns was a senior education policy advisor to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) under the leadership of Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Be-fore working for the Senate HELP committee, under Chairman Harkin, Johns served under the leadership of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. Johns also was a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow in the office of Congressman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Johns has worked on issues affecting low-income and minority students, neglected youth and early childhood education, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He was a Andrew W. Mel-lon Fellow. Johns is committed to volunteer services and maintains an active commitment to improve literacy among adolescent minority males.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)DARLENE KAMINEFrom 2000 – 2010, Darlene Kamine led the Cincinnati Pubic Schools’ (CPS) Community Learning Center initiative. In 2009, Kamine founded the Community Learning Center

Institute to continue to support and promote this approach to academic reform and community revitalization. Kamine is an attorney and former juvenile court magistrate. She is the founder of ProKids, a guardian ad litem program for abused and dependent children in the child welfare system, and co-founder of the Cincinnati Children’s Museum. Kamine has received numerous honors and awards including the Gold Medal Award from the Founda-tion for the Improvement of Justice, the Cincinnati Enquirer Woman of the Year, and the Duke Energy Children’s Museum Difference Makers Award for Life-time Achievement. Kamine graduated from Brandeis University and received her law degree from the University of Denver College of Law.

CAROL LIUCarol Liu was elected to her second term in the California State Senate in 2012. She was a State Assembly member from 2000 to 2006. Prior to that, Carol served eight years as a

City Councilmember, including two terms as Mayor of La Cañada Flintridge.

A former teacher and school administrator, Carol graduated from San Jose State University and holds teaching and administrative credentials from UC Berkeley. She is married to Mike Peevey and togeth-er they have three children and four grandchildren.

Carol’s priority issues are public education reform, early childhood education, access to higher educa-tion, career education, and services for the elderly, low-income, disabled, and disadvantaged. She Chairs the Senate Education Committee. Carol is promoting community schools implementation in her Senate District and statewide. In 2013, she con-ducted a statewide tour to visit and increase aware-ness of community schools among elected officials, government and non-profit service providers, the business community, and the public.

MARIA LOVETTMaria Lovett is a visiting Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Florida International University and teaches courses that integrate digital media and other technolo-

gies with critical theory and progressive pedagogi-cal methods for both the COE and with the English department.

Maria has taught youth media production and arts-based community action projects in cities across the United States and Montreal, Canada. Currently in Mi-ami, she is working with students from the Algebra Project and the Young People’s Project to advance multiple literacy skills and promote community action through media production. Maria’s scholarly research continues to look for practical realizations of pedagogical theories committed to social change. Her current projects include a multi-modal exam-ination of the repercussions of Hurricane Katrina though the narrative of one 84-year-old man’s strug-gle to rebuild his home in the Lower Ninth Ward and documenting the narratives of public school stu-dents from the Little Haiti, Liberty City and Overtown neighborhoods of Miami.

DR. IVAN LUGODr. Iván Lugo, DMD, MBA, FACD, FICD is an academic social entre-preneur, and a visible published thought leader for communities requiring extreme affordability solu-

tions to increase the primary care access, awareness and overall well-being of high-risk populations. Prior to private practice and consulting, he held positions as faculty, chairman, and dean during his seventeen year tenure at Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry. His advocacy led to working with local, state, and national stakeholders to integrate Com-munity-Based Dental Education service-learning programs into dental education curriculum.

Dr. Lugo is past-president of the Hispanic Dental Association, and for ten years, led the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Dental Division.

Dr. Lugo earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Syracuse University, a DMD from the University of


Speaker Biographies (Continued)Connecticut Health Sciences Center, and a MBA from the Temple University Fox School of Business. He re-ceived his graduate certificate degree in consulting and coaching for change from Oxford University, UK and HEC Paris, France.

D. Gavin LuterD. Gavin Luter pursues his doctor-al degree from the University at Buffalo’s Educational Leadership and Policy Studies department. He serves as Coordinator of the Per-

ry Choice Neighborhood Mini-Education Pipeline strategy. As a practitioner/scholar, he has experience working in and with educational non-profits, school systems, and universities. This work links back to his main research interest of how universities can cata-lyze school and neighborhood transformation. His recent work is as Co-Guest Editor of a themed issue of the Peabody Journal of Education, “Higher Educa-tion’s Role and Capacity to Assist with Public School Reform.”

ROBERT MAHAFFEYRobert Mahaffey is the director of communications for the Rural School and Community Trust, the premier national advocacy organization dedicated in helping rural schools

and communities grow better together. He also serves as president of the Organizations Concerned about Rural Education (OCRE), a national coalition of education, agriculture, community development, technology and utility organizations dedicating to providing a quality education for all rural children and securing the economic future of rural America. Previously, Mahaffey was vice president of communi-cations for the New American Schools, the publisher and communications director for the National Asso-ciation of Secondary School Principals and vice presi-dent of external relations for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. As a West Virginia resident, he is a certified substitute teacher and has a BS degree in political science and English from Brigham Young University and an MS degree in management from the University of Maryland.

DR. KAREN L. MAPPKaren L. Mapp, Ed.D., is a senior lecturer on education at the Har-vard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the faculty director of the Education Policy and Manage-

ment master’s program. Mapp has served as the co-coordinator with Mark Warren of the Community Organizing and School Reform Research Project and as a core faculty member in the HGSE Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.L.D.) Program.

She is a founding member of the District Leaders Network on Family and Community Engagement, trustee of the Hyams Foundation in Boston, and board member of the Institute for Educational Lead-ership in Washington, D.C. Mapp currently serves as a consultant on family engagement to the Office of Innovation and Improvement, US Department of Education. Mapp holds a doctorate and master’s of education from the HGSE, a master’s in education from Southern Connecticut State University, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

MICHAEL MCAFEEMichael McAfee, Senior Director at PolicyLink and Director of the Prom-ise Neighborhoods Institute at Poli-cyLink, oversees the Institute’s stra-tegic direction and implementation

of strategies that mobilize neighborhood leaders to build communities of opportunity. The Institute amplifies results by building a national community of practice for local leaders to share tools, resources, and successes.

Before PolicyLink, McAfee served as Senior Commu-nity Planning and Development Representative in the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). McAfee also served as director of community leadership for The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and president of YouthNet of Greater Kansas City. A U.S. Army veteran, McAfee earned his Doctor of Educa-tion in Human and Organizational Learning from The George Washington University. He is currently an An-nie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellow.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)KENT MCGUIREKent McGuire is the President and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. Kent guides SEF’s agenda to questions of equal access to quality education for

children and youth and to the participation and suc-cess of poor and minority students in postsecondary education.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. McGuire served as Dean of the College of Education and a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University. Prior to this, he held positions as Senior Vice President at MDRC, Assistant Secretary of Education during the Clinton administration, Education Program Officer for the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts and the Education Program Director for the Eli Lilly Endow-ment.

Dr. McGuire received his doctorate in public admin-istration from the University of Colorado, his mas-ter’s degree in education administration and policy from Columbia University Teacher’s College, and his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan.

DR. FRANK MIRABALDr. Frank Mirabal is currently serv-ing as Vice President of Educational Support for Youth Development Inc. (YDI), a statewide, youth-serving agency with over 40 years of experi-

ence serving New Mexico families. Prior to this, Frank served as the President of Contigo Research, Policy & Strategy. Over the last decade, Dr. Mirabal has been a catalyst in the community schools movement in New Mexico serving as a key leader in the passage of the Community Schools Act of 2013, while guiding integration, implementation, and evaluation efforts for Elev8 community schools initiative.

Frank has served on the Aspen Institute’s Roundta-ble on Racial Equity and Youth Development and an Advisory Board member for National Council of La Raza. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Gov-ernance Board for the Albuquerque’s South Valley Preparatory Academy. Mirabal recently obtained a

Ph.D in Educational Leadership from New Mexico State University and has both a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a BA in Communications and Journalism from the University of New Mexico.

melissa mitchellMelissa Trumbull Mitchell is the Executive Director of the Federation for Community Schools. Melissa is responsible for providing technical support to community school initia-

tives outside of Chicago, facilitating the high school resource coordinators network, leading advocacy efforts, and managing staff who oversee profession-al development efforts. Prior to being named ED in 2012, she served as the organization’s Associate Director. Before joining the Federation, she was the Resource Coordinator at the South Loop Elemen-tary School and an intervention specialist at Crane High School, both located in Chicago. Melissa sits on Illinois’ P-20 Council and several taskforces and commissions that strive to create improved and equitable access to educational and youth develop-ment opportunities for all of Illinois’ children. Melissa recently completed the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management’s Boot Camp for New Non-profit CEOs. Melissa holds a Master’s degree in Education, Human Services, and Counseling from DePaul University, and a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Dart-mouth College.

carol paine-mcgovernCarol Paine-McGovern is currently the Executive Director of the Kent School Services Network, KSSN. KSSN is a community school initia-tive in Kent County Michigan part-

nering with 28 schools in 7 school districts. Previous employment included working as the Manager for the Kent County Healthy Start Program as well as a consultant to the Frey and Nokomis Foundations. Before moving to Michigan Carol was a policy analyst for the Oklahoma State House of Representatives and held positions at local and state health agencies in Oklahoma, West Virginia and Montana. Carol has a B.S. from Michigan State University and a M.P.H. from the University of Minne-sota. Carol is also a former East Grand Rapids School Board member.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)

O’dell OwensDr. O’dell Moreno Owens is a native Cincinnatian. Following graduation from Woodward High School, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch College. Dr. Owens

spent his third year of college at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, as a foreign exchange student.

Dr. Owens attended Yale University Medical School where he earned his M.D. degree. He earned a mas-ter’s degree in public health from Yale University. He was awarded the Irving Friedman Award as the Out-standing Chief Resident in the department of OB/GYN at Yale Medical School. Dr. Owens then accept-ed a combined position at Harvard Medical School. He served as a clinical instructor in the department of OB/GYN at Harvard Medical School, and was a Fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility for two years. He returned to his native Cincinnati in 1982 to establish the first division of reproductive endocrinology in the department of OB/GYN at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

ellen paisEllen Pais, currently the President and CEO of Los Angeles Education Partnership, previously served as the Senior Director of LAEP’s Com-munity School Initiative where she

has overseen the growth and implementation of the community school strategy including commu-nity and parent engagement and school readiness initiatives in diverse, under-served and educationally under-performing communities. Ms. Pais also has led the organization’s effort to facilitate and manage community-based collaboratives focused on increas-ing the academic success of youth.

cristina patricioCristina Patricio is a Community School Coordinator through Los Angeles Education Partnership at Es-teban E. Torres High School. She was born and raised in East Los Angeles,

California to immigrant parents. She began com-munity organizing during her high school years and developed a great sense of commitment in creating

positive and promising outcomes for the members of her community. She is the first in her family to ob-tain a high school diploma and to attend and grad-uate from a university. She attended California State University, Northridge and received her bachelor’s in Chicana/o Studies and History. She plans to pursue a Master’s in Social Work in the near future. She continues to reside in East Los Angeles with her fiancé Ruben and her two year old son, Brandon Chimalli.

jennifer peckSince joining the Partnership in 2001, Jennifer has launched ini-tiatives to build after school and summer programs, meal programs and nutrition education programs in

California’s lowest income communities. Under her leadership, the Partnership has raised more than $90 million in public funding for youth programs, trained thousands of staff on effective youth programming, and won key local, state and federal policy changes that benefit low-income children.

Jennifer created the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance, the State Legislative Task Force on Summer Learning, and co-chairs California’s Summer Mat-ters Campaign. This year, the Partnership is launch-ing California’s first statewide Community Schools Network to enable the support the development of community schools across the state.

In 2011 Jennifer was appointed Senior Policy Advisor and Transition Team Director for Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Prior to the Partnership, Jennifer was an appointee of President Clinton at the U.S. Department of Education.

henry perezHenry Perez, Associate Director of InnerCity Struggle, earned his Mas-ter’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles’ Graduate School of Education and Informa-

tion Studies. He has been a community organizer for more than 11 years during which he has orga-nized youth, parents and community residents to be involved in shaping policy around community safety,


Speaker Biographies (Continued)affordable housing and education issues. Henry has solidified and developed a strong base of parents, voters and community residents and has expertise in community, parent and civic engagement, coalition building, campaign and strategy development. Hen-ry currently leads InnerCity Struggle’s campaign to develop and expand community schools strategies for schools in East Los Angeles.

andrew petersAndrew Peters is the Chief Storyteller at OneSight. When he’s not traveling the world capturing the sto-ries of sight restored, he’s passionate about sharing why vision care matters to the half billion people without access to it. He loves Cincinnati, wakeboard-ing, and his three kids (not necessarily in that order).

Dianne PichéDianne Piché is senior counsel and director of education programs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Prior to this, Ms. Piché served as Deputy Assistant

Secretary for Enforcement and Special Counsel at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. At OCR, she supervised 12 regional offices and managed high-profile cases in areas including: charter schools; access to AP classes; services for English learners; discipline; and sexual assault on college campuses.

From 2000-2009, Ms. Piche directed the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, which monitored the civil rights policies of the federal government. She also taught graduate-level courses in education law, worked for U.S. Senate and House education com-mittees, served on federal Title I peer review panels, and testified before Congress and other bodies. Ms. Piché earned her B.A. in English and Women’s Stud-ies from the State University of New York at Albany and her J.D. from Catholic University, where she was a member of the Law Review.

sarah pitcockSarah Pitcock joined the National Summer Learning Association’s (NSLA’s) predecessor the Center for Summer Learning in 2006 and held progressive leadership roles in re-

search and program quality prior to being appointed CEO of NSLA in 2013. Her major work includes the development of the Comprehensive Assessment of Summer Programs (CASP) and the Summer Matters technical assistance model for the state of California. Sarah also developed and led the Smarter Summers and District Summer Learning initiatives, serving more than 28,000 middle school students across 16 school districts. Prior to joining NSLA, Sarah served as Marketing Manager for the Orlando Repertory Theatre and Deputy Press Secretary for the Mayor of Baltimore.

Sarah holds a master’s degree in public policy from Johns Hopkins University and bachelors degrees in public relations and political science from the Uni-versity of Florida.

william potapchukBill Potapchuk is President of the Community Building Institute (CBI). CBI works to strengthen the capacity of communities and organizations to conduct public business inclusively,

collaboratively, and effectively with the goal of build-ing healthy, sustainable and equitable futures. We specialize in designing, managing, and facilitating collaborative planning and civic engagement pro-cesses within organizations and at city, state, and na-tional levels, often navigating tough and contentious issues. Projects have included developing a Master Education Plan for DC Schools, a strategic plan for Newark (NJ) Public Schools, and a citywide educa-tion plan for Detroit. He has worked extensively with the community schools movement including the Coalition for Community Schools and the Na-tional Center for Community Schools. Extensively published, he is the author of The Role of Communi-ty Schools in Place Based Initiatives: Collaborating for Student Success and co-author of chapters in ma-jor textbooks on collaborative leadership, consensus building, and deliberative democracy.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)Jane QuinnJane Quinn joined The Children’s Aid Society executive team in January of 2000 and currently serves as the Society’s Vice President for Com-munity Schools and as Director of

the National Center for Community Schools. On the national level, Quinn’s work focuses on advancing the community schools strategy as a preferred edu-cation reform approach. She also provides strategic planning and fundraising expertise to the Society’s local community schools, which are long-term partnerships with the New York City Department of Education. Prior to CAS, Quinn worked at DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund and Carnegie Corpo-ration of New York. Quinn has also served as director of program services for Girls Clubs of America. She has held positions at the D.C. Health Department and the Center for Population Options. She was a caseworker for the Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago, and Family Counseling Center, Catholic Charities of Buffalo, N.Y. Quinn received a master’s degree from the University of Chicago School of So-cial Service Administration and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the College of New Rochelle.

Mary A. RonanSuperintendent Mary A. Ronan - now in her fifth year leading Cincinnati Public Schools and her 37th year with the district - believes “national prominence is within CPS’ grasp, and,

pulling together, I have no doubt we will achieve it.” With a keen focus on raising students’ academic achievement, Superintendent Ronan has led Cincin-nati Public Schools, through the implementation of the community learning centers, to the distinction of being Ohio’s highest-performing urban school dis-trict for four school years: 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Before her appointment as Interim Superintendent, Ronan served as Director of Schools supervising the district’s principals. She previously served as an Assistant Superintendent, and she was principal of Kilgour School in 2001-02 when it won a National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the U.S. De-partment of Education. Ronan, a Cincinnati native, began her career in education with Cincinnati Public

Schools as a teacher of math and science at the mid-dle- and high-school levels.

paul rudolphMr. Rudolph is the Executive Director of Growing Well, a pediatric popu-lation health management organi-zation that maximizes community resources to create optimal health

for optimal learning. Mr. Rudolph utilizes Growing Well’s tools and networks to embed health partners into community learning center schools. Since 2013, Mr. Rudolph has coordinated the Children’s Oral Health Network, which has successfully opened a school-based dental clinic with 3 fully-functional, fixed dental operatories at Oyler School. Since 2009, Mr. Rudolph has been actively engaged in health-care, including development of proprietary indus-try metrics and national presentations for the rural hospital industry. Prior to focusing on the healthcare industry, Mr. Rudolph held numerous roles in KPMG and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Rudolph graduated from University of Kansas with a B.S. in Accounting, B.S. in Business Administration, and B.G.S. in Economics. He is also a Masters in Public Health candidate at The Ohio State University.

peggy samolinskiPeggy Samolinski is the Division Manager for the SUN Service System, a division within Multnomah Coun-ty’s Department of County Human Services. She has worked in the

County developing and managing youth and family programs and systems of services for 15 years; her social work background goes back over 25 years. Ms. Samolinski played a key role in developing the policy framework for aligning programs for school age children and their families into systems of care that strengthen collaboration and partnerships across the County. In her current role she is overseeing the ongoing growth and development of the SUN Service System, which includes SUN Community Schools. Peggy holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s in Social Work from Portland State University.


Speaker Biographies (Continued)jim schiffBorn and raised in Cincinnati, Jim Schiff received his B.A. from Duke University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He is the author or editor of five books

on contemporary American fiction, including John Updike Revisited, Understanding Reynolds Price, and Updike in Cincinnati. His work has appeared in American Literature, The Southern Review, The Mis-souri Review, Tin House, Critique, Boulevard, Studies in American Fiction, The South Atlantic Review, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere. He is also a regular reviewer of books for newspapers, magazines and journals, and he serves as the editor of the John Updike Review as well as a consulting editor of Critique and Philip Roth Studies. He has served on various nonprofit boards, including the Duke University Trinity Board of Vis-itors, the University of Cincinnati Foundation, The Seven Hills School, the Community Learning Center Institute, WCET-TV, and the Mercantile Library.

Jake SchonekerJake Schoneker is Program Direc-tor and lead multimedia instructor at the Media Enterprise Alliance at KDOL-TV, the educational access TV station for the Oakland Unified

School District. He designs curriculum and leads a team of media professionals to train inner-city youth employable skills in video production, broadcast journalism, design and animation.

Jake’s students at KDOL have produced a variety of work for professional clients (most recently, an ani-mated PSA for the Coalition for Community Schools), had their work broadcast nationally on the PBS New-sHour and other outlets, and won numerous awards for their filmmaking, including from PBS and the National Academy of Teleivison Arts and Sciences.

Jake holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley and a BA in Political Science from Villanova University. His video reporting work has appeared on the PBS NewsHour, the Washington Post, and the AFP.

mayor pedro segarraPedro E. Segarra is the 66th May-or of the City of Hartford. He was first sworn in on June 25, 2010 and then in November of 2011, he won a sweeping victory with 81% of

the vote. Elected with a clear mandate of bringing stability to Hartford, Mayor Segarra created a sense of urgency to revitalize Connecticut’s Capital City. His signature program “Opportunities Hartford” focuses on improvement in three pillars; income, education and employment.

A believer in the benefits of early childhood learn-ing, the Mayor has been one of the City’s strongest advocates for education reform effort, launched in 2007. Under his leadership, over $250 million has been invested to build and renovate Hartford public schools. Mayor Segarra has been a keen supporter of the Hartford Community Schools Partnerships (HCSP). The HCSP received the Coalition’s Communi-ty Schools Initiative Award for Excellence in 2013.

tracey schearTracey Schear is a licensed clinical social worker with 23 years of experi-ence in school health, school reform, and systems integration. In Novem-ber 2008, Tracey joined the Health

Care Services Agency of Alameda County, Califor-nia, as Director of the Center Healthy Schools and Communities. Prior to this position, Tracey worked as the Executive Director for the Berkeley Alliance, a partnership between the City of Berkeley, California, the Berkeley School District, and other stakeholders. Tracey also served as the Director of Healthy Start for California’s Redwood City School District. Addi-tionally, she has provided consultation and leader-ship coaching to a number of California community school efforts.

bill shieblerBill Shiebler began organizing as a student activist at the University of California Santa Barbara around the expanding access to education for undocumented students and living

wages for city workers. After leading a statewide student coalition that ran grassroots organizing cam-


Speaker Biographies (Continued)paigns to improve public education he graduated and became the Organizing Director for the United States Student Association. While at USSA Bill trained college students across the country and directed the organization’s national issue and electoral cam-paigns. He left USSA to work for the Service Employ-ees International Union in Baltimore, MD with 1199 United Healthcare Workers East where he helped workers form unions in different cities on the East Coast. He is a trainer for Wellstone Action and recent-ly decided to continue organizing at the American Federation of Teachers as the Northeast Community Engagement Coordinator. At AFT Bill works to unite parents, community organizations and teachers around public education reform.

p.g. sittenfeldP.G. Sittenfeld became the youngest person ever elected to Cincinnati City Council when he finished 2nd in a field of 23 candidates in his first run for public office in 2011. Sit-

tenfeld won re-election to his seat in 2013, earning a higher percentage of the vote and winning by a larger margin than any candidate in Cincinnati City Council history. He currently chairs the City’s Educa-tion & Entrepreneurship Committee.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Sittenfeld graduated from Princeton University magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and was awarded a Marshall Scholarship for graduate study at Oxford University. Following his studies, Sittenfeld returned to become the Assistant Director of the Community Learning Center Institute. In this role, Sittenfeld helps turn Cincinnati schools into neighborhood hubs offering health, educa-tional, and recreational opportunities for students, families and the surrounding community.

ralph r. smithRalph R. Smith, Senior Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is Managing Director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, (www.gradelevelreading.net) a nation-wide

effort to reverse the unacceptably high rates of low-income children in the United States not reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade.

Smith was a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania for two decades teach-ing Corporations and Securities Law and Education Law and Policy. During those two decades, he also served as Special Counsel, Chief of Staff, Chief Op-erating Officer and Transition Director for the Phil-adelphia School District and as Senior Advisor to Philadelphia’s Mayor. Smith led the School District teams that designed and implemented the district’s landmark Voluntary Desegregation Plan, negotiated some of the nation’s first education reform driven teacher contracts, and developed Children Achiev-ing -- a district-wide blueprint supported by the Annenberg Challenge.

quanisha m. smithQuanisha M. Smith is Co-Executive Director of ACTION United, Pennsyl-vania’s largest community organi-zation of low to moderate income families. She is locally recognized

for her educational and community development work. Ms. Smith grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx (New York City), and was it not for scholarships and educational opportunities in her community, she does not know where she would be today. Fueled by a passion to pave the way for children with similar backgrounds and for social change, Quanisha worked in youth development before she chose a career in community organizing. Ms. Smith is a University of Pennsylvania Alumni and holds a Bachelors of Science in Human Services (Springfield College). Currently, she is candidate for a Masters Degree in Social Service (MSW equivalent) with a concentration in Community Practice, Policy & Advocacy from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work & Social Research.

ronnette summersRonnette Summers has been a parent leader with the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, the New Settlement Parent Action Committee in the South Bronx, and a founding

member of the Educational Justice Political Action Committee for the past 6 years. All these organiza-tions focus on organizing a parent-led movement to end the inequities in the city’s public school system. She is committed to ensuring that every student in


Speaker Biographies (Continued)New York City receives a well rounded education, and truly believes in the power of parents to affect change. She has led various workshops, spoken on panels and at rallies, organized forums, and worked with elected officials, advocates and the NYC De-partment of Education to devise and implement strategies that create a more equitable educational system. She is a single parent of 2 children. She has a bachelors degree in Business management, and has worked in the finance industry for the past 28 years.

Robert VidañaRobert Vidaña is the community school coordinator on the campus of John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles with Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP). For

the last four years, he has been a part of the trans-formation of the campus and culture into one that is more supportive of student success. He works directly with community organizations interested in promoting academic success, health and emotional wellness, and positive out-of-school time among students. Robert’s focus is to provide a structure and network that allow organizations to better serve the Fremont community. Robert has also facilitated a successful student-led, student-run peer mediation program that is part of a larger restorative justice ap-proach the school has implemented. This mediation program has helped reduce suspensions, decrease conflict, and promote a culture of peace. Prior to coming to LAEP, Robert worked on urban planning issues within South Los Angeles, particularly in com-munity development.

lisa villarrealLisa Villarreal, program officer for education, has over 30 years of ex-perience in public education serving as teacher, counselor, and adminis-trator at the local level and director

of grants and professional development programs at the county, state, and university levels. Lisa is also a national consultant on education reform and com-munity school partnerships. Before joining The San Francisco Foundation in 2005, Lisa was executive director at the CRESS Center (Cooperative Research and Extension Services for Students), The Center for Community School Partnerships and The Healthy

Start Field Office, all at the University of California, Davis. She currently serves on the executive board of directors for Grantmakers for Education, is an adviso-ry board member at the Foundation Center and the San Francisco Exploratorium, and chairs the National Coalition for Community Schools steering commit-tee. A first-generation Mexican American, Lisa holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Educa-tion.

joann weeksJoann Weeks is an associate director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Part-nerships, focusing on its regional, national and international programs.

She directs the national adaptation of the Netter Center’s university-assisted community school pro-gram, as well as its training and technical assistance activities. She supervises the staff of the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Devel-opment (PHENND), a consortium of 36 institutions of higher education in the Philadelphia region, as well as the Netter Center’s evaluation activities. Ms. Weeks has worked closely with the national Coalition for Community Schools since its inception in 1997 and is a member of its Community School Leader Network and Steering Committee. Ms. Weeks is an executive editor of Penn’s Universities and Commu-nity Schools journal.

randi weingartenRandi Weingarten is president of the 1.5 million-member American Feder-ation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Weingar-ten has been an advocate for com-munity schools since her election as

president in 2008. Prior to this, Weingarten served for 12 years as president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2, representing approximately 200,000 educators in the New York City public school system, as well as home child care providers and other workers in health, law and education. In 2013, the New York Observer named Weingarten one of the most influential New Yorkers of the past 25 years. Washington Life magazine included Weingarten on its 2013 Power 100 list of influential leaders. Since her inaugural speech as President of AFT in 2008, Weingarten has championed community schools in


Speaker Biographies (Continued)many cities including McDowell County, West Virgin-ia and New York City.

paige whalenPaige Whalen is the Birth through Eight Program Manager and coor-dinates the Linkages/Mind In the Making Project for the Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative (TAC-

SI), which strives to create an effective continuum of quality, developmentally appropriate opportunities for children, birth through age eight, promoting seamless transitions for children and their families. Paige is also the Quality Enhancement Initiative (QEI) Coordinator at the Child Care Resource Cen-ter, a program of the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa, Inc. This role includes the devel-opment of community collaborations in support of early care and learning programs in achieving the highest quality care and best practices with regard to children and families. The QEI in Tulsa is a mod-el Accreditation Facilitation Project, recognized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Ms. Whalen’s career includes over 25 years experience teaching young children, admin-istration of child care programs and program & grant management, coordination and support.

sherri wilsonSherri Wilson is the Senior Manager of Family & Community Engagement for the National PTA. She is responsi-ble for the development and imple-mentation of all PTA programming

related to family and community engagement. She leads the National PTA Urban Family Engagement Initiative and provides training, information and support to National PTA staff as well as state and local members related to family engagement and the implementation of the National PTA Standards for Family School Partnerships. Ms. Wilson was the Co-founder of the Alabama Parent Education Center and served as Alabama PIRC Director for over fifteen years.

francie wolginFrancie Wolgin is responsible for de-signing and implementing creative new initiatives to improve communi-ty health. She also will provide lead-ership and facilitation of local groups

in coordinating efforts to address health care needs. Francie works with community primary care provid-ers, all school-based health center related grants, and directs Interact’s Capacity Building Program for nonprofit development.

Before coming to Interact for Health, Francie served as System Leader for Education and Employee Development at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She held an adjunct facul-ty appointment at the University of Michigan and was named the 1999 Distinguished Alumna of the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing, where she earned her Master’s Degree. Francie also held two terms as President of the National Nursing Staff Development Organization. She currently serves on the MedCom Advisory board and staffs the Interact for Change Scholarship Committee.

sarah zeller-berkmanSarah Zeller-Berkman has been with YDI since 2008. Sarah received her doctorate in Social Personality Psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center. She has published articles in

the Journal of Community, Youth and Environments, the Handbook of Qualitative Research, AfterSchool Matters, and New Directions for Evaluation as well as for two textbooks, Globalizing Cultural Studies and Children of Incarcerated Parents: Developmental and Clinical Implications. Sarah has also directed the development and dissemination of eight promis-ing practices documents for young adolescents as the coordinator of the Beacons Young Adolescent Initiative. In her current role as Director of Commu-nity Youth Development, Sarah leads the national advocacy and training efforts of the Beacon National Network and provides capacity building support to out-of-school time programs across New York City. Sarah provides capacity building in the areas of youth participation and engagement, youth partic-ipatory action research, supervision, and program planning.


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Martin J. blankMartin J. Blank is the President of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) in Washington, DC. He leads IEL in its efforts to build the capacity of people, organizations and systems—

in education and related fields—to cross boundaries and work together to attain better results for chil-dren and youth. Marty has been associated with IEL since 1985, focusing his work on building bridges between schools and other institutions with assets that can support student success. Marty also serves as the Director of the Coalition for Community Schools, which is staffed by the Institute for Educa-tional Leadership.

He has a B.A. from Columbia University, 1965, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and served as a VISTA Volunteer in the Missouri Bootheel.

Maame AppiahMaame joined the Coalition in January of 2007, and is currently the Manager for Operations and Partner-ships. She is primarily responsible for network development and manage-

ment, as well as day-to-day operations, including financial and programmatic management. In this role, Maame manages various Coalition networks, including the Community Schools Leadership Net-work, Superintendents Leadership Council, Commu-nity Schools Coordinators Network, and the United Way-Community Schools Learning Community.

Her previous experience includes interning for Mich-igan State Representative Barbara Farrah. She has also been an after-school community service leader and has volunteered for the Ronald McDonald House Charities and various women’s organizations—in-cluding the Women’s Campaign Forum, mentored youth and served on various national planning committees for education/health groups. Maame received her B.A. in Political Science from Michigan State University. She is also a graduate of the George Washington University Event Management program, and an alumni of IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).

Eric ClineEric Cline is IEL’s Digital Communica-tions and Technology Coordinator. From 2009 to 2013, he coordinated IEL’s national career-focused Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program

and worked on the IEL-led National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth. Prior to his work at IEL, he was the Coordinator for Member Services and Quality Initiatives at the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC), where he edited NYEC’s monthly e-publication, managed the an-nual Members Forum, and designed and trained professionals on the NYEC Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) Online Tools for Program Improvement. He managed the PEPNet Pilot Accred-itation process for youth development, workforce development, and education programs and deliv-ered technical assistance to youth-serving systems and organizations. In Denver, CO, he was a case manager at a youth center called The Spot, where he performed job and goal coaching, tutoring, and crisis and suicide intervention with youth ages 14 to 24. Eric earned a B.A. in English and Theater from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Reuben JacobsonReuben Jacobson serves as the Coalition’s Senior Associate for Re-search and Strategy. In that capacity he develops and implements the Coalition’s research agenda, con-

ducts and analyzes research on community schools, writes about school and community partnerships, and works with the Coalition staff on overall strategy including policy and building local capacity. Reuben is author of a number of publications including the American Educator article “A Coordinated effort: Well-conducted partnerships meet students’ aca-demic, health, and social service needs” and “Scaling Up School and Community Partnerships: The Com-munity Schools Strategy.” Reuben has also presented widely on community schools.

Reuben spent two wonderful years teaching fifth and sixth grade students in D.C. Public Schools as a D.C. Teaching Fellow and previously worked at the

COALITION STAFF Biographies


COALITION STAFF Biographies (Continued)American Institutes for Research (AIR) as an educa-tion research analyst. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Education Policy at the University of Mary-land – College Park.

Shama JamalShama joined the Coalition for Community Schools in June 2012 as the National Policy Emerson Fellow from the Netter Center for Commu-nity Partnerships at the University of

Pennsylvania. Shama supports the Coalition’s policy efforts at the federal and state level, coordinates the Coalition’s communications and media efforts, and manages the Community Schools Coordinators net-work. Shama has also co-authored a report on “The Convergence of Community Schools and Expanded Learning Opportunities.” Prior to joining the Coalition, Shama served as Netter Center’s Penn’s Program for Public Service (PPPS) and Civic Development intern to start and manage partnerships for the school’s Community Resource Center at University City High School in West Phila-delphia. She has also worked with education organi-zations in Tanzania, East Africa and the Social Finan-cial Services Department at Ashoka in Washington, DC. Shama graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Economics.

Helen Janc MaloneDr. Helen Janc Malone is the Director of Institutional Advancement fo-cused on continuing to grow IEL as an agent of social change. Her select recent publications include Leading

Educational Change: Global Issues, Challenges, and Lessons on Whole-System Reform (Teachers College Press, 2013), The Futures of School Reform (Harvard Education Press, 2012, chapter), Expanded Learning Time and Opportunities (Jossey-Bass, 2011), and Year-Round Learning: Connecting School, After-school, and Summer Contexts to Support Learning (Harvard Family Research Project, 2011, co-author). She is on the editorial boards of two journals, Af-terschool Matters and the Journal of Expanded Learning Opportunities. She co-founded two special interest groups within the American Educational Re-

search Association. She is the 2011 PDK International Emerging Leader award recipient. She holds an Ed.D. in education policy, leadership, and instructional practice from Harvard University.

Devon MinerveDevon Minerve is a Program Assis-tant at the Institute for Educational Leadership. In this capacity, she provides on-going administrative, lo-gistical, and programmatic support

to IEL’s president and the Coalition for Community Schools.

Prior to joining IEL, Devon served as an AmeriCorps member of Jumpstart, implementing early child-hood curriculum and promoting language and lit-eracy skills to a group of 21 children in East Harlem. She has also interned with the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a non-profit policy organization that advocates for justice, dignity, and reform for vulnera-ble women and girls in the United States and Afri-ca. In 2012, Devon served as a Junior Facilitator for The Open Classroom’s “Young Leaders of Tomorrow Program,” a Hong Kong-based educational enterprise that offers leadership programs and classes to mid-dle and high school students in both Hong Kong and Singapore. Devon received her B.A. in English from Columbia University with a Pre-law concentration.

Heather NaviaskyHeather Naviasky is the Program Associate for the Center for Fami-ly, School, and Community at the Institute for Educational Leadership. Her responsibilities include manag-

ing the Community Schools National Forum, Awards, and Steering Committee. Heather also coordinates the District Leaders Network on Family and Com-munity Engagement (FCE). Now consisting of over 125 districts, this peer network brings together district leaders from across the nation and provides the most up-to-date resources, professional devel-opment, and best practices to ultimately improve student achievement.

Heather graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in Political Science and a focus in Public Policy. Prior to joining IEL, she worked


COALITION STAFF Biographies (Continued)at the First Federal Congress Project as a research assistant, conducting primary research on George Washington’s personal papers. Heather continues to volunteer for the Nationals Baseball team’s after-school program in Washington, D.C.

Mary Kingston RocheMary Kingston Roche is the Public Policy Manager for the Coalition for Community Schools. In this role she leads the policy and advocacy efforts of the Coalition to promote

the community schools approach on the federal and state levels. She also manages the Coalition’s na-tional partnerships. Prior to this role, Mary served as Manager of Government Relations for the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Mary received her Master of Public Policy from Duke University and her Bachelor’s degree from Bos-ton University. She began her career in education teaching secondary English in Oakland, CA through the Teach For America program. Mary is also a proud alumna of IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program.In her spare time, Mary works with the nonprofit Turning the Page to help parents become more effective educators of their children at home, advo-cates for their children in school and leaders within their school community.

S. Kwesi RollinsA member of IEL’s Senior Leader-ship Team, Kwesi Rollins guides IEL’s portfolio of programs designed to develop and support leaders with a particular emphasis on Family

and Community Engagement, Early Childhood Education, Principal Leadership Development and Support, and Community-based Leadership Devel-opment. Kwesi has years of experience providing technical assistance and training to local communi-ties and a range of state and county agencies, school districts, local schools and community-based orga-nizations to improve cross-sector collaboration and service delivery systems supporting children, youth and families.

Working with young people is also a personal pas-sion - Kwesi has special expertise in resiliency and youth development, has been recognized as the Big Brother of the Year, and served as VP for Program Services on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the National Capitol Area. He holds an MSW from the University of Maryland School of So-cial Work where he was a Maternal and Child Health Leadership Training Fellow.

ACTION CENTERSecond Floor

Join forces with your teams to take action today to address the inequitable

challenges of educating our young people. Take an Action Card. Tweet at your

Congressional Member. Take Action!

Take part with the Ohio Federation of Teachers, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers,

the American Federation of Teachers, and the Coalition for Community Schools and leave a

book or two, or more, behind.

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Stop by the Action Center to learn more!


About the Coalition

About IELFor a half-century, the Institute for Educational Lead-ership (IEL) has championed the need for leaders at all levels to shake off their institutional constraints and work across boundaries to address the needs of young

people and their families. Bound by no constituency, IEL serves as a catalyst that helps policymakers, administrators, and practitioners at all levels to bridge bureaucratic silos and undo gridlock to improve outcomes for all young people and their families.

The work of IEL focuses on three pillars required for young people and their communities to succeed.

� Involving the broader community with public education to support the learning and development of young people.

� Building more effective pathways into the workforce for all young people and supporting the transition to adulthood.

� Preparing generations of leaders with the know-how to drive collaborative efforts at all levels.

VisionA society that uses all of its

resources effectively to provide an equal opportunity for all children and youth to learn, develop, and become contributing citizens of

our democracy.

MissionTo equip leaders to work

together across boundaries to build effective systems that prepare children and youth for

postsecondary education, careers, and citizenship.

The Coalition for Community Schools, housed at the Insti-tute for Educational Leader-

ship, is an alliance of organizations in K-16 education, youth development, community planning, higher education, family support, health and human ser-vices, government, philanthropy, and national, state, and local community school networks. The Coalition advocates for community schools as a strategy to leverage local resources and programs, changing the look and feel of the traditional school structure to best meet the needs of children and families.

VisionThe Coalition for Community Schools believes that strong communities require strong schools and strong schools require strong communities. We envi-sion a future in which schools are centers of thriving communities where everyone belongs, works to-gether, and succeeds.

Mission The Coalition advances opportunities for the success of children, families, and communities by promoting the development of more, and more effective, com-munity schools.

Core Values � Foster Strong Partnerships—Partners share their resources and expertise and work together to design community schools and make them work.

� Share Accountability for Results—Clear, mutually agreed-upon results drive the work of community schools. Data help partners measure progress toward results. Agreements enable them to hold each other accountable and move beyond “turf battles.”

� Set High Expectations for All—Community schools are organized to support learn¬ing. Children, youth, and adults are expected to learn at high standards and be con¬tributing members of their community.

� Build on the Community’s Strengths—Community schools marshal the assets of the entire community, including the people who live and work there, local organizations, and the school.

� Embrace Diversity—Community schools know their communities. They work to develop respect and a strong positive identity for people of diverse backgrounds; and they are committed to the welfare of the whole community.


Lisa VillarrealChairEducation Program OfficerThe San Francisco Foundation

Robert MahaffeyVice ChairDirector, CommunicationsThe Rural School and Community

Trust

Sharon Adams-TaylorAssociate Executive DirectorAASA, The School

Superintendents Association

Howard Adelman/Linda TaylorCo-DirectorsUCLA Center for Mental Health in

SchoolsDepartment of Psychology

Carlos AzcoitiaDistinguished Professor of

PracticeEducational Leadership ProgramNational-Louis UniversityMemberChicago Board of Education

Daniel Cardinali PresidentCommunities in Schools

Matia Finn-StevensonAssociate Director, Schools of the

21st Century, Yale University

Ayeola FortuneDirector of Education PartnershipsUnited Way Worldwide

Josephine FranklinAssociate Director, Research and

Information ResourcesNational Association of Secondary

School Principals

Cathy GrayAssociate SuperintendentEvansville Vanderburgh School

Corporation

Diana HallProgram SupervisorSUN Service SystemMultnomah County Department

of County Human Services

Ira HarkavyChair EmeritusAssociate Vice-President and

DirectorNetter Center for Community

PartnershipsUniversity of Pennsylvania

Merita IrbyManaging DirectorThe Forum for Youth Investment

Clifford JohnsonExecutive DirectorInstitute for Youth Education and

FamiliesNational League of Cities

Linda JuszczakExecutive DirectorSchool Based Health Alliance

Frank MirabelVice PresidentYouth Development, Inc.

Melissa MitchellExecutive DirectorIllinois Federation for Community

Schools

Jane QuinnDirector, National Center for

Community Schools, Children’s Aid Society

Ellen PaisPresident/CEOLos Angeles Education

Partnership

Jennifer PeckExecutive DirectorPartnership for Children and Youth

Andrea PrejeanNEA Director of Priority SchoolsNational Education Association

Adeline RaySenior ManagerCPS Community Schools InitiativeChicago Public Schools

Jennifer ReinhartVice President, Research & PolicyAfterschool Alliance

Brent SchondelmeyerCommunications DirectorLocal Investment Commission

Shital C. ShahAssistant Director, Education

Issues American Federation of Teachers

Sean SladeDirector, Whole Child ProgramsASCD

Joann WeeksAssociate Director Netter Center for Community

PartnershipsUniversity of Pennsylvania

Sarah Zeller-BirkmanDirector of Community Youth

Development for the Youth Development Institute

Martin J. BlankPresident, Institute for Educational

Leadership, and Director, Coalition for Community Schools

COALITION Steering Committee


coalition partnersCommunity Development/Community BldgCenter for Community ChangeThe Center for Leadership InnovationHarlem Children’s ZoneNational Council of La RazaNational Trust for Historic PreservationNational Urban LeaguePolice Executive Research ForumThe Harwood InstituteEducationAmerican Federation of TeachersAmerican School Counselor AssociationASCDCitizen SchoolsCouncil of Chief State School OfficersCouncil of the Great City SchoolsDevelopmental Studies CenterElev8Learning First AllianceNational Association for Bilingual EducationNational Association of Elementary School PrincipalsNational Assn. of School PsychologistsNational Assn. of Secondary School PrincipalsNational Assn. of State Boards of EducationNational Assn. of State Directors of Special EducationNational Education AssociationNational PTANational School Boards AssociationSchool Social Workers AssociationSchool Superintendents AssociationFamily Support/Human ServicesAlliance for Children and FamiliesAmerican Public Human Services AssociationCollaborative for Academic, Social & Emotional LearningChild Welfare League of AmericaChildren and Families FirstEnterprise Community PartnersHarvard Family Research ProjectNational Center for Family LearningNational Center for Family LiteracyThe Educational AllianceUnited Way WorldwideGovernmentNational League of CitiesNational Association of CountiesNational Conference of State LegislaturesNational Governors AssociationThe U.S. Conference of MayorsCorporation for Ntl. and Community Service21st Century Community Learning Center ProgramCenters for Disease Control and PreventionHealth and Mental HealthAmerican Public Health AssociationAmerican School Health AssociationCenter for Health and Health Care in Schools, George Washington UniversityCenter for Social and Emotional EducationMental Health AmericaNational Mental Health AmericaSchool-Based Health AllianceSociety of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation

Trust for America’s HealthUCLA Center for Mental Health in SchoolsLocal Community School NetworksABC Community Schools Partnership (NM)Achievement Plus (MN)Baltimore City Community Schools Initiative (MD)Bates College/Lewiston Public Schools (ME)Boost! (United Way) (CT)Boston Public Schools (MA)Brooklyn Center Community Schools District (MN)Children and Families First(DE)Children’s Aid Society Community Schools (NY)Children’s Services Council Palm Beach Cty. (FL)Cincinnati Community Learning Centers (OH)Closing the Gap- FSCS Initiative (NY)CMSD Community Wrap Around Schools (OH)Community College of Aurora/Aurora Public Schools (CO)Community Schools Collaboration (WA) CPS Community Schools Initiative (IL)Cranston Family Center and COZ (RI)Dayton Neighborhood School Centers (OH)Denver Beacons Community Schools (OH)Des Moines Public Schools (IA)Detroit Public Schools (MI)Elev8 Chicago (IL)Evansville Vanderburgh School District (IN)Flowing Wells Full-Service Community Schools Program (AZ)Gainesville City Schools (GA)George Washington Community High School (IN)Greater Lehigh Valley-COMPASS (PA)Hartford Community Schools (CT)Holyoke Public School District (MA)Kent County Social Services Network (MI)LA Education Partnership (CA)Lancaster School District (PA)Lincoln Community Learning Centers (NE)Linkages to Learning (MD)Local Investment Commission (MO)Metro Nashville Public Schools (TN)Minneapolis Beacons Network (MN)Netter Center for Community Partnerships (PA)New Jersey Community Development Corp.(NJ)Oakland Unified School District (CA)Ogden School District (UT)Ontario-Montclair School District (CA)Pasadena Unified School District (CA)Peoria Full Service Community School Initiative (IL)Redmond School District Community Schools (CA)Redwood 2020 (CA)Rhode Island Partnership for Community SchoolsRockland 21c Collaborative for Children and Youth (NY)San Francisco Unified School District (CA)Santa Rosa City Schools (CA)St. Louis Public Schools (MO)SUN Service System and Community School (OR)The Austin Project (TX)Thrive - Five Strategies (MT)

Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative (OK)United Way of Greater Toledo - Schools as Hubs (OH)United Way of Salt Lake City (UT)University of Alabama-Birmingham/Birmingham Public Schools (AL)University of Dayton/Dayton Public Schools (OH)University of Denver/Denver Public Schools (CO)University of Kentucky/Lexington Public Schools (KY)University of New Mexico/United South Broad-way/Albuquerque Public Schools (NM)University of Rhode Island/Pawtucket Public Schools (RI)University of Tennessee-Knoxville (TN)Vallejo Unified School District (CA)Vancouver Public Schools (WA)West Chicago School District 33 (IL)West Contra Costa Unified SD (CA)YMCA of Dade County Sun Prairie Community Schools (FL)YMCA of Long Beach (CA)National Community School NetworksBeacons Schools-Youth Development InstituteChildren’s Aid SocietyCommunities in SchoolsNetter Center for Community Partnerships, University of PennsylvaniaSchools of the 21st Century, Yale UniversityPhilanthropyAnnie E. Casey FoundationCarnegie CorporationCharles Stewart Mott FoundationEwing Marion Kauffman FoundationFord FoundationJP Morgan Chase FoundationKnowledgeWorks FoundationMilton S. Eisenhower FoundationPolk Bros. FoundationRose Community FoundationStuart FoundationThe Atlantic PhilanthropiesThe San Francisco FoundationThe Wallace FoundationW.K. Kellogg FoundationPolicy, Training, and Advocacy21st Century School FundAfterschool AllianceAlliance for Community Teachers and SchoolsAlliance for Excellent EducationAmerican Association of Higher EducationAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing Assn.American Youth Policy ForumAnnenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown UniversityCenter for Strategic Community InnovationChild and Family Policy CenterChild Welfare League of AmericaChildren’s Defense FundCommittee for Economic DevelopmentCouncil for Exceptional ChildrenEducation Commission of the StatesEducation Development CenterFirst Focus


EXHIBITORSAmerican Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that cham-pions fairness; democracy; economic

opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do. For more information, visit: www.aft.org. (Find AFT in the Action Center)

Community Schools Leadership Network

The Community Schools Leadership Network (CSLN) is a Network of the Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership. CSLNis a professional learning community that provides a forum for identifying, sharing and learning about emerging issues in community school practice for leaders of initiatives. The sixty-nine network mem-bers represent key systems level players in local com-munity school efforts. For more information, visit www.communityschools.org/about/networks.aspx.

Children’s Aid SocietyNational Center for Community Schools

The Children’s Aid Society National Center for Community Schools (CAS-NCCS) was founded in 1994 to respond to the interest generated by CAS community schools in New York City. From the beginning it draws on our

community schools practice, as well as on lessons from around the country and abroad. The Center has played a leading role in the community schools movement, and has provided assistance to most major national and international community schools initiatives. www.nationalcenterforcommunity-schools.org. NCCS is proud to be a close partner and founding member of the Coalition for Community Schools.

First BookFirst Book is determined to see that all children, regardless of their economic conditions, can achieve more in school and in life through access to an ongoing supply of new books. With the help of our

partners we have provided more than 100 million new books to children in need. Yet millions of chil-dren are still waiting for our help. Together we can make a difference in children’s lives. Together we can provide new books and critical resources that ele-vate the quality of education for children in low-in-come families. See more at www.firstbook.org. (Find First Book in the Action Center)

FranklinCoveyThe Leader in Me is a whole-school transfor-mation model that acts like the operating

system of a computer — it improves performance of all other programs. Based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®, The Leader in Me produces trans-formational results such as higher academic achieve-ment, fewer discipline problems, and increased engagement among teachers and parents. Better yet, The Leader in Me equips students with the self-confidence and skills they need to thrive in the 21st century economy.

MobileCommMobilcomm is a Full Service Communication Provider offering analysis, consulta-

tion, sales, service and ongoing maintenance to meet all of your communication needs. We were founded in 1941 bringing over 70 years of success and experience in the Communication Industry, and are located in Southwest Ohio and serve the sur-rounding 18 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. We provide a broad array of wireless communication solutions to help small, medium, and large size businesses serve their customers better, control costs and improve productivity. For more informa-tion, visit www.mobilcomm.com/catalog.


EXHIBITORS (Continued)

Parent’s Homework DictionaryThe Parent’s Homework Dictionary is designed to empower parents with knowledge to help their children succeed in school. These books cover the major subject areas like Math, Language Arts, Science, Economics and much more.

Books come in 10 languages. For more information, visit http://www.damand.com/products.htm.

Play With Purpose Initiative The Play With Purpose Initiative is creating tomorrow’s great thinkers, problem-solvers and leaders through Play. Through The PWP Initiative’s educator,

student and community programs, we are trans-forming lives through The Power of Play. For more information, visit www.pwap.com.

Renegade LearningRenegade Learn-ing builds energy, excitement, and unity out of chaos and failure, by

training principals to embrace teachers & their ideas as the solution--not the problem--in underperform-ing schools. For more information, visit http://rene-gadelearning.com.

ScholasticScholastic FACE (Family and Community Engagement) pro-grams and resources are designed to provide educators, parents, and community leaders the re-search-based solutions they need

to help all children succeed inside and outside of the classroom. The programs are aligned with key na-tional educational priorities that are critical to ensur-ing success for all children from birth to high school: early literacy, family involvement, access to books, expanded learning, and mentoring partnerships. Expert implementation support and professional development services are available to help with instructional strategies and sustain improvement.

S&S Worldwide

For over 100 years, S&S Worldwide has been provid-ing Recreation and youth serving organizations with fun, hands-on learning products such as Arts and Crafts; Games and Activities; Sports equipment & STEM! Call Sandy Cervini at 800-243-9232 x2361 or [email protected] for a quote.The University of Cincinnati

The College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) offers a wide variety of opportunities for K-12

teachers to enhance their current credentials, meet the requirements of state licensure, and further their education through professional development op-portunities. Students can complete coursework in a flexible online delivery format, which is ideal for earning graduate credits required to renew a teach-ing license or to reinstate an expired teaching li-cense. Programs may be offered at a special profes-sional development tuition rate. We have many programs that are available online only, and some that use a blended model. Contact us today for more information at [email protected].

Youth GuidanceYouth Guidance is a leading provider of out-comes-driven, school-based programs and capaci-ty-building initiatives, serving more than 14,000 at-risk youth in 70 Chicago Public and charter schools. Each Youth Guidance program has been strategically developed to address a community need that falls within one of three specific program delivery areas: Community & After-School, Counseling & Prevention and Youth Workforce Development. Ninety percent of students served are low income, and more than 95% are African American and Hispanic/Latino. For more information, visit www.youth-guidance.org.


Thank you...

Local Planning Committee:

Annie BogenschutzDirector of Training and Development Community Learning Center Institute

Molly Luken BrendamourResource Coordinator, Taylor AcademyCentral Clinic

Julie DopplerCommunity Learning Center CoordinatorCincinnati Public Schools

Helen HabbertVolunteer

Darlene KamineExecutive DirectorCommunity Learning Center Institute

Tracy PowerResource Coordinator, Roberts AcademyCommunity Learning Center Institute

Paul RudolphExecutive DirectorGrowing Well

Janet WalshDirector, Public Affairs DepartmentCincinnati Public Schools

Thank you to our Local and National Planning Committees that have gone above and beyond to make this Forum happen!

National Planning Committee:

Cathy GrayAssociate Superintendent for Family,School and Community Partnerships, EvansvilleVanderburgh School Corporation, Indiana

Jim GrimDirector of School/Community Engagement, George Washington Community High School

Marsha GuthrieProgram OfficerChildren’s Services Council of Palm Beach County

Angeline LeeSchool-Community Partnership SpecialistUnited Way of Greater Toledo

Carol Paine-McGovernDirectorKent School Services Network

Ellen PaisPresident and CEOLos Angeles Education Partnership

Brent SchondelmeyerCommunications Director,Local Investment Commission, Kansas City, Missouri

Shital C. ShahAssistant Director, Educational Issues DepartmentAmerican Federation of Teachers

Jane QuinnVice President, Children’s Aid Society;Director, National Center for Community Schools

Joann WeeksAssociate Director, Netter Center for Community PartnershipsUniversity of Pennsylvania

A special thank you to Darlene and Annie for their leadership and time in bringing the

Forum to Cincinnati!

Second Floor - Registration, ACTIon center, Mini Plenaries & workshops

THIRD Floor - Main sessions, exhibitors, & Mini Plenaries

Coalition for Community Schools c/o Institute for Educational Leadership4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20008

www.communityschools.org | www.iel.org | Twitter: @CommSchools; @IELconnects | 202-822-8405

Sponsors

Additionally, we’d like to thank the Allen H. and Selma W. Berkman Charitable Trust, the Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, and our other funders who wish to remain anonymous.

april 9 - 11, 2014 cincinnati, oh - community schools...4 2014 community schools national forum...

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