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A weekly update of Federation news and events

 
August 21, 2012
In This Issue
10 Days to Save on Forum Registration
Elev8 Chicago Cited in MetLife Issue Brief
2012 Chicago Policy Forum Series

Illinois Community School Forum  Creating a Community Vision for Our Children's Success 

October 19, 2012 -  
Chicago, IL

Our 8th Annual Illinois Community Schools Forum supports community school development by gathering stakeholders to share creative approaches to organizing systems and resources to support student and family success.    

 

Visit our website for more information.    

 

Register now - Rates increase September 1! 

 
Lights On Afterschool

 

Each October, one million Americans and more than 7,500 communities nationwide celebrate the afterschool programs that keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families.  This year's celebration will take place on October 18.  Use the Afterschool Alliance's event planning toolkit to start planning your Lights On Afterschool celebration to highlight the importance of afterschool programs at your community school.  And don't forget to tell us about your plans.  We'll be sharing highlights from Lights On Afterschool events around the state at our annual Community Schools Forum the next day! 
 
Quick Links

 

 

 

10 Days to Save!  Register now for the Illinois Community Schools Forum 

 

The 8th Annual Illinois Community Schools Forum: Creating a Community Vision for Our Children's Success, is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever!  Register before September 1st to take advantage of our discounted early-bird registration rates. 

 

Here are just some of the things you can look forward to:

 

Pre-Forum Seminar: Scaling Up Community & School Partnerships

Participants will explore the community schools approach, hear from local leaders and learn about ways to scale up community schools. The seminar will also focus on strategies for creating a collaborative leadership structure, constructing a shared vision, and planning for sustainability and implementation. This Pre-Forum Seminar is being offered in partnership with the national Coalition for Community Schools and is based on the framework presented in their interactive guide to Scaling Up School & Community Partnerships.    

 

Workshops highlighting community school best practices from around the country

Forum workshops will enable practitioners and advocates to learn from strong community schools and initiatives from across Illinois and throughout the country by focusing on best practices and innovative ways to fully implement the community school model. Workshops were designed for practitioners at all experience levels and those implementing community schools in rural, small city, suburban, and urban communities.   Read a summary of our workshop offerings.  

 

Outstanding Community School Leadership Awards

Community schools excel when leaders take ownership for moving the work forward.  Whether it's a visionary principal, strong resource coordinator, committed parent, or dedicated staff member, a strong leader in a community school is instrumental in ensuring full implementation of the model and to achieving goals.   The Federation will honor the work of exemplary community schools leaders who have demonstrated a vision for and commitment to moving the community school work forward.   

Nominate an outstanding community school leader by Friday, August 31, 2012.   

 

Prices increase September 1st

Group rates are also available

 

Contact Havilah Darnieder with any questions about the Forum. 

Elev8 Chicago Cited in After-School Alliance/MetLife Foundation Issue Brief  

 

The Afterschool Alliance in partnership with the MetLife Foundation recently highlighted Elev8 Chicago's Perspectives Middle Academy in a new issue brief examines the vital role that after-school and summer programming can play in school improvement efforts. Perspectives (which is partnered with Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corp.) is recognized as an exemplar of what schools and their community partners can achieve: "Elev8 has demonstrated its ability to use school improvement funding for directed, high-impact services that help not only the students but the community as a whole, and the results are proving the programs' worth. Since (Elev8's introduction at Perspectives) in the fall of 2008, the number of students meeting or exceeding standards has increased from 58 to 79 percent in math and 41 to 66 percent in science. Similarly, student health has increased dramatically with 100 percent of the student body receiving immunizations (up from 44 percent before 2008). This program stands as a model for smart, aligned school improvement combining its innovative enrichment activities and its wise use of funding."

 

As the brief further notes, there are approximately 5,000 "chronically underperforming schools" across the nation - in urban, suburban and rural communities. A growing body of research shows that high-quality afterschool programs can support efforts to turn around these struggling schools. Elev8 incorporates after-school and summer programming as part of a larger constellation of services that also includes school-based healthcare and family engagement 

 

You can hear members of the Elev8 team from Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corp. & Perspectives Middle School talk about how they have achieved community level change through strategic collection and analysis of data at the Illinois Community Schools Forum. 

Save the Date!  2012 Chicago School Policy Forum Series


Sweating the Soft Stuff:  Qualities Needed for learning and How to Nurture Them


You don't have to be a teacher to know that motivation, persistence, curiosity, conscientiousness and other such personal qualities make a big difference in student learning. And you might think there is little you can do about them. But new research-in brain science, social science and economics-makes a compelling case that these critical qualities, and even intelligence itself, can be developed - at school as well as at home. A new review by the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research concurs.

 

Come to the 2012 Chicago School Policy Forum Series to learn what this research can mean for policy and practice. Both lead speakers - journalist Paul Tough and researcher Camille Farrington - argue that school reform needs a course correction. In the words of Tough: "We have been focusing on the wrong skills and abilities in our children, and we have been using the wrong strategies to help nurture and teach those skills."

 

September 27:  New Path to Close the Achievement Gap    

Speaker:  Paul Tough, author of the forthcoming "How Children Succeed" and of "Whatever It Takes," his 2008 examination of the Harlem Children's Zone. 

 

Respondent:  Barbara Bowman, co-founder and former president of the Erikson Institute.

 

October 30:  What Schools Can Do  

Speaker:  Camille Farrington, Research Associate (Assistant Professor), University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and Consortium on Chicago School Research.  

 

Respondents:  Mary Ann Pitcher, co-director, Network for College Success.  Elizabeth Dozier, principal, Fenger High School, a turn-around school in the Roseland neighborhood.  Sean Stalling, chief of schools, South Side Network, Chicago Public Schools. 

 

This Policy Forum Series has been organized by BPI and Catalyst Chicago.  Both sessions will be held from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. at the Union League Club of Chicago. Registration opens in early September.