Tara J. King

Tara King, the Comer Coordinator in Hartsville, South Carolina in the Darlington County School District, came to New Haven at the end of November to shadow Shelia Brantley, the District Comer Facilitator for the New Haven Public Schools and a member of the SDP's National Faculty. Tara accompanied Shelia to School Planning and Management Team (SPMT), Student and Staff Support Team (SSST), and Parent Team meetings.

"It was a great opportunity to observe Comer Schools at different levels of implementation," said Tara. "By shadowing Shelia I learned strategies to use with schools at various levels of implementation. Effective implementation of the Comer Process will make a difference in the lives of our students in Hartsville."

Collective Responsibility in Action 

Tara observed a Student and Staff Support Team (SSST) meeting at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, a regional magnet school. The agenda included schoolwide issues, individual students, and teacher support. "This is the direction we are moving towards at our four Comer Schools in Hartsville," said Tara. "Currently we focus on individual students. After observing their meeting, the purpose of the SSST became clearer. At the close of the meeting, follow-ups were assigned to different people on the team. Collective responsibility was evident in this team."

Tara plans to add schoolwide issues and teacher support to their SSST agendas; develop an informal system to refer students to the team; and bring student data to all meetings focused on individual students.

Tara also observed a School Planning and Management Team (SPMT) meeting at Mauro-Sheridan Inter-District Magnet School for Science, Technology, and Communications. The SPMT discussed the issue of intercom announcements interrupting instruction. Shelia Brantley suggested that they form a committee to document the number and types of announcements made and to share that information at the next SPMT meeting where they will brainstorm solutions. "I really liked the way Shelia seized the opportunity to show them the benefit of the Comer Process," said Tara.

Tara attended a Parent Team meeting at East Rock Global Magnet School that is currently located in Hamden while their new building is under construction. East Rock's principal, Dr. Michael Conte, Jr., led the meeting that included the election of officers. Before the election, brief biographies of the parents who were running for office were sent home in the school newsletter. "Surprisingly, there was a tie for PTO president, therefore East Rock will have two presidents. This will work for both parents because they have other jobs and responsibilities," said Tara.

Tara will recommend to the Parent Teams at the four Comer schools in Hartsville that their monthly meetings be open to the entire school community and have a focused theme or topic. She will also recommend that the Parent Teams assign roles and elect officers who would meet monthly with their principals.

Tara also attended meetings of the School Planning and Management Team (SPMT) and the Student and Staff Support Team (SSST) at Wexler-Grant Community School. "Shelia did a great job of reminding the members of the SPMT of the process, keeping the group on task, and refocusing the discussions," said Tara. "The person who runs the Family Resource Center is the SPMT chair. The meeting ran very smoothly.  Everyone in attendance participated and added valuable input. It was evident from the meeting that everyone cared about the students."

As a result of her observations at Wexler-Grant, Tara would like to have grade-level parent meetings, trainings, and fundraisers. She also liked the idea of having a Pajama Night during the Book Fair.

Two citywide events provided Tara with great ideas to take back to Hartsville. One was a professional development workshop on the School Planning and Management Team conducted by Dr. Fay E. Brown and Shelia Brantley. "I want to include committee reports on SPMT agendas; have each SPMT develop a school calendar; and keep all minutes from committees and subcommittees in a binder. I also want to videotape SPMT meetings, for the schools to use in conjunction with the SDP's Process Documentation Inventory (PDI), to reflect on our SPMT process."   

Tara also attended the City-wide PTO meeting hosted by Hillhouse High School. "This was a wonderful event. They had a phenomenal turn out. Dinner was served. Some of the topics were bullying, magnet schools, the parent surveys, and charter schools. As a result of this meeting, I would love for us to start a City-wide PTO in Hartsville."

"Having Tara shadow me for a week as a Comer facilitator afforded me the opportunity to experience the meetings, coaching, and professional development with her discerning questions, appreciated accolades, and new strategies and suggestions to solve a problem," said Shelia Brantley. "I loved having her visit. She made me look more carefully at the decisions I help teams to make. It was great to process after meetings and school visits."

Planning with the SDP Faculty 

While she was in New Haven Tara met with members of the SDP faculty, including Camille Cooper, the Implementation Coordinator for Hartsville, Dr. Christine Emmons, the Director of Program Evaluation, and myself to plan upcoming events and activities in Hartsville. She and Camille discussed the vertical planning sessions they are organizing for Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade teachers in the spring; the establishment of a District Steering Committee (DSC); and Comer Process training for bus drivers. They began planning an event at the end of May at Coker College to celebrate the accomplishments of the four pilot Comer schools during the first year of implementation.

"The SDP faculty is grateful for Tara's opportunity to come to New Haven and make site visits to several schools, attend parent events. and work side by side with Shelia. This is an example of collaboration that the Comer process encourages. Schools and teachers are encouraged to share ideas, plan collaboratively, and even observe one another. This shadowing opportunity is an experience that I am confident will yield a big payoff for Hartsville's Comer schools," said Camille.

Tara and Camille also met with Dr. Emmons to finalize preparation for the classroom observations that Dr. Sandra McCloy, Jan Stocklinski, and Dr. Emmons conducted in the Hartsville Comer schools in early December 2011. Jan Stocklinski is a member of the SDP national faculty, and Dr. McCloy is an assistant professor of education at Coker College

Tara and I planned the three Basecamp training sessions that we conducted together in Hartsville in mid-December. Basecamp is a web-based project management tool that the SDP uses to facilitate collaboration and communication within and across schools and partner organizations and to accelerate the dissemination of best and promising practices. The Hartsville Basecamp links the four Comer schools including Southside Early Childhood Center, Washington Street and West Hartsville Elementary schools, and Thornwell School for the Arts, Coker College, the TEACH Foundation, the Comer School Development Program, and the Darlington County School District central administration.