Extraordinary Leadership in Ravenswood Schools

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News From

Ravenswood Education Foundation

October 2011
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WATCH FOR OUR FALL MAILING ANNOUNCING A $75,000 CHALLENGE GRANT THAT MATCHES DONATIONS TO REF RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 15, 2011!

HIGHLIGHTS

Extraordinary School Leaders Make A Difference--Meet Principal Gina Sudaria
Expanded Summer Academies Deliver Remarkable Results
Volunteers Make More Individualized Instruction Possible
After School Becomes Learning Time With Volunteer Help
REF Fall Campaign Focuses on How Education Gives Life to Student Dreams
Upcoming Events

Extraordinary School Leaders Make a Difference--Meet Principal Gina Sudaria

Exceptional people--teachers, principals and staff--matter most to improving the learning for our students in the Ravenswood City School District (RCSD).

Ms. Gina Sudaria, principal of Costaño School and the 49ers Academy

Ms. Gina Sudaria, principal of Costaño School and the 49ers Academy, is a supreme example of the extraordinary leadership that can make a difference for students most in need. Over the last 3 years, Costaño and the 49ers Academy achieved an API gain of 147 points, nearly 5 times the median point gain of similar schools in California (based on 100 schools with common demographic characteristics).

We asked Gina to share some comments on her work and success:

Path to Becoming Principal

I was and am privileged to have life-long mentors in my life to support me throughout my athletic, education and professional endeavors. I would not be where I am today without the support of my family and mentors who without hesitation guided me.

Giving back as a coach, tutor and mentor while attending Stanford was my way to pay it forward. While in school I tutored children from East Palo Alto through Stanford's Barrio Assistance program. During my experience, it became very obvious that there was a need for many children in East Palo Alto to receive additional support in order to make one's dream to attend a university like Stanford a reality. During this time was when I considered teaching as a profession.

I acquired my first teaching position in the fall of 1998 as a first grade teacher in Ravenswood City School District at Belle Haven School. During my 6 years as a classroom teacher at Belle Haven School I taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th grade, lead their positive behavior support team, and participated on Ravenswood Teachers Association's negotiation team.

It was one of my mentors who asked me where do I see myself in 5 years. With a bit of a nudge, I pursued my administrative credential and accepted the position as an administrative manager at Costaño School in 2004. In 2008, I capitalized on the opportunity to become principal of Costaño School and the 49ers Academy.

Keys to Success

Valuing relationships and a strength-based approach have reaped many more successes among our school community and have been the leading factors in increasing student achievement at our site. We focus on building upon our strengths and having an open communication to share ideas, address concerns and resolve problems. The collaborative environment fosters sharing of ideas to improve our practice in order to meet students where they are strong and to build upon where they are weak. Clear knowledge on how each student is performing and strategically planning lessons to meet individual needs has led to our API gain of 147 points in just 3 years. Our school community is focused on providing every child with the tools for academic success and civic responsibility and becoming a model learning environment.

How REF Helps

REF's contribution to ensure that each site has the state of the art facility with well-equipped science labs, current libraries, and an overall welcoming environment has ensured that our facilities match our visions and our increasing student achievement. REF's continuous support to fund an extended school day for schools has proven to support academic achievement. We encourage current and future supporters to ensure every site is able to offer an extended day in order for students to have increased instructional time. More specifically, what has worked at our site is to ensure that the extended day provides (1) increased time for delivering core content, (2) electives that are offered throughout the day and (3) teacher collaboration time within the extended day model.

Expanded Summer Academies Deliver Remarkable Results

Expanded summer academies, partly supported by REF, again showed that District students, even those farthest behind, can make headway when given the proper attention.

The District's Small Group Instruction (SGI) afterschool literacy program, generously funded by the Hewlett Foundation with increasing REF support, continued the previous year's expansion and added nearly 80% more students to 19-day summer academies for incoming K through 7th graders. A majority of the 251 students advanced at least one grade level on one or more literacy assessment measures as determined by pre- and post-tests. Teachers and staff carefully identified the students invited to participate based on their need for academic enrichment. The Green Oaks/Cesar Chavez campus hosted these summer students.

Another 329 students attended two five-week summer academies hosted at Brentwood Academy and Belle Haven and run in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula. Priority was given to underperforming students in math and writing, the academic focus of the academies. On average, students' scores increased by 16% in writing and 18% in math, with a majority of students increasing academic achievement.

Parent engagement was instrumental to the programs and, in the case of SGI, all 180 respondents to the parent survey strongly agreed that their working with their child's teacher before school begins will have a positive impact on their child in the coming school year.

Ruth Woods, Director of Student Services and Auxiliary Programs for the District and supervisor of the SGI program, has requested even greater expansion based on this past summer's success and the extremely positive feedback from participating teachers. Funding feasibility is still being evaluated.

Volunteers Make More Individualized Instruction Possible
One of the critical ways that volunteers are supporting students in our schools is through spending time in classrooms assisting teachers with tutoring and individualized instruction. This program is organized through All Students Matter, a grassroots program dedicated to providing direct support to the teachers and students of the Ravenswood City School District and operating under the Ravenswood Education Foundation.

"Teachers cherish and appreciate classroom volunteers. The students are so excited when you come to class, that they will jump up from their seats to hug you," says a veteran volunteer. Volunteers commit to a minimum of one hour per week and the goal is to provide at least three volunteers per week for each teacher.

A Belle Haven student works with Carol Chalmers, who coordinates All Students Matter along with Ann Carter and Sharon Purcell.

At Belle Haven School, about 30 volunteers support nine teachers in grades 1-4. This month, efforts have expanded into Cesar Chavez School, starting one teacher at a time. Four volunteers currently support one 3rd grade teacher and the goal is to expand into additional classrooms. If you are interested in volunteering in the classroom or want to learn more, please visit the web site: www.allstudentsmatter.org.

After School Becomes Learning Time With Volunteer Help
Volunteers will be making a real difference tutoring elementary school students who attend after school care at Green Oaks Academy. The new after school tutoring program is organized through All Students Matter, dedicated to providing direct support to Ravenswood City School District students and operating under the Ravenswood Education Foundation. All Students Matter is working with local schools such as Sacred Heart Prep, Castilleja and Menlo College to recruit and coordinate volunteer tutors who will assist students with homework. Additional volunteers, adults or students, are needed who can commit to 1 to 2 hours per week during the hours of 2:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering or want to learn more, please visit the web site www.allstudentsmatter.org.

REF Fall Campaign Focuses on How Education Gives Life to Student Dreams

Don't dreams such as this deserve the education they need to come true? REF seeks your support as we all strive to help more and more students of the Ravenswood City School District, just like Miranda, get a better education and a fair chance at making their dreams come true.

Upcoming Events

November 5: 2nd Mile Parent Room Makeover at Cesar Chavez/Green Oaks
November 16: VMware, Inc. service project benefiting our schools (details TBD)
November 25-December 9: Cheeky Monkey Toys in Menlo Park donates 10% of purchase when REF is mentioned at the register or online

REF Fall Campaign Launches Soon! Please watch for our Fall appeal seeking your contributions to help our District surpass the successes of this past year.

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The vision of the Ravenswood Education Foundation is to help foster educational outcomes in the Ravenswood City School District that are on par with those of students from the surrounding communities.

Please visit our website www.RavenswoodEF.org to donate online or contact Executive Director Renu Nanda for more information about how to volunteer or lend your expertise to improving our Ravenswood schools. Call 650.539.9577 or email rnanda@ravenswoodef.org.

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