The mission of the Great Schools Partnership is to serve as a catalyst, think tank,

 incubator and start-up funder for making Knox County Schools globally competitive.

Pond Gap Elementary implemented a university-assisted community school model two years ago through a partnership between the Knox County Schools and the University of Tennessee. Now community schools are being piloted at three more Knox County elementary schools -- Norwood, Lonsdale and Green.

Community schools are used for more than just teaching students. Schools become the center of the community -- servicing not only the needs of the students, but also of the members of the larger surrounding community. Schools stay open after regular school hours, offering tutoring, dinner, classes for parents, health care services and other needed services identified by the community.

The launching of three more community schools in Knox County is a partnership between the school system, Great Schools Partnership, the YMCA and Project Grad of Knoxville. On Monday, October 29th, Darlene Kamine, executive director of the Community Learning Center Institute in Cincinnati spoke to a packed room of community leaders interested in seeing community schools successfully launched in Knox County. Cincinnati has become a national model for community schools, and leaders from Knox County visited Cincinnati last year to see how the model worked in different schools. CLICK HERE to read more about Monday's community school forum.

I know that Knoxville is going to be the most successful community school initiative

that we've seen. You're the new kid on the block and everybody is learning.

--Darlene Kamine, executive director of  the Community Learning Center Institute in Cincinnati

In 2010, nearly one out of five Knox County 9th graders either flunked courses or dropped out of school. A closer examination of these students revealed that most were simply not ready for high school when they entered ninth grade. The Great Schools Partnership joined with the Knox County Schools to address this problem.

We created an intensive eight-week mandatory instructional program designed to enable students to master essential concepts in reading/language arts and mathematics necessary for success in high school. Students who successfully completed the program were promoted to ninth grade and earned one elective high school credit in Academic Success. Students who failed to achieve proficiency remained in middle school.

Last year we had 203 students participate and a success rate of 72%. Those numbers were good, but not good enough. This summer GSP increased the size of the program by nearly a hundred students and increased teacher pay by 50% in order to attract more of our highest performing teachers. It worked. The success rate shot up to 91%.

Talks are already underway to sustain the high school bridge program and pilot a similar bridge from elementary to middle school next summer.

One of the most successful programs begun by the Great Schools Partnership has been the Milken Foundation's Teacher Advancment Program or TAP. In 2006, TAP was implemented in two elementary schools (Londsdale and Pond Gap) and two middle schools (Holston and Northwest). The program has had a positive impact on teaching and learning at these schools -- so positive that we were able to obtain a $26 million federal grant to expand the TAP program to 14 additional schools.

The benefit of TAP accrue to all students, because it is an instructional support and improvement system for all teachers. Its key components are collaborative planning, targeted professional development by subject area and grade level, teacher mentoring and coaching and incentive bonuses. Though it may sound complicated, TAP's secret to success is simple. It helps teachers improve their craft.

The impact of TAP on student learning has been dramatic. Eleven of our fourteen new TAP schools had a composite TVAAS score of 5. TVAAS (or the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System) measures academic growth over time, and a 5 is the highest possible score..

National Teacher Appreciation Week occurs each year at the beginning of May. In Knox County, we felt like we couldn't wait until spring to show our teachers how much we appreciate them. Through emails, posters and billboards around town -- the message got out that September 24-30, members of the community needed to show appreciation.

The whole week was a huge success! The week was launched at Whittle Springs Middle School, where the school's teachers were served a gourmet breakfast by Dr. McIntyre, members of the Knox County School Board, Knox County PTA President Sandra Rowcliffe and GSP President Buzz Thomas. Throughout the week parents, students, businesses, churches and community organizations treated the teachers to treats and tokens of thanks. Walgreens went above and beyond, by making it their mission to deliver baskets of goodies and discount cards to all 88 schools on the first day of Thank a Teacher Week! 

A huge thank you to every business and community member who took part and helped in the success of this program!  

Great Schools Partnership

912 S. Gay Street, L210

Knoxville, TN  37902

(865) 215-4501

www.GreatSchoolsPartnership.com

Virginia Babb

VP of Membership Development

vbabb@greatschoolspartnership.com

Click HERE to join the Great Schools Partnership 

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