e-Newsletter
March 22, 2016
Issue No. 63
In This Issue
Upcoming Events & Key Dates
4/14 Executive Committee Meeting 
Quick Links


About the Road Map Region Race to the Top Grant
In 2012, seven King County, Washington, school districts joined forces and won $40 million in federal Race to the Top funds over four years. The participating school districts are Auburn, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Renton, Seattle and Tukwila. The districts dubbed themselves The Road Map District Consortium, a reference to their participation in the Road Map Project, a community-wide effort in South Seattle and South King County to drive major educational improvement with a focus on personalized learning.

Dear  ,
We are pleased to share some of the exciting partnership work that has been taking place between Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Housing Authority, and other community-based organizations as part of the Investment Fund for Community-School Partnerships! In addition, we are hosting another School-Community Partnerships meeting in mid-April, so please consider attending - registration information is found below.  
Wins for Road Map
Race to the Top! 
School-Community Partnerships Focus on Students in Southeast Seattle
The Race to the Top Investment Fund for Community-School Partnerships aims for schools and community partners to provide intensive student-level interventions that bridge in-school and out-of-school time, in specific geographic areas.

As part of the Fund, Seattle Public Schools has partnered with five community-based organizations, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), and five schools in Southeast Seattle that serve high numbers of SHA students. The goal of this collaborative project is to improve Southeast Seattle students' attendance and suspensions/expulsions rates, particularly African-American, African immigrant and refugee students. This partnership leverages the expertise and resources of Seattle Housing Authority, the five schools, and community based partners located both within the schools and at New Holly, an SHA family-community site.

In order for the five schools and SHA to identify students for targeted services and supports, a shared data set was needed. Both housing and student data are protected, which makes sharing these data between two institutions a difficult endeavor. Through the last year, they have come to a solution that allows the schools and SHA to identify the students most in need of support while also respecting the privacy of students and families. Community-based organizations are also able to share data with SPS, and vice versa, to track progress and impact on the students they serve through the project. This structure for sharing data is a huge milestone for this project, and will continue to be leveraged to better target supports at the students who most need them. For more information, please see our Community-School Partnerships page, or contact Matthew Gulbranson. Congratulations to everyone involved! 
School-Community Partnerships Meeting to be Held on April 14
Please join us to discuss first-hand with our external Race to the Top evaluator, RTI International, results from the most recent survey on community-school partnerships in our region. RTI will unveil its second-annual report on the nature and quality of partnerships - partnerships in which we are all involved. Please join us in a crucial dialogue of how our partnerships have changed and areas where we still need to improve. The focus of this meeting will be action-oriented and your voice is imperative to inform next steps.
 
We look forward to seeing you, and digging deeper into how we work together in more equitable and authentic partnerships to close opportunity gaps for our students in the Road Map region!
 
When: Thursday, April 14, 2016, 1:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Puget Sound ESD, Nisqually Room

If you are planning to attend, please register. Questions may be directed to Cassandra O'Francia.
Please visit the Race to the Top Website!
Please remember to share the Road Map Region Race to the Top website with friends and colleagues! We regularly update content and add new resources. To access the website click here!
Stay Tuned!
Thank you for taking the time to read the Road Map Region Race to the Top grant e-newsletter! The next e-newsletter is planned for April. Click "Join Our Mailing List" on the left to receive future e-newsletters!

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