Illinois Loop

Ok, so I have quite few posts turning in my brain (my excellent visit to WIS, more parent engagement ideas from the conference, updates on facilities, sponsor and staff recruitment etc.). But as I’m trolling the web I stumble across  Illinois Loop’s charter page.  This is, perhaps, the most judicious description of charter schools that I have read.  The Illinois Loop is written by a large group of Chicagoland parents and educators (or so the site claims, no one is listed by name) and covers myriad education related topics.  I’m surprised at how such a large group of writers can have a singular voice on individual curricular components (i.e. They all prefer Saxon to Everyday Math), but have a fair-handed, slightly positive approach to charters.

All in all, I think that this is an excellent read for anyone who is trying to get their head around what charters are and how they work outside of St. Louis.

Minutes from School Project Group meeting 12/10

Meeting Minutes

LOCATION:
St. Louis Public Library, Buder Branch
Large Conference Room
4401 Hampton Ave
St. Louis, MO 63109
314-352-2900

The regular meeting of the School Project Group was called to order at 7:00 PM on 12/10/2008 in Buder Library by Rhonda Broussard.

Introductions
Meeting participants introduced themselves and discussed their interest in SLLIS.

Updates

*Facilities:     Rhonda Broussard updated group on status of SLLIS’ acquisition of a school building.
Two possibilities are pending:
1.    SLLIS has submitted a bid to purchase a school building on North Jefferson and Market (the former A.G. Edwards Training Facility). Another bid has been accepted contingent upon financing.   We may rebid if current purchaser is unable to obtain acceptable financing.
2.    We will bid to lease (three, five-year options) a building at 4015 Papin.  The space has recently been used as a warehouse and will require renovation to accommodate the school.
Both sites have challenges in terms of available greenspace and parking lots will need to be landscaped in order to create outdoor play areas and classroom space.
To this end:
1.    SLLIS is consulting with architects at sites to help with school design and Rhonda Broussard will be involved in designing the interior space with SLLIS’ academic goals and philosophy in mind.
2.    Broussard toured New City and College Schools and found that they held in common both structured (climbing equipment/play structures, blacktop features, outdoor classroom space) as well as unstructured outdoor play space.  For example, the schools had features such as a sandbox area with a variety of simple digging tools for free play and other natural features without designated activities.
Meeting participants offered their own suggestions and ideas for creating and funding the SLLIS greenspace, including:
1.    A tour of Shaw Nature Reserve’s outdoor play space and classroom.  Grants are available for the creation of these spaces.
2.    The Soulard School’s Pirate Ship play structure.
3.    A Seattle school had a fundraiser to create a community playground in for which interested members of the community  purchased leaf-shaped stepping stones to help fund the construction of the site  and also volunteered to help in its construction.  A city grant also paid for the space.

*Sponsorship:    Rhonda Broussard updated the group on the SLLIS Charter Sponsorship and described the roll the sponsor will play:
1.    Webster  University turned down our request for sponsorship in July 2008.
2.    SLLIS requested sponsorship from various universities and both  St. Louis University and the University of St. Louis, Missouri came to the table.
3.    In November, the SLLIS Board decided to pursue sponsorship from UMSL
4.    The contract is currently with the UMSL General Counsel and is awaiting authorization from DESE.
5.    We anticipate approval by the end of February and we will open the enrollment period at that time.
Rhonda Broussard explained that the sponsor holds SLLIS publicly responsible for what SLLIS promises in the Charter.  The Charter will be posted on the SLLIS Blog.  Broussard also stated that SLLIS has been making partnerships with local universities, recruiting advocates for SLLIS and advertising SLLIS to alumni, faculty and staff.

*Outreach    Rhonda Broussard opened the discussion of our outreach efforts and described SLLIS’ recent promotional and recruitment efforts, including:

1.    Presentations at local preschools.  Broussard has been making presentations to families at local preschools with children entering Kindergarten and First Grade 2009-2010.  She has been presenting at parent meetings, Kindergarten roundtables and pick-up/drop-off time tables.  She asked for parent volunteers to accompany her at presentations to preschool programs.  She encouraged parents to be SLLIS’ “ambassadors” in their own communities.
2.    “St. Louis Kids Magazine” full-page magazine advertisement was circulated to the group.
3.    KDHX interview “Topic A” with Amanda Doyle will be available for podcast download from www.sllis.org soon.
4.    “Off the Wall at City Hall” will be hosting our table on 12/13/2008.

Upcoming events were detailed in table on the reverse of the  Agenda.

Members of the group brainstormed other outreach and marketing possibilities, including:

1.    Pursuing advertising on KWMU.
2.     Contacting Channels 2 and 11.
3.    Advertising in a local Latino  newspaper.  Broussard mentioned that we will advertise in “El Mundo Latino.”
4.    A review of the Gymboree Moms magazine for working moms, and consider advertising at the Black Cat Theatre.
5.    One parent will take brochures to Kindercare on Hampton.
6.    Investigate prices for ads on streaming radio such as 102.5 FM as they are less expensive than broadcast radio ads.
7.    One parent offered to help with a table at Childgarden.
8.    Post a flier and put a stack of brochures at  Local Harvest Grocery and Bakery on Morganford.
9.    Targeting “ethnic” and local markets, such as Latino stores in the Cherokee Street area or Jay’s in Tower Grove or elsewhere.
10.    Continue to perform outreach to a more diverse group (lower socio-economic strata).
11.    Rhonda Broussard said that SLLIS Marketing Committee Chairperson is coordinating outreach at churches.
12.    One parent suggested that St. John’s on Arsenal has a large West African congregation.
13.    Contact  the International Institute at St. Louis University and Rhonda Broussard informed the group that we have a Board member from the Institute.
14.    One parent suggested contacting Parents as Teachers. Rhonda Broussard noted that PAT is run through the school districts and our Charter school status may present a conflict for the local PAT.  Broussard is going to try to arrange something with the national PAT.  One participant offered to contact a parent at her preschool who works with PAT and may give us some insight into PAT’s position.
15.    Rhonda Broussard suggested that we make the School Project Group meetings more accessible by providing both childcare and food as well as scheduling them for earlier in the evening.
*Enrollment Timeline:    We anticipate approval of our Charter by the end of February and we will open the enrollment period for 2009-2010 at that time.

Brochures:
*Brochures:    Rhonda Broussard distributed brochures from our most recent run, including English, French and Spanish Versions.  One participant requested that Kirsten Hebert send her 50 to 100 of each English and Spanish.

Q&A:
*Q&A    Broussard opened the discussion to Q&A.
Q:  How will SLLIS would sustain financial viability and what funding sources SLLIS rely upon?

A:  Our State funding request is for $7,000/pupil.  We also have grants from the Federal government, from the Walton Foundation and other private and public organizations.  We do not receive money for facilities in addition to the $7,000/pupil as do District schools and so we need to do fund raising.  Broussard then outlined faculty and staff requirements and described how enrollment and funding are linked to the enrollment levels.

Q:  Will funding for meals would require the acquisition of food and services from designated vendors? There is concern about the nutritional value of some of the food currently provided by these vendors.

A:  Currently SLLIS will allow outside food, but family-style meals (breakfast, lunch and snack) with discussion directed by instructors will be provided for all students. Further, we will be able to organize our own food service and we are currently taking bids from vendors.

One member suggested contacting Kelly Bock at the Soulard School as a resource.

Q:  Will SLLIS make accommodations for children with food allergies?

A:  Broussard said that she had observed several ways of accommodating students with food-allergies.  She noted that this would be a continuing topic of discussion.

Q:  Will there be food service for the free lunch program?

A:  There is a budget line item for funding the free lunch program based on students participating.

Q:  Will there be Special Education services?

A:  SLLIS will have money for a full-time Special Education teacher and are writing a cooperative grant proposal with other schools to bring on more staff.  Broussard also described funding sources and allocations for special-needs children.

Q:  Is there was a way to assess what SLLIS needs before opening?

A:  SLLIS will have a policy of admitting all children and providing a supportive environment for all learners regardless of learning challenges.

Q:  How many students to we need  for each school to assure funding?

A:  We have a goal of 120 for each school (80 for  K, 40 for 1st) in both the French and Spanish Schools). We can start with less but it affects how many teachers we will have.  We have scaled down our budget to 50% capacity.

School Project Group Priorities:
*Marketing/Outreach    See “Updates”
*Heads of School Interviews    Rhonda Broussard discussed the numbers of applicants and interviews of the top five candidates.  She described the interview process, including site visits, panel interviews and reception and their role in the selection process.  Roundtable interviews will be set for mid-January followed by a reception in February.  Broussard asked if members would be interested in attending receptions for interviewees.  The Heads of School will begin working for SLLIS in the Spring.  Various candidates were discussed.
Discussion    Teacher qualifications were raised as a topic and Broussard described the kinds of applicants for which we are hoping and gave an overview of the types of applicants we are receiving.

Questions were asked about the curriculum and offered the Montessori Method and Core Knowledge Program as examples for comparison.  Rhonda Broussard provided a brief history of the beginnings and an overview of the philosophy of the  International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme.  She covered issues such as curriculum, assessment process, development program and school certification process. Broussard offered that the professional development program for teachers and assistant teachers will aid in ensuring effective coordination and presentation of curriculum topics.

A questions was raised about meeting the needs of gifted students.  Rhonda Broussard discussed how the IB program is suited to the special needs of these students.
*Home Stays    Rhonda Broussard asked that families consider hosting a teacher intern beginning in March 2009 and to put out feelers for other host families.  Each intern will stay with a family for three months.  They will need a room, access to a bathroom and dinner.  SLLIS will provide breakfast and lunch at the school and activities and entertainment will be arranged by SLLIS.  The interns will be coming to us from their home institutions to act as “language ambassadors.”  The program will allow us to lower the teacher-student ratio.

Set Dates for School Project Group Meetings January-March, 2009:

Not discussed.

ADJOURNMENT:
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM by Rhonda Broussard.

Minutes submitted by:   Kirsten Pourroy Hebert
Approved by:   Rhonda J. Broussard

Parental Options and Information Conference

This week I’m in Washington D.C. for the Parental Options and Information Conference hosted by the Office of Innovation and Improvement of the USDE.  They’ve pulled together Program Directors for our grant (CSP) and other federal grants for either school choice programs or comprehensive school improvement programs.

This morning’s plenary was on parent and community engagement.  A couple of specific/programmatic take aways for me were:

• Texting!  We need to update our Intent to Enroll and eventual Enrollment forms to include permission to text families with updates/announcements.
• “Taste of _____ (school neighborhood” where we invite local restaurants and vendors to host a fair at our school for our families.

A longer, more substantial conversation about outreach to lower-income families echoed concerns voiced at our last school project group meeting.  Minutes from the meeting are forthcoming, but we need to move into the action phase.  We are getting an excellent response from HeadStart outreach, but it’s not yet overwhelming.  Phase II will be churches and radio programming.  Jade, the producer of Sunday Morning Live, e-mailed me and is interested in learning more about our schools.  Woohoo!  Send us your positive vibes.  More from the conference tomorrow.

Bilingual Girl

As I’m responding to yesterday’s e-mails, what great song is playing on my Slacker? “Bilingual Girl” by Yerba Buena. The English refrain is “All I want is a bilingual girl…two tongues are better than one!” In typical Yerba Buena fashion the lyrics are in English nd Spanish.

While I’m at it, here’ my official plug for Slacker.  It works on the same premise as Pandora, but has an extensive international collection.  My personalized Slacker station is a mix of North, West and Central African (francophone countries primarily), Caribbean, Canadian, Dutch, Brazilian, Welsh, French, Spanish, British, US, and South American artists.   Their zouk and compas holdings could use some work, but I can’t complain.

Interpreter pause

Wednesday evening Lisa Dorner accompanied me to a parent meeting at SSDN.  This was the first outreach meeting that we’ve done where

1. half of the families were Spanish-speaking and half were English-speaking, and
2. we had a simultaneous interpreter!

Lisa could have easily interpreted for the Spanish-speaking families, but SSDN always has a bilingual staffer/interpreter available for their parent meetings.  It was reassuring and delightful to hear how excited both groups of families are about our schools.  And the presentation reminded me to practice my interpreter pause!

At last night’s school project group meeting families generated a list of new marketing/outreach ideas for this winter.  Hopefully we’ll get the list posted soon along with other notes and bright ideas.

Where it all began

When I was 17 I started teaching summer school courses for middle school students through an amazing, life-altering nonprofit called Summerbridge (now Breakthrough Collaborative).  This year Breakthrough is celebrating its 30 year anniversary and featured me in their “30 Leaders in 30 Years” article.  I encourage you to read the Celebration newsletter for a sense of the transformative nature of Breakthrough and a reminder about the power of youth.  Last school year I spoke with a group of Campus Y volunteers at Wash U about my trajectory as an education entrepreneur.  When I returned this fall, one of the volunteers stopped by to tell me that he had been so inspired by my talk that he applied and taught in the Breakthrough Miami program and will return to teach again in 2009.

I am humbled to be in the company of so many change agents for education reform.  I’d like to extend my sincerest thanks to each of you for being a part of this vision for St. Louis.

Peace,
Rhonda

Where are you located? Part IV

As soon as I arrive in the office tomorrow I will begin calling architechts and design/construction contractors about the best use of our building over the start-up years.  The central library adjacent building from Part III has been acquired by another group.  Two weeks ago Manny and I headed out for more walk throughs and found a very practical space in Forest Park SouthEast and quickly had other Board Directors tour it last week.  The plan is to lease this space and have the cosmetic build-out/updates done by the owner/developer.  We will need to meet with the architechts however to review our needs assessment, best use of the space over time and to identify ways in which the environment will enhance learning in our school community.  If all goes well we will sign a lease before the end of 2008!  Once the lease is signed I’ll post the building details.

See y’all at the School Project Group meeting Wednesday!

Salut o Hola: Dec 7-19

Tuesday, December 9th 6-7pm, SSDN Parents Meeting

Wednesday, December 10th  7pm  French & Spanish School Project Group Meeting, large conference room Buder Library

Friday, December 12th, 8:30-2:30pm: School Site Visit:  Beardstown Dual Language Immersion program Beardstown, IL.

Saturday, December 13th, 7pm-11pm Off the Wall at City Hall! Get a babysitter and join us for an evening of free art, performances and culinary tasting at City Hall.  I can’t help but think that the Paris’ Nuits Blanches somehow inspired this new St. Louis event.

Friday, December 19th, 4:30-5:30pm UMSL University Child Development Center

Next week: Federal Charter School Program grant administrator training and a site visit to Washington International School (woohoo!)

Happy New Year!

Don’t take our word for it: Immersion Rocks!

Thanks to Amanda and Kathy who both sent me links to the Babble article Bilingual Education: Si or Non?

In this article one parent writes about why she and her family chose an immersion elementary and research/practice from other immersion and dual language programs nationwide.  If you’ve been following our story, it sounds a lot like what we are creating in St. Louis.  I love it!  For all of the potential founding families out there, we’d love to hear/share your story for choosing immersion with the community.

Tomorrow morning we head off to visit La Petite Ecole in Columbia and meet with Dr. Flore Zéphir, Chair of Romance Language & Literature at MIzzou.  Then Friday we’ll be visiting Académie Lafayette and University Academy in KC.

More stories later.