OSE Spring 2011 Newsletter

University of Georgia Spring 2011 Volume 2, Issue 2

Office of School Engagement Newsletter PDS Partners Shine in New Orleans Inside this issue:

The Power and Promise of 2 Public Education The Next Steps in the COEArchway Collaboration

2

Symposium Speakers Inspire Positive Collaboration

3

JJHarris Implements Language Learning for All

3

The Future of the PDS

4

The Professional Development School partnership between UGA and Clarke County School District (CCSD) was well represented at the 2011 Professional Development Schools National Conference held in New Orleans this past March.

Noris Price and Xernona Thomas (CCSD) and Janna Dresden and Lew Allen (UGA) shared the story of how Clarke County School J.J. Harris Charter Elementary School

opened its doors in 2009 as a PDS and what has been accomplished to date.

Katherine Brown, Lindsay Ann Hammarlund, Vicki Krugman, and Karen Higginbotham (CCSD) focused on what has been gained and learned about the school’s efforts to involve students in authentic problem solving experiences with a School-wide Enrichment Model (SEM).

Melissa Graham (CCSD) and

Lew Allen (UGA & CCSD) led a session focused on common issues that face professional development schools.

Janna Dresden, Julie Kittleson, Julianne Wenner (UGA) and Melissa Graham (CCSD) detailed how J.J. Harris students and teachers participate in science centers with UGA students when methods courses are taught at the school. All sessions were well attended and received.

Dinner Meeting Supports Collaboration

In this issue:  COE & CCSD presented at the PDS Conference in New Orleans  The Power and Promise of Public Education Symposium brought professionals together from across Georgia.  COE & CCSD will expand the PDS collaboration next year

In March six representatives from UGA and 13 Clarke County School District personnel attended the National Association of Professional Development Schools Annual Conference in New Orleans.

In order to take advantage of our time together and to build our set of shared experiences, a dinner meeting was held at a local French Quarter restaurant. We had a private room which made it possible for us to share our thoughts and ideas in addition to traditional New Orleans cuisine. Participants were asked to introduce themselves (some people were new to the group) and then to share something they had learned at

the conference and something that being at the conference had made them reflect on about our own experiences doing PDS work in Clarke County.

After a delightful meal filled with conversation and laughter, participants were given a homework assignment: to send Janna Dresden an e-mail describing something new or different they planned to do based on their experiences at the conference AND something they hoped others would do to support our PDS collaboration. These notes will be compiled and used at upcoming planning meetings later this spring and summer.

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Office of School Engagement

Volume 2, Issue 2

The Power and the Promise of Public Education On March 3rd and 4th, the Office of School Engagement in conjunction with Archway Partnership hosted the inaugural symposium, The Power and Promise of Public Education.

Attendees included educators, school administrators, and community leaders from many of the Archway communities from Colquitt, Washington, Glynn, Clay-

ton, Hart, Sumter, Pulaski and Whitfield counties.

The purpose of the symposium was to bring to the table current challenges that communities face and generate an exchange of ideas to promote a positive identity for the Georgia public school system. The discussions that arose provided valuable insight and fostered in-depth discus-

sions on various challenges

The discussions that arose provided valuable insight and garnered indepth discussions on various challenges that individual schools face

faced by schools.

The Next Steps in the COE-Archway Collaboration Based on feedback from the attendees, The Power and Promise of Public Education symposium was a huge success. This venue proved to be a much needed opportunity for stakeholders from the Archway communities to come together and learn from each other.

The next step in the long-term collaboration between Archway and the College of Education will soon begin. Edward Joaquin, OSE graduate assistant, will help each of the Archway offices throughout the year under the direction of the Archway Partnership and College

of Education faculty to facilitate the continuation of dialogue and collaboration between the community, Archway, and UGA. One goal is to address specific issues of each of the communities and determine how a collaboration of resources from Archway and UGA can offer possible solutions to issues each community faces. As one objective, OSE hopes to actively engage in communities via Archway to bridge the knowledge, resources, and expertise of UGA faculty and staff.

In doing so, Edward is looking forward to traveling to all of the Archway communities

to further cultivate professional relationships to form useful and productive relationships between all stakeholders in our public educational system. Organizers hope to repeat the symposium annually to continue the conversation opportunities and interaction among all involved stakeholders.

Office of School Engagement

Volume 2, Issue 2

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Symposium Speakers Inspire Positive Collaboration A dinner sponsored by the College of Education on the first night of the Symposium was well attended as keynote speaker, Wanda Barres, Chair of the State Board of Education, reflected on changes the school system has undergone over the past decade. More importantly, she discussed how educators and administrators should prepare for future changes in the school system and cooperate to improve the quality of life for

students. Her inspiring talk set the tone for what proved to be an empowering and positive collaboration among all of the symposium attendees.

UGA faculty members facilitated the discussions throughout the next day. Dr. Lew Allen and Dr. Kathy Thompson dynamically began the symposium with an interactive session on defining what the power and promise of public education meant to the at-

tendees. Dr. Cathy Sielke provided insight and strategies on funding for public education, addressing the condition of Georgia’s economy, and concerns related to the financing of tomorrow’s schools today.

Finally, Dr. Jo Beth Allen kept the conversation lively in her session about how to engage family and community support for public education.

JJHarris Implements Language Learning for All There is a flurry of excitement and activity at J.J. Harris Elementary Charter School as UGA & Clarke County Educators, community members and parents begin to implement the Language Learning For All initiative.

The big idea behind this initiative is that English-speaking students will learn Spanish, and Spanishspeaking students will improve

their knowledge and use of their heritage language, and all students will learn to better appreciate Spanish speaking cultures.

Two Spanish teachers have been hired to collaborate with homeroom teachers in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms to teach social studies and science using a combination of Spanish and English.

Further, all students attend a weekly Spanish special and morning broadcasts are incorporating Spanish. As a result, it is becoming more and more common to hear students and teachers greeting each other in classrooms and hallways in Spanish.

It is becoming more and more common to hear students and teachers greeting each other in classrooms and hallways in Spanish.

The Symposium provided a much needed opportunity for stakeholders in the Archway communities to learn from each other.

University of Georgia

Office of School Engagement Janna Dresden, Director 427C Aderhold Hall

UGA College of Education Office of School Engagement

Phone: 706-542-8491 E-mail: jdresden@uga.edu

www.coe.uga.edu/outreach/ose

The Office of School Engagement (OSE) at the University of Georgia serves as a bridge between the worlds of theory and practice in P-16 public education to improve the educational experiences of students and the professional lives of educators.

The Future of the PDS Building upon the success of the Professional Development School initiative at J.J. Harris Elementary Charter School, the Clarke County School District and UGA College of Education have decided to expand their PDS collaboration.

The plan is to move towards the creation of a Professional Development School District so that all the schools in Clarke County might benefit from a relationship with the COE. In addition, the leadership of CCSD has agreed to make a financial commitment to support these programs. In the coming academic year the

COE and CCSD plan to expand their collaboration to include four additional Professional Development Schools.

Beginning in August of 2011, the PDS schools and the faculty who will be working at them as Professors-inResidence are as follows:

 Clarke Middle School: Dr.

 J.J. Harris Elementary Char-

 Career Academy: Dr. Roger

ter School: Dr. Lew Allen, Elementary and Social Studies Education

 Fowler Drive Elementary School : Dr. Beth Tolley, Elementary and Social Studies Education

Dorothy Y. White, Math and Science Education

 Hilsman Middle School: Dr. Gayle Andrews, and Dr. Kathy Thompson, Elementary and Social Studies Education Hill, Workforce Education, Leadership, and Social Foundations