Launch 2021-22 School Year!

 From Grace's Desk...

Greetings to Region 6 leaders past and present! I hope each of you has had some time to put "school" in the back rather than the front of your mind, while also connecting with loved ones and engaging in non work-related activities. Giving yourself this time allows you to renew after a challenging 15 pandemic months, but also gives you a break, which allows space in your brain for creativity and problem solving. I am really proud of each of you and am looking forward to a more "normal" school year. 

This summer, we climbed Mount Mansfield, Mount Ascutney, Mount Cardigan, and the Franconia Ridge (includes Mounts Little Haystack, Lincoln, Liberty, and Lafayette). I finally finished The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson - an epic narrative non-fiction account of the Great Migration spanning over 60 years - heartbreaking. My small garden hasn't needed watering since June due to all the rain, and right now it's bursting with flowers and tomatoes. I had a joyous moment standing in my garden the other day and identified strongly with my grandmother who loved to grow Chinese vegetables that couldn't be found in Memphis. I hope each of you had time for non-work passions!

This post is meant to serve as an opening of school resource, many we used last  spring to prepare for 2021-22. 

Required before Our First Region Meeting

• Watch Black Boys, a 1.5 hour documentary available free from Peacock.
•  Our boys "don't need saviors, they need believers." - Conan Harris.
• "We must teach our children to dream with their eyes open." - Dr. Harry Edwards
• Listen to Nice White Parents, a five-part podcast about "building a better school system and what gets in the way."

It Takes Courage 

You are the leader of your school; you set the tone. Review The Courage to Lead, a blog post from Research for Better Teaching that lays out six propositions to improve outcomes for students. The propositions that many of you identified as challenging are proposition four - the "forcefulness" in leading and proposition 5 - the many fears we experience when having difficult conversations - especially fears of being disliked and conflict. This work takes courage that can be grown.

Several of you used this blog post with your instructional leadership teams last spring to frame leadership actions to improve outcomes for students. Although you set the tone, you cannot do it alone - you need others to join you! 

Norms for Strong Professional Culture (from RBT)

In order for the adults to work effectively in service of our students and families, the school/organization must have a strong professional culture described below. 

Reframing "Learning Loss"

Although our government is funding "recovery" and many vendors are talking about "learning loss," I argue that our students are brilliant and resilient in spite of the pandemic IF we educators believe, treat them accordingly, and provide daily access to rigorous challenging content and the opportunity to read, write, speak and listen in every class every day. Please see the following resources that debunk deficit notions.

• Learning Loss: Are We Defining the Problem Correctly? Silver & McTighe
• Liberatory Education: Integrating Science of Learning and Culturally Responsive Practice. Hammond (Thank you, Courtney!)

District Instructional Focus

Please review Instructional Core in ELA and Mathematics 

Cultivating Genius

Gholdy Muhammad is one of our keynotes during August Leadership Institute. She is the author of  Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. The video below provides a preview of the tenets for growing students' power through literacy.

Important Resources:

Professional Learning: Last spring, Christine Cronin helped us begin planning for professional learning during our region meetings. Below, I have provided templates Christine shared with us, the slide deck Kenny used with their ILT and the completed professional learning planning template from Lee Academy. Team professional learning is a huge lever as we embark on our journey toward equitable literacy.

• Region 6 PD Planning Slide Deck 
• Kenny School Planning Deck (Thank you, Emily Bryan)
• Professional Learning Planner Template 2021-22
• Completed Lee Academy Pilot School Professional Learning Planner (Thank you, Jodi Fortuna)

Data/Assessment: Below find the 2021-22 Assessment Memo and just in case you need the link to MCAS. Other data points are available in Panorama, the NWEA MAP, and Illuminate.

• Assessment Memo
• Preliminary MCAS Data Studio
• NWEA MAP
• Panorama (Attendance, Academic and Perception Data) Student, Staff, Family)
• Illuminate (Interims)
• Office of Data and Accountability Resources

Recent Updates from Chief of Schools Corey Harris via Email

• Weekly Recap 8.2.21 (ESSER, Expeditionary Learning 2 Resources)
• July 23 District Friday Flyer (ECE Resources)
• Weekly Recap July 12-16 (ESSER, PLC Lead, Lynch Coaching)
• ALI Agenda -August 16-18