About A+ Schools |
|
The new A+ Schools’ strategic plan laid the groundwork for the accomplishments over the past year; some highlights include… Developed and piloted Board Watch with the assistance of an advisory committee and 12 trained volunteers. Volunteers observed and evaluated 12 school board agenda review and legislative meetings to design and test the report form. A Strike is Not In the Best Interest of Children - Community campaign to avert a teacher’s strike; engaging thousands of Pittsburghers to send postcards to district and union leadership urging a resolution to collective bargaining negotiations. Excel 9.12: Community Input into Plans for High School Excellence – A+ Schools hosted 9 community meetings on 4 new 6-12 learning communities and Career and Technical Education plans proposed by the Pittsburgh Public Schools. 475 participants attended the meetings (average 60 per meeting); 9 reports were issued and findings reported at school board hearings. Schools and Budgets: In response to requests from community members A+ Schools hosted a community briefing on PPS’ site based budgeting process. Approximately 50 people attended. West End Campaign for Student Success: A+ Schools continued to provide support to the West End community to “engage all sectors of the community in improving student outcomes.” Plans for after school programs and recreation enhancements have been developed. Two new after school programs started in the fall. A+ Schools advocated for community process for high school reform that resulted in Pittsburgh Public Schools launching a community process to develop a Homewood Educational Plan (PDF). A+ Schools provided comments on PPS Strategic Plan (PDF) and encouraged others to do the same. Published the 2008 Report to the Community in November 2008 and Executive Summary (PDF). The report was mailed directly to every PPS household and households with children under 5 as well as distributed on Sunday, November 16th to over 60,000 Post Gazette subscribers in the City of Pittsburgh. Copies of the report were delivered to 59 Pittsburgh Public Schools and 3 charter schools as well as libraries, after school programs and elected officials’ offices. A+ Schools staff has already presented the report findings to over 10 schools and community organizations with more scheduled for 2009. Students Engaged in Leadership was launched in November 2008 with participation of sixteen (16) local high school students. The program is coordinated by A+ Schools in partnership with the Coro Center for Civic Leadership and the Marilyn G Rabb Foundation (MGRF). We look forward to ensuring that the voice of the student community is represented in the current and future work of A+ Schools.
Expanded our reach Our mailing/email list grew by 13% in 2008, with an 42% increase in parents and 7.3% increase in residents from south neighborhoods, 40% increase in residents from west neighborhoods, and 5.4% increase in residents from north neighborhoods. A+ Schools was mentioned or quoted in local and national news media 43 times in 2008, an increase of 26 (or 152%) over the previous year. A+ Schools staff presented at 15 events and meetings over the course of 2008. Over 15 organizations partnered with A+ Schools on community meetings, Board Watch, designing the teaching initiative, and other programs. Qualitative and quantitative data collection was conducted to inform the direction of the initiative. A formal data request was submitted to the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Staff also conducted teacher focus groups at three schools, interviewed five principals, and interviewed several central office administrators and other experts. [ top ]
A+ Schools |
Pittsburgh's Community Alliance for Public Education |
|
|