What are your wins and what can you learn from them?
One of our amazing partners thanked Steph with flowers during their final professional learning series.
As the school year comes to a close, it's an appropriate moment for reflection and celebration of our achievements. Despite the constant demands and challenges happening in our communities near and far, it's crucial to acknowledge and rejoice in the positive strides we have made within our school communities. We must learn from both our challenges and wins in order to grow. These accomplishments are just a few highlights from this year, and we are excited to continue building on these partnerships in the coming year.
This year, we have effectively supported year 1 implementation of the African American Student Achievement Plan in a Bay Area school district. The work included: 1. Helping leaders understand how to support teachers with integrating culturally responsive teaching practices into the curriculum and 2. Collaborating with school principals to significantly increase Black family engagement around a key academic priority to improve student outcomes. This work has fostered a strategic, systematic, collaborative, and adaptive mindset among school and district leaders, families, and staff, particularly in supporting historically marginalized students. We are excited to go deeper into this work next year so that these outcomes are realized.
Another one of our notable partnerships involved assisting school leaders in creating effective behavior systems rooted in restorative justice, helping teachers integrate Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies and relationship-building into their lessons, and fostering a sense of ownership among teachers regarding schoolwide behavior and restorative systems. This collaborative effort has resulted in a more than 30% reduction in student referrals and suspensions since Fall 2022, and achieved a remarkable 100% staff retention rate for next school year.
In another school partnership, we successfully developed a strategic plan to improve equity, inclusion, and belonging. This plan, which is based on clear and adaptive strategies that will be integrated into existing systems, includes revamping restorative practice systems, with Fair Schools set to provide ongoing support next year. The development of this plan was a collaborative effort, incorporating feedback and input from students, families, and staff through several rounds of feedback.
One of our most significant takeaways from this work is that the most substantial progress occurs when school culture is deeply intertwined with academic priorities and family engagement. As you close out the school year and mental health awareness month, we want to emphasize the importance of practicing mindfulness and awareness throughout the day and not in isolation. Additionally, leaders must embrace a mindset shift regarding how school systems change works. This change requires collaboration, empathy, and adaptability in how to support educators, work with families, and foster students' social, emotional, and academic development.
As we move forward, let us celebrate these wins and remain committed to the transformative work of creating equitable, inclusive, and supportive learning environments for all students. The journey is ongoing, and with continued collaboration and dedication, we are confident in achieving even greater success in the future.
Interested in learning more or partnering with us? Schedule a call