2007-08 Accomplishments

Since the announcement of the College Avenue Compact, a guaranteed admission arrangement with SDSU, we are providing more focus on our current 9th graders who will be the first class to benefit from this great opportunity. In addition to college-prep activities, a key aspect of the Compact has been the curriculum and instructional alignment work with SDSU undergrad and the English and math departments at Hoover. Staff from SDSU worked with 9th grade teachers this year and will continue next year adding teachers in 10th grade with the goal of creating a smoother transition to the university and better preparation for entry exams.

Beginning at the end of this year and continuing into next year, the Collaborative will extend systematic college awareness activities for students to Rosa Parks as well as the other schools, and it will support a comprehensive program for parents to learn more about what they and their children need to know about attending college.

National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST)

We have been very fortunate to be able to engage the services of SDSU’s National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST). Dr. Joe Johnson, the Executive Director, has visited schools and has provided feedback to principals on ways to help our schools create the conditions he has found in the highest-performing schools with demographics similar to those of our schools. We want this relationship to expand this next year so that each school is able to network, through visitations and other communications, with these other high performing schools.

Academic Counseling

In order to support an articulated, coherent academic counseling program across our schools, we were fortunate this year to be able to work with Dr. Trish Hatch of SDSU who is nationally known for her work with the national standards for counseling. We plan to continue her work with all of counselors this next school year. Similar work with our librarians began and will also continue next year.

K-5 Parent Academic Liaison (PAL)/SFL

Thanks to Price Charities, we were fortunate to be able to transition Success for Life at Rosa Parks from a K-1 program into a K-5 Parent Academic Liaison (PAL)/SFL model. For Rosa Parks, we have a comprehensive set of health, social service, and academic supports for parents.

Professional Development

The Collaborative also continued to fund fee support for master’s degree work for teachers; additional key resource teachers at each school, and professional development series such as math strategies at Clark and biliteracy at Rosa Parks.

Leadership

Selecting the right leaders for schools is one of the most critical decisions to make. Our appointment of Dr. Chuck Podhorsky as Hoover’s new principal has proven to be the right decision and we look forward to even more great things happening at Hoover next year. At Clark, while we lose Barbra Balser, we now have selected through a comprehensive process the new leader, Thomas Liberto, who we believe will be a great principal for our middle school.

Dr. Chuck Podhorsky

Thomas Liberto

SDSU-City College Connect 

We are just completing the arrangements for SDSU-City College Connect which will create additional pathways for Collaborative graduates to attend college. A large number of our students attend community colleges so we want to ensure their success at that level and to facilitate the option to transfer to SDSU. To improve the conditions for grads attending City College, Connect will provide early visits to the campus, preparation for the entry/placement exams (currently over 70% of enrollees need remediation), SDSU advisement (in addition to City College’s), and participation in a campus small learning community. Connect will increase the reach of the Compact to encourage postsecondary study for Collaborative grads.

Looking to 2008-09

For this next school year, the Collaborative will provide more support for arts education and for personalized education models (e.g., we are supporting additional teachers at Clark to sustain the “House” structure), expand the p-16 Collaborative Advisory to assist in decisions regarding issues such as curriculum and assessment, and collaboratively create a set of K-12 articulated benchmarks and milestone indicators to ensure our students are prepared for graduation. Beyond test scores, our students will need a balance of intellectual, social, and personal skills – the essential skills needed in the 21^st Century. The Collaborative schools, with generous support from Price Charities and SDSU, can create the conditions for that to happen!