We Are One

Parents sign-up to join the PTA

Well before the 6:30 pm start time, families were filing into the lobby of Piney Branch Elementary School.  These families (most of whom have incoming 3^rd graders) were eagerly awaiting a tour of the school that included a scavenger hunt.  Tours were given in small groups of two or three and were led by enthusiastic  and knowledgeable 5^thgraders.

PBES' lobby is full of families waiting to take the school tour

5th grade tour guide helps 2nd graders with scavenger hunt questions

Sligo parent Divine Ticha and his family

The scavenger hunt tours were part of a larger effort to help families, new and old,  feel welcomed to Piney Branch and part of the school community.  Other community-building efforts that were a part of this PTA event (which was held in partnership with the PBAT) included serving pizza dinner, celebrating the commonalities and differences of the families with a fun activity called Up/Down, introducing the new PTA leadership for 2011 – 2012, offering time for Q & A, and wrapping up with, what else, cake!

Parents seemed to appreciate the community-building efforts.  Divine Ticha ( a dad orginially from Cameroon) said that he appreciated the visit to his home by a teacher from the school.  “It shows how serious this school is about connecting to the community when you see that kind of effort.”  Darleen Smith (newly elected NAACP rep to the PTA) said, “this school is very involved in trying to make sure that there is a ‘we are one’ feeling here.”

Parents listen as Mr. G takes questions from the audience

Principal Generlette declared at a recent school Leadership Teams meeting that, “outreach will be a part of everything that we do.”  The large, diverse, and engaged audience at this meeting was proof that when a school is committed to meaningfully connecting with parents and kids, families respond in-kind.

PTA prez Jenny Ash-Maher hugs incoming prez Vineda Myers

Parents and Kids stand up and cheer during the Up/Down activity

A parent receives Spanish translation

Teacher Kristin Dunlap meets a new parent

ESOL teacher Rachna Rikhye chats with a parent

PBAT and PTA volunteers serve pizza

New PTA leadership for 2011 - 2012

“Outreach Will Be a Part of Everything We Do.”

A lot has happened since the last time that Piney Branch’s four Leadership teams (PBAT, PLCI, PTA, SIT) met on April 11th:

1. School staff and leadership team members came together on May 2nd to look at PBES’ current mission statement for alignment with the school’s values and goals. Ideas for a new mission statement were proposed.

2. Parents and students attending the May 5th PTA meeting went through their own mission statement examination and brainstorming process.

3. Feedback on the current and proposed PBES mission statements was gathered from parents attending the Authors Tea event on May 13th. This event was chosen for the solicitation because a large and diverse parent population usually attends.

4. Members of the PLCI met to sort through all of the feedback and organize the ideas into coherent draft mission and vision statements.

The purpose of the May 23rd follow-up meeting of the Leadership teams was to share the draft mission and vision statements for feedback; to provide clarity around the way forward for the School Improvement Team (SIT); and to begin thinking about implementation of the expanded focus and more inclusive practices of the SIT.

Feedback on Mission/Vision

The six draft mission statements and four draft vision statements crafted by PLCI members were posted around the Media Center for viewing. Meeting participants (parents, staff and administrators) were given time to read and ponder each statement and “vote” for the one that resonated. Voting was done by placing a sticky dot on the mission and vision statements of choice. The students at the school will be given an opportunity to voice their opinions about the statements in a similar way. The “winning” mission and vision statements will be announced prior to the end of the school year.

Changes to the School Improvement Team

In determining how to combine the best practices of the PTA, PBAT, PLCI and SIT into one new and improved SIT, it was decided that not only will the School Improvement Team continue to focus on academic achievement, but it will also take on the work of community outreach. As principal Generlette said, “Outreach will now be a part of everything that we do.”

Implementing the New Way

Expanding the focus of the School Improvement Team to include outreach, means that the the SIT will take a more active role in connecting the school and community on a relational level.  One way that will happen is that SIT members will participate in the planning of school/community events. Although many of these events have an academic focus, they typically also have an outreach purpose. The SIT will organize into committees to help plan and carryout events like Back to School Night, International Night, and Parent-Teacher Conferences. Each of the committees will have a parent and staff liaison to make sure that the events are truly community focused. The SIT will work in much closer partnership with the PTA. Assistant principal Kara Tymon said that this new way of doing things on the SIT will help to, “ensure that participation on the Team is a valuable part of everyone’s time.”

What’s Next for the Action Team?

They Piney Branch Action Team has one final project for this school year:   “Welcome New Families.”   The goal of the project is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for incoming third graders and their families. The Action Team is partnering with the PTA to carry out this project which will include a door-knocking event, a school tour/scavenger hunt, family pizza dinner, and a community-building PTA meeting. Check back in with this blog to find out how this project goes and to learn which were the  ”winning” mission and vision statements!

From Good to GREAT!

On Monday, April 11th four of Piney Branch Elementary School’s leadership teams met to reflect on what each team has been doing well and to think about unifying each team’s best practices and positive attributes into a single leadership team for the future. The four teams participating were the:

* Piney Branch Action Team (PBAT)
* School Improvement Team (SIT)
* Professional Learning Community Institute (PLCI)
* Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

This particular moment in Piney Branch’s history is significant because two of the teams (PBAT and PLCI) formed as parts of school improvement and transformation projects that will be concluding at the end of this school year. Members of those teams want to ensure that the lessons learned, relationships built, and good work started continue and grow.

There were 24 people in attendance at the meeting. In addition to the administrators, teachers and parents who comprise the four teams, the group was also joined by John Landesman and Joan Mory. John is the Program Coordinator for Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) Study Circles Program. Joan is an Instructional Specialist with MCPS’ PLCI program.

The meeting started with a check-in and continued with Principal Bertram Generlette sharing the purpose of the meeting and the agenda. He spoke of wanting to continue to work to make a very good school into a great school. He pointed out that bringing together the school’s leadership teams representing academic instruction, parent involvement, school improvement, and school transformation is a significant step in the ongoing “good to great” process.

Although the teams have some overlapping members and most in the room knew each other (at least by sight), there was still certainly room for relationship-building. John led a “speed dating” activity that encouraged people to start talking and doing some personal sharing. There was also time to get to know each other as people chatted over dinner. The attention given to helping people feel comfortable with each other helped to create a safer space for open conversation.

Time was given to each team to share their goals and accomplishments of the past year and to talk about the intangibles that make their team unique and successful. In the end, a pretty inspirational list of accomplishments and practices was compiled.

The task for this group going forward is to decide what to do with the list and then how to do it. The one certainty is that the School Improvement Team (which is mandated by MCPS) will be the container for the good practices and actions that are decided upon. Each of the teams will now go back and meet individually to process this conversation and work on developing a structure for moving forward. All of the teams will come together again on May 23rd to share their ideas.

When the School Comes to You . . .

Teacher Kristin Dunlap helps parents and their children master the MSA test practice at the TP Rec Center.

“Schools and districts can’t just sit back and expect parents to come to them.” –Pedro Noguera

Piney Branch Action Team members put Noguera’s words into practice with two recent community outreach and engagement efforts designed to deliver information and tools directly to the school families who want and need them while also building relationships with and among those families.

MSA event gets the star treatment on the Rec Center marquee.

A well attended MSA event was held at
Piney Branch Elementary School on February 3rd (see earlier blog post). But, even with the great parent and student turn-out at that event (more than 170 attendees!), Action Team members knew that there were still many families who wanted to attend, but couldn’t.

PBES students kick-off the Park Ritchie event with a cheer!

Assistant principal Kara Tymon’s words summed up the conviction of the team: “We need to step outside the walls of the school and take this information into the community to reach as many people as we can.”

A key decision was choosing the locales for the “out in the community” events. Team members chose carefully. Ultimately Park Ritchie Apartments and the Takoma Park Recreation Center were chosen. Park Ritchie because it is next to the school and home to many PBES families (and as such is an important place for teachers, administrators, and parent leaders to build connections). The Takoma Park Recreation Center because it is centrally located in the community that is home to many new families at the school.

Aunt and nephew figure out a math problem together.

Park Ritchie’s MSA event was held on February 17th. The complex’s management team was very supportive. “We’ve been looking for ways to connect to the school, so this is great,” said property manager Careese Gonzalez. Ms. Gonzalez’s team provided pizza for the event and helped with promotion.

The MSA event at the Takoma Park Rec Center was held on February 24th. The event provided an opportunity to draw even more school staff into the unique outreach and parent engagement effort. PBES paraeducator Sandra Boone runs an after-school program at the Center and already knows many of the parents. The Action Team leveraged Ms. Boone’s recognition–she promoted the event at bus stops by talking to parents and students and distributing fliers. She also was another friendly (and familiar) face greeting families on the day of the event.

Teacher Ken Allen answers the question of a Park Ritchie parent.

The attendance at both community events was smaller than at the school-wide event. This was expected and welcomed. These community-based events had a smaller targeted audience and were designed to be more intimate. The smaller groups allowed for a less structured agenda which permitted more time for questions and answers regarding the MSA.

Parent Tulu Bacha said that he had attended the MSA Night event at the school and found it useful, but added “I didn’t understand BCRs [Brief Constructed Responses] until the teacher explained it again tonight.”

Principal Generlette listens as students and parents discuss a test question at Park Ritchie.

The smaller audiences were also more conducive to relationship building. “Before tonight, I didn’t know you and you didn’t know me. Now we know each other,” said a smiling Embet Erque when asked, as a parent, what she’d enjoyed most about the evening. This kind of authentic parent engagement happens when schools step forward to meet parents where they are.

 

Awesome Turnout for MSA Night!

A great evening for the faculty, students, and parents at Piney Branch ES.

 The flyer read: Come and learn about how to help your students prepare for the upcoming MSA tests. But the more than 170 diverse parents and students who filled the Piney Branch ES all-purpose room Thursday night gained that and so much more–new awareness, connections, and power.

Check out the evening in pictures:

Dad and daughter ponder a math question.

There was a large, diverse crowd. Just about every seat in the all-purpose room was filled.

This mom receives Spanish translation via headphones.

Third grade teacher Kristen Dunlap helps a student with a practice question.

Kara Tymon (assistant principal) listens as parent Vineda Myers opens the evening with a community-building exercise.

Fifth grade student Winston shares tips for online test practice.

Test practice website is projected for everyone to see.

A young man eager to share his answer.

Parents and kids working together.

Parents wrote letters to the school board (in their native languages) requesting more school funding.

Parent volunteer Lora Dunn hands out goodies (pencils and sharpeners).

Fifth grade student Eldon solves a door prize puzzle.

MSA: It’s About Info and Empowerment!

The Action Team met last Wednesday at Piney Branch Elementary School to plan for an exciting upcoming school event. On February 3rd the school will be holding its MSA Night. The Action Team envisioned and implemented the school’s first MSA Night in 2010 and the Team is ready to pull it off again!

The MSA is the Maryland School Assessment–a standardized test given to 3rd – 8th graders for reading, math and science achievement. The test provides educators, parents, and the public valuable information about student, school, school system, and state performance. The test is important to individual students because it can influence placement.

Members of the Action Team recognize the impact (for better or worse) of MSA performance on the lives of students. The Team also knows it is essential that parents (the school’s partners in education) are informed and empowered when it comes to the MSA. The MSA Night event is about providing the communication and tools necessary for both.

Piney Branch’s PTA is partnering with the Action Team to plan and carryout the event not only at the school, but also in the community at various apartment complexes surrounding the school.

Listen to Lusetha Taylor, the NAACP Parent Council Rep for the Piney Branch PTA, talk about her first experience as part of an Action Team meeting.

Weave to Achieve?!

The Action Team met on Wednesday, December 15th in the Media Center at Piney Branch Elementary School. The diverse team of parents, teachers, and school administrators continues to meet twice monthly to practice a collaborative approach to supporting their vision for a thriving, multicultural school.

The team is at a pivotal moment as it strategizes ways to weave its collaborative approach and guiding principles into the fabric of school life.

ESOL Teach Rachna Rikhye shares her drawing of a symbolic jigsaw puzzle.

During a creative exercise, ESOL teacher Rachna Rikhye shared a picture which illustrated the co-dependent relationship that she feels exists between acting collaboratively and achieving equity and empowerment for students and families.

Principal Generlette offers his ideas.

Piney Branch principal Bertram Generlette helped to sharpen the focus of the conversation by restating the bottom line, “Everything that we [PBES] do has to be working towards ensuring that students are successful, achieving, and doing well.”

Participants share into the circle.

The meeting closed with Team members discussing their next IMPACT-ful project which will focus on parent engagement and development through school-wide and community-based forums on the Maryland State Assessments (a standardized test given to students in March).

Stay tuned for updates on the next project and the progress of the “weaving” process!

Getting an A+ in Door Knocking!

With winter break fast approaching, I thought I would take some time to update everyone about the amazing work going on at Argyle Middle School.  At the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, IMPACT began a partnership with Argyle Middle School, including Principal Robby Dodd and Assistant Principal Sundra Mann, to reach out to parents and the local community.  Since that time, we have held two Neighbors Exchanges at Argyle and 6 staff members have gone out to knock on doors with us!

Parents have certainly gotten a welcome surprise when they opened their doors to find their child’s teacher on the other side.  I personally got to door knock with Principal Dodd and parents were blown away by the fact that their Principal was at their house, just asking how they were doing.

A group of Argyle teachers and community members ready to go out door knocking!

After door knocking, we held two Neighbors Exchanges in the Argyle Middle School.  We got to discuss issues like local health care and job opportunities, while also addressing some school concerns.  After the event, Mr. Edgar was able to sign up a few parents for EdLine.  Additionally, we helped support each other as parents– Mr. Amos even made the generous offer to help tutor parents and students in math!

Group of parents, staff, and community members at our September Neighbors Exchange

In 2011, we are planning to continue our partnership with a staff-parent Study Circle at Argyle while continuing our door knocking efforts.  Be on the lookout for more fantastic things to be occurring at Argyle.  As Principal Dodd likes to say, we are taking the school from good to great!

Our November Neighbors Exchange: "Going from Good to Great!"

A Warm & Welcoming Open House

Piney Branch held its Open House on Monday, October 11th. The event was an opportunity for parents to see their children’s classes in action. It was also yet another opportunity for the Action Team to put the Multicultural Criteria into practice. The Team primarily focused on taking steps to ensure that:

* The school fostered a warm and welcoming multicultural drop-in environment.

* Clear/transparent/consistent communication was provided between parents and other school stakeholders that was multiculturally sensitive.

Action Team projects included hanging posters announcing the event in apartment complexes surrounding the school. Parents were greeted in the school lobby by friendly patrols handing out school maps and Open House Tip Sheets for parents. The Tip Sheets were designed to help parents understand the purpose of Open House and how to get the most from it.

Fifth grade student patrols were posted in the hallways as escorts to help guide parents to classrooms.

Parents were encouraged to provide Open House feedback via an Action Team-created survey. More than 70 parents expressed views. School staff, the PTA and the Action Team will use the feedback to inform ongoing efforts to promote a thriving, multicultural Piney Branch!

PBAT Y2 Retreat

The Piney Branch Action Team brings together diverse parents, school staff, and community members to build a community-owned school culture that supports and celebrates the school’s multicultural identity. Piney Branch Elementary School is in Takoma Park, Maryland. PBAT posts are new to the Neighborhood Opportunity Network blog. To check out earlier posts go to www.pineybranchactionteam.blogspot.com.

Team prepares for an energizer activity.

The PBAT kicked off its second year of school transformation with a retreat on Saturday, October 9th.  The team has grown to include new teachers and parents:  Kathy Rutledge (paraeducator), Kerry Danner-McDonald (3rd grade parent), Kristen Dunlap (3rd grade teacher), Ally Zevin (PTA co-president), Tasha Winns (Speech/language specialist).

The retreat was a moment for relationship building, visioning, and strategic planning.  The team spent the morning engaged in interactive exercises to help break down barriers and create connections.  After lunch, we revisited the mission statement and began crafting operating principles to help give definition to the team. The draft principles include this suggestion from Ally: “It’s the blending of our ideas that enables us to create the widest/best opportunities for parental involvement.”  Ken offered:  “The members of the Action Team have found that by initially building personal relationships, we are able to more effectively blend our voices.”

Rachna and Tracey work on posters for Open House.

The end of the day was devoted to working on action projects that will impact Piney Branch’s October 11th Open House.  The team wants to encourage more families to attend the Open House and have it be a more meaningful experience for parents and teachers.  Look for a report on the projects in the next blog post.

Ken closed the retreat by sharing a poem that he was inspired to write during our day together.  Enjoy!