We actually have students!!

Today was incredible! Just to see over 140 students walk into our classrooms to open the Math and Science Leadership Academy was a dream come true. My 20 kindergarten students were adorable, and really enjoyed our classroom, and the new technology. Here's a story from 9 News, and a picture of my class! It's amazing to see what teachers can do...

Rishel is full...

We (all three staffs of MSLA, Rishel, and KIPP HS) officially reported back today, and will have our first official meeting together on Friday afternoon. There has been no "boxing"... in fact, everyone is getting along really well.

Our school is shaping up nicely, and our contractors did a great job. We have had a few glitches... like no chairs (!!), but the company and New Schools Office have been quick to remedy the situation. Our playground hasn't been installed yet, but we still have 5 days.

Good news- our classroom libraries arrived today. It's always good to have books. I even got to go to the materials closet and take what I needed including a new stapler and teacher scissors! When I used the laminator, I didn't even need permission to turn it on, and I didn't have to keep track of the quantity used. (Those non educators may not understand the typical long process to get simple things like paper, pencils, or tape. Copy paper is a whole 'nother animal in the school culture.)

Our Specialized Service Providers (nurse, social worker, OT/PT, psychologist etc.) got their assignments and reported to buildings today. It was a leadership moment... I got the question- "Where's the principal?" My response, "We don't have one," caused much confusion and concern. I sent this person to talk to our lead teachers, who took the SSP to our special ed teacher. The lead teacher said, "Here's the special ed teacher, and she's in charge!"

What a novel concept:
Teachers are professionals with advanced degrees in their content areas, and know how to do their jobs. Wow...

MSLA on 9News

Nelson Garcia from 9 News visits MSLA today to talk to me about CSAP. Our classrooms are looking better every day as we unpack boxes!! Click here.

Kicking it into high gear...

Tomorrow is our first day back. The 12 staff members of the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy will be spending the next few weeks getting everything ready for school. The building was "released" to us today at noon, and we began moving our furniture and materials into our classrooms. Amazingly, the construction in our part of the building is complete, except for the playground, but it will be ready by the 19th. The contractors have been wonderful!
There's so much to say, I don't really know where to start. We spent 3 days in July planning out how the school will function based on the plan that the Board of Education approved. I'm in awe of my colleagues who have between 1 and 30+ years of experience. We amazingly have a balance of strengths and interests that will complement each other well as we begin our journey of running the only teacher led school. This summer, we worked on recruitment, facility planning, schedules, curriculum, ordering materials, service learning project development, shared decision making, studying effective school models, and team building.
Enrollment was a concern that we all shared, and the best news- we have a waiting list!! 145 students have registered for school beating our projection of 128 students in kinder, first and second grade. Check out today's 7 News Story here.
It still amazes me how people react to the concept of our school. Yes, teachers are "smart enough" to run a school. We will also be using Peer Review model, which is groundbreaking for Colorado. This will require a waiver from the State Board of Education since statute requires that a principal conduct evaluations. As we have seen from The New Teacher Project's report, this hasn't exactly been successful. We want to try something different, and hope that it will be replicated across DPS. The DCTA Board and DPS Board approved our request to waive statute.
Pictures will be coming soon!

NEA and Arne Duncan

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel with the Secretary of Education. Watch the video here, and see the full text of the interview:

http://www.nea.org/grants/33697.htm#

A shout out from LDH!

At the NEA Representative Assembly, Linda Darling-Hammond received the Friend of Education Award. During her speech, she commended our Math and Science Leadership Academy! Here's the exerpt:
These new schools are not only charters, they are more often regular public schools in districts from Gorham, Maine to Seattle, Washington, from Minneapolis to Birmingham. This fall in Denver, in Math Science Leadership Academy supported by the Teachers Association, will open led by teacher leaders and a group of teachers half of whom are national board certified to offer a challenging supported curriculum for in a low-income Latino community, where previous shortages are now ended because teachers are lining up trying to get hired to come into this school. Where teachers have the opportunity to be effective with learners with good leadership, with sound curriculum, with thoughtful learning, that's where teachers will want to teach.
These schools like those in high-achieving nations focus on critical thinking and problem solving, on 21st century skills, not just on bubbling in answers to multiple-choice tests. To support this work, we not only need to create opportunities for teachers to reinvent schools, but we also need to create a new framework for No Child Left Behind. That does not leave the money behind, and that understands that we need multiple measures of student learning.

Click here to read the full text.

Our teacher led school... at the Principals' Institute

You can only imagine how strange it is for me, as the former union president, to be participating in the Principal's Institute (now called the Leadership Institute). Principals were asked to bring at least one teacher from their school. We don't have a principal at MSLA, so we brought teacher leaders. We are a teacher led school. One would assume that means that teachers will lead... Collaboration is not always an acceptable practice in DPS, and encouraging teachers to serve in a leadership role is almost unheard of! Yet, it's the Leadership Institute...

In talking to some administrators (central and building) today, they still don't understand what we're trying to do. One principal said, "Yeah, but who is the administrator?" Another said, "Good luck with your charter school." My favorite is the principals who asked what I'll be doing now, and I tell them about the school. They just stared... and walk away. I didn't know that math and science, to start, was THAT out of the box.

It was amazing to listen to the message from the top repeated in front of everyone. The Superintendent talked about working together- changing the culture- working with DCTA. He talked about changing practice to better meet the needs of kids. I thought that was great. Then we went into our breakout groups... where the telephone game began.

In my first session, a participant asked how to "get specialists on board with RtI". I had an idea that I blurted out... How about talking with them??

In another session, we talked about assessing students... a lot. We didn't talk about actually doing something with the results. I don't think that "weighing the pig" was what they meant.

If I had a penny for every time I heard the word "fidelity", I could've signed my retirement papers with or without the DPSRS/PERA merger.

What is fidelity in school anyway? In some schools, it means having the right posters on the wall, being on the right page on th time right day and at the right time. Some principals think it means never asking a question. Others think it means writing 8 different objectives on your white board every day for every period. In fact, we actually discussed the difference between objectives and activities... I think that should've been mastered in teacher school 101.

Tomorrow... the digital divide! I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that talking with teachers, using assessment results, and differentiating instruction based on student needs is an acceptable practice, and that the message trickles down to those who actually do the work!

p.s. Go Penguins! Maybe we can tie up the series?