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Ashford Park Community Planning Overview

May 2013

Parent and Teacher Choice

Flexibility (Waivers)

Student Achievement

Accountability

Why Charter?
Teachers want to teach. The charter provides an opportunity for
the school to divest itself of a multitude of unnecessary and unproductive administrative and instructional practices. It will enable resources to flow more directly to the classroom. Furthermore, it will give educators a substantial voice in decision making.

1.

2.

Children want to learn. The charter provides an opportunity for

the school to establish a learning community most conducive to learning whether that be through an even higher level of parent and community engagement or a more effective and responsive discipline process.

3.

Parents and community members want to be competitive.

The charter, by providing innovation and a greater focus on school based priorities and decisions that will continue to raise achievement, will attract and retain AP students and families.

+ What does the Charter Mean for Ashford Park?

Ashford Park will continue to receive the federal, state, and local funds it earns, but will request fully flexibility on how these funds are spent to meet the needs of AP students and staff and to provide financial efficiency and stewardship.

Our faculty will work collaboratively with parents and community members to achieve academic and operational performance goals we establish for our school.

We will be requesting a higher level of autonomy than neighboring DeKalb conversion schools and will exercise our rights to waive laws, policies, and rules that impede us from teaching and operating our school effectively.

We will establish a qualified Governing Board that sets policy; empowers administration and teachers to make decisions about instruction, resource allocation and operations; and provides parents with a meaningful voice in priorities for the school.

We will comply with certain mandates (SPED, ESOL, health and safety, accountability, civil rights, etc.) but will implement these mandates in an efficient and childentered manner.

Core Planning Teams (Pre-Charter) 1

n Organizing

Committee Consists of parents, teachers, and community members. Primary responsibilities:

n Follow

petitioning procedures required by law and district policy n Organize stakeholder groups to plan the charter framework n Draft the charter petition and budget based on stakeholder work groups outlines n Facilitate establishment of the first qualified Governing Board

Core Planning Teams (Pre-Charter) 2

Stakeholder Groups Consists of parents, teachers, and
1. 2. 3. 4.

n 4

community members.

Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment Operations Governance, Finance, Parent & Community Engagement Innovations, Waivers, & Performance Objectives

Primary responsibilities
n n n n n

Research Use stakeholder surveys to plan the charter framework Use stakeholder surveys and research to outline components of the petition Provide outreach to parents, staff, and the community related to planning We WANT and NEED your participation in a big or small way, so please sign up to join

Core Planning Teams (Pre-Charter) 3

Stakeholder Groups cont.
n n n n n

n 4
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Format for the Work:

Follow an established Critical Path Plan (to be discussed a little later) Meet once weekly for approximately 1.5 2 hours Collaborate as needed between meetings either in person or on-line Individual assignments can be done at home Utilize surveys for stakeholders as much as possible to get ongoing feedback as the groups plan All work and decisions will be published on the website

We WANT and NEED your participation in a big or small way, so please sign up to join one or more groups.

Implementation - if awarded charter

n Implementation Teams
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Implementation Teams will be developed to plan implementation of the charter. The teams will consist of administration, teachers, and as appropriate, other faculty parents and community members.

Charter provides the WHAT. The Implementation Teams will provide the HOW.
For example the charter could request a waiver to choose its own text books and instructional materials. Implementation teams would evaluate and select them.

+ Operations - if awarded charter

n

Governing Board

Will demonstrate appropriate qualifications/credentials to govern (education, legal, business, finance) Selected by school stakeholders Will have protections in place against conflicts of interest Sets overarching charter policy the board DOES NOT MANAGE. Establishes the charter budget and facilitates an annual audit Oversees achievement of charter goals and objectives Selects, monitors, develops, and assesses the principal the Governing Board MAY NOT terminate the principal from employment that is a function of the DCSS. Serves as volunteers and is not compensated

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n n n

+ Operations - if awarded charter

n

Principal

n n n

Selects, monitors, develops and assesses all school level staff Manages school operations and instructional programming Leads the school to utilizes the privilege of flexibility and waivers by thinking outside the box about how to best provide instruction and operations for the school. Acts as a liaison between the school and the governing Board related to progress and needs Acts as the charter's ambassador and represents the charter (in conjunction with the Governing Board) to authorizers Implements the charter according to the needs of the school Executes plan for achievement of charter goals and objectives

n n

+ Operations - if awarded charter

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School Staff
Works collaboratively with each other, with parents and the community to achieve the charters goals and objectives Provides input into school academic, financial, and operational priorities in a variety of ways Utilizes the privilege of flexibility and waivers by thinking outside the box about how to best provide instruction and operations for the school Works collaboratively to meet performance goals and objectives

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM)

Holistic, multidisciplinary learning approach Focused on functional literacy bridging education with 21st century workforce Embeds businesses and community partnerships to bring relevance to instruction

Stakeholder Buy-In
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This petition CAN NOT be submitted without the support of BOTH faculty and parents. Public meetings called 2 weeks in advance n Secret ballot n Majority in favor is required to submit the petition to DCSD
n

n You

will see the FULL petition prior to being asked to vote. now and submission of the petition, you will have many opportunities for input (surveys, 4 stakeholder groups weekly meetings, OC meetings, social media for output and input of info, website, etc.

n Between

Next Steps Tentative Timeline

Research plan and draft petition (May July) Conduct community meetings (June and July) Present the final petition to community groups (late July) Hold the stakeholder vote (late July, early August) Submit charter petition to DCSD (mid August) Submit charter petition to State Board of Education (November 1) If charter is approved, establish Implementation Teams (January or February) Begin charter status (August 2014)

Thanks for your support!

1.

Stay informed by visiting our website at:

http://apscharter.wordpress.com
2.

Take the first survey (of several)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ Ashford_Park_ParentCommunity_Surv ey2