Town Wide Learning Community Meeting Summary

Hi Everyone, Here is the meeting summary. Let me know if I missed something. I will bring hard copies to our next meeting. I don't know if I am missing the obvious, but I can't seem to figure out how to attach a word document. See you soon, Rosemary

Town Wide Learning Community Meeting Summary

Lisa Beaulieu, Tom Kenworthy, Karen Freedman, Ryan Pearson, Donna Morelle, Dee Gould and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat

The group met on June 2, 2009 at 7:15

Discussion: The steering committee discussed a time period to convene the larger group in the town wide learning community effort. Choosing a target time will enable the committee to plan for timely implementation.

Action: A target time was set, in late September, for the first convening of the larger group to discuss the Town Wide Learning Community.

Discussion: The application to the RI Foundation for organizational development was discussed in detail. An essential question concerning what the steering committee should know and be able to do before we convene the group, was discussed. We discussed how the application will help us to prepare for the work ahead. The organizational development grant could be used to help the steering committee educate ourselves. There is a wealth of information on community involvement. Building a common language and understanding among the steering committee members is important. Hiring a facilitator could help to organize the steering committee. Donna, Lisa and Tom attended a professional development experience for school leaders called World Café. This model could be used to engage the larger group in the town wide learning community discussion. During the May meeting the team discussed possible process questions to consider including:
What do children need?
What can we do?
Where do we need help?

Donna offered the school improvement fund to seed some efforts related to town wide learning . These school department funds will be a good match to include in the grant application and demonstrate local support and commitment to this idea.

The professional development grant still needs to be discussed.

Action: Lisa agreed to draft the application to the RI Foundation. All other steering committee members will review and provide feedback. The grant will be submitted to the RI Foundation by June 30, 2009.

Discussion: The group continued to discuss what building a town wide learning community would mean. The town wide learning community would create a culture of learning in Cumberland. The model would recognize that learning just doesn’t happen in school. The process could start with current community relationships within Cumberland Public Schools. There could some type of celebration of learning as a kickoff event. Dee shared examples from Chicago and Boston. The anniversary of the high school is coming up and this event could be tied to that celebration
The Complementary Learning report from Harvard was discussed. The report contained many excellent examples to help inform our efforts in terms of leadership, leveraging resources, and building partnerships. The 20-60-20 rule was of interest. This rule advised that in terms of change, 20% of stakeholders will be on board right away, 60% can be brought along and 20% may never buy in. We need to start with the first 20%. Interestingly, this report also differentiated between family engagement and community involvement. The report held a very traditional approach to family involvement which included support for the school and homework help. Community involvement meant meeting the needs of youth beyond what the school can do. This definition of community involvement was also shared by Jude Pelchat from the Annenberg Institute at an earlier meeting with the steering committee.

The group looked at “the list” to determine next steps. We discussed a sorting activity with the list to include active partnerships, geography, power and influence. Several other names and groups were added to the list including: Youth sports and booster clubs, town stakeholders, faith community, Craig Bloomer of the Boys and Girls Club, Mike Crawley, Darlene Wood, Neal Anderson, Cumberland Youth Commissioners, Dan Yorke, Ralph Jasparro and Clifton Boyle.
The Cumberland Local Education Fund was also discussed. The town wide learning community can provide opportunities to establish and or strengthen bonds with local groups such as the fund and the Office for Children Youth and Learning.

Action: There is still a wealth of information to review and incorporate in our work. It was agreed that we would meet regularly to achieve the fall meeting goal that was established at the beginning of the meeting. Donna, Tom and Rosemary will meet to review and analyze SALT data as it relates to town wide learning.

The next meeting of the group will be June 24, 2009 from 6:30-8:00 in the Superintendent’s conference room.