Building Strong School-Community Connections for Student Support

1. Student Support and Family/Community Connections Thomas Innocenti Ohio County Board of Education

2. Assets • Facility • Teaching Staff – 60 members • Student body – 1,000 • Community – downtown Wheeling

6. Community • What did I find inside? • Disadvantaged, low socio-economic area • Large minority population • A variety of cultures • Distinctive leadership (some hidden) within each culture • Businesses • Communities within the community

7. Proactive effort to identify and remove barriers that might exclude students and parents from participation in the school community

8. Identify Barriers • Students excluded from extra curricular activities (Why?) • Parents not active in school activities (Why?) • School didn’t compete in academic competitions (Why?) • School viewed as an unsafe and unfriendly place (Why?)

9. Remove Barriers • Community Visits • Make contact with as many in the community as possible. • Become highly visible in the community • Communicate the school’s vision • Develop trusting relationships • Become the center of the community • Educational • Social

11. Establish School Identity • WJHS was made up of three distinct communities • East Wheeling (Clay community) • Center Wheeling (blue-collar high unemployment) • South Wheeling (blue collar, German decent, high employment) • Bethlehem ( Professional community)

12. There is so much we don’t know about our communities and We don't bother to find out!

13. School-wide commitment to effective two-way communication with parents that is respectful of the diverse backgrounds and unique and challenging needs of families and the community.

14. Communication • One mission was to continue to support the relationships in the Clay community while learning all I could about the new communities and establishing new relationship. • Communicate vision • Develop trusting relationships

15. Proactive partnerships and relationships within the community that are mutually beneficial, that result in the school being a respected and valued partner, and that expand the school’s ability to meet the needs of students

16. Respected and Valued Partner • It doesn’t matter how they enter the building, it matters how they leave. • Treat every visitor of your building with respect. • Understand that every child can become a great 21st century citizen.

17. Wide variety of student support systems emphasizing collaboration including consultation, teaming, co-teaching, informal problem solving, instruction in a separate setting and collegial learning communities

18. Support Systems • Organization for school communication and collaboration • Establish weekly administrative team meetings • Common planning for all teams • Establish teacher leaders • Regular planned team meetings

19. Implement an effective transition plan that involves students, parents, teachers and staff from all schools participating in the transition process both into and out of the middle level school

20. Comprehensive Transition Plan • WMS team leaders attend PTO meetings of feeder schools to present curricular expectations • Participate in the high school transition plan • Principal attends and speaks to schools and community organizations • Team leaders meet with feeder school leadership to discuss student and parent concerns • Communicate with parents concerning expectation of what is required to succeed at middle school

21. PTO, Booster Organizations and School Business Partners are not Personal Enough

22. Continuous small steps translate into Big Results

23. I wish you every Success as a leader in the 21st century.