Come and see!

What a long strange trip its been!

When I was a teacher, the period between the end of Easter vacation and the last day of class for the year was often a mad rush to complete the curriculum and at the same time to begin to reflect on how the year went.  This school year, which began on September 8, 2020, has been, for me, the longest school year of my life! This animated map shows the timeline of how COVID spread at the beginning of last calendar year.  Schools closings, many of us sheltering in place, the rise of Zoom and at the time of this writing, 571,464 people dead from COVID in the United States...those dark and scary days of early 2020 are deeply etched in my memory!

Time lapse animation of COVID spread

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Yet, at the same time, Partnership Schools Cleveland was born with a signed agreement with then Bishop Perez on February 13, 2020, and began managing Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas Aquinas grade schools officially on July 1, 2020.  So when I look back on these past months I also remember the joy and excitement that came into my life amidst this tragic period of history.

Holy Impatience!

Derrick Smith, a fourth grader at Archbishop Lyke, has taken us by storm!  The link below leads to you to his remarkable story...he wasn't going let a pandemic get in his way!!

 

Click here to read his amazing story!!

Schedule a visit--virtual or in person!

With vaccinations in place we are beginning limited visits to our schools.  Our school day begins at 8 AM and ends at 4 PM.  On Wednesdays we have professional development for our teachers and students are dismissed at 1:30 PM. If you are not comfortable with in person visits, we can arrange a Zoom visit as well!  Please call me at 216-409-7018 or email me to arrange.  Seeing is indeed believing!!

The Truth Behind ’40 Acres and a Mule’

Henry Louis Gates wrote a brief history of this...I found it astonishing.  I had never been taught the whole story!  Click here for the story!

TWENTY-ONE DAYS!

Happy Mother's Day!

Lawn signs beginning to bring students to schools!  Grandmother registered her twin grandkids as first response!  More and more, parents are beginning to see how Catholic city grade schools are still teaching!  Cleveland public schools have seemingly punted to next year.  We are hearing how the public district's budget has been cut by 2%.  Clearly, this crisis will be felt for months and years.  Our schools are not going to stop teaching and forming relationships with families and students!  We will find a way!

Last Friday, Jill Kafka, Executive Director of  Partnership Schools, was scheduled for an interview on Youtube by America Magazine (Jesuit national magazine).  Streaming difficulties have pushed that to this Monday, May 11, at noon....here's the link https://youtu.be/hW578e87rm0.  You can set a reminder on the site.

TWENTY-ONE DAYS!

We have committed to raising $3M in pledges and cash to be used from now until June 2022.  Last week were notified that we are in line for a large grant from a national foundation.  We have asks out now to get to the finish line.  If you are considering a gift it can be structured as a pledge, payable from now until June 2022.  Stock transfers can, and have been accepted.  Payments can be made in equal or unequal payments along the way.  For more information, pledge forms, or instructions on payments please email me at richardfclark@gmail.com or phone me at 216.409.7018.  The news out of Newark last week (10 Catholic schools are closing at end of this year, including a Cristo Rey high school) is a stark reminder that one of our greatest assets, our Catholic city grade schools, is on the brink...WE NEED HELP!

Life is Riche

Enjoy my efforts at a cooking show on youtube https://youtu.be/RJJUb10IK6w

This is scary...planets are aligning!

I had lunch today at Bo Loong (E. 40th and St. Clair) with three local urban educators. They too saw the present system of delivering education in urban areas as unworkable. Bill Gates called American seconday education obsolete a few year ago...at that time I thought, "Well, that might be an overstatement for effect..." Guess what...he was right. Urban districts are creating small really good schools within the system, but they are not sustainable...nor, quite honestly, that public.

Two possible new directions:

The Essential Schools movement (http://www.essentialschools.org/) have these common principles:

The Common Principles (abbrev.)
1. Learning to use one's mind well
2. Less is More, depth over coverage
3. Goals apply to all students
4. Personalization
5. Student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach
6. Demonstration of mastery
7. A tone of decency and trust
8. Commitment to the entire school
9. Resources dedicated to teaching and learning
10.Democracy and equity

The Small Schools Movement have these factors as basic to a good school:

http://www.smallschoolsproject.org/

At the Small Schools Project, we define small schools as those that share a set of common characteristics:
They are small. Few effective small schools serve more than 400 students, and many serve no more than 200 students.
They are small. They are autonomous. The school community—whether it shares a building, administrator, or some co-curricular activities with other schools—retains primary authority to make decisions affecting the important aspects of the school.
They are distinctive and focused rather than comprehensive. They do not try to be all things to all people.
They are personal. Every student is known by more than one adult, and every student has an advisor/advocate who works closely with her and her family to plan a personalized program. Student-family-advisor relationships are sustained over several years.
They are committed to equity in educational achievement by eliminating achievement gaps between groups of students while increasing the achievement levels of virtually all students.
They use multiple forms of assessment to report on student accomplishment and to guide their efforts to improve their own school.
They view parents as critical allies, and find significant ways to include them in the life of the school community.
They are schools of choice for both students and teachers, except in some rural areas, and are open, without bias, to any students in a community. There are important benefits of small schools, including student achievement, personalization, cost effectiveness, safety benefits, and others.

These are just two views of a new kind of school. An analogy that was used to explain what happens when technology paradigms shift can really apply to present day educational systems...characterized as big, centralized, teacher centered (via unions), unacceptable graduation rates...on and on. When steam engines were introduced to the great sailing ships, it was very confusing to the sailors. Most steam engines were put on ships, but they kept the sails! Check out the picture above!

We are at a time now when we have to get rid of the sails and get the steam engine! Unfortunately, large urban districts think that adding sails, changing the size, color or shape of the sails is the solution...no, the solution is something so different that we may not recognize just what it will be...but whatever it will be, students will learn!