"What a great idea to connect the arts with a school-wide focus on reading. I think that can work for us too!"

What roles do community partnerships play in an expanded school day? How do community partnerships enhance the experiences of students, teachers, families, and partnering organizations? On March 18th, Massachusetts 2020 convened representatives from the 26 Expanded Learning Time schools and 35 of their community partners - arts and cultural institutions, afterschool and youth development programs, and mental health agencies - to explore these questions. Throughout the day participants had opportunities to network, share best practices and participate in workshops, each featuring promising partnerships across the Massachusetts ELT network. 

Deep Partnerships, Deep Impact

This workshop addressed the question: what does a quality school-community partnership look and feel like in the context of Expanded Learning Time, and how can it impact an ELT school? Mass 2020 staff presented a new Quality Partnerships Tool to help schools and community learning organizations deepen their partnerships, and discussed how partnerships fit into the broader expectations for high-quality implementation of ELT. Then leaders from Worcester ELT schools and the EcoTarium presented on how they have designed and implemented a partnerships (“Mission Explore”) that engages students, teachers and families, and how working on all three of these levels is having an impact on their school and organization.

Presenters: Teresa Wolcott, EcoTarium
Kerrie Kelly, Chandler Elementary School (Session 1)
Deb Daley, City View Discovery School (Session 2)
Emily Raine, Massachusetts 2020

Materials:
PowerPoint Presentation
Quality ELT Partnerships Tool
ELT Expectations & Indicators with Partnerships Highlights
Mission Explore Planning and Implementation Timeline
Mission Explore Pre- and Post-Tests (Grades 4/5)

Teacher-Partner Collaboration to Support Student Success

Communication, collaboration and coordination are critical to the health of partnerships, but it can be challenging to make time for teachers and community learning organization staff to work together on a consistent basis. In this session, participants learned about strategies to promote collaboration between school teachers and their partners’ staff. Massachusetts 2020 provided an overview on this topic, shared tools and resources, and then spotlighted three current partnerships that have found ways for their teachers and staff to work together, fostering integrated, multi-layered partnerships.

Presenters: Joe Petner, CitySprouts
Christine Fetter, MLK Jr. K-8 School
Mandie Owens, Battleship Cove
June Soares, Viveiros Elementary School
Lynnly Crane, Viveiros Elementary School
Katje Fuson, SMILES Mentoring
Lori Jodoin, Kuss Middle School
Ben Lummis, Massachusetts 2020

Materials:
United Way Connecting School and Afterschool tip cards
CitySprouts PowerPoint Presentation
MLK PowerPoint Presentation

Leveraging Enrichment to Support a School-Wide Academic Focus

The first expectation of ELT schools, as laid out in theELT Expectations & Indicators, is “ELT Redesign Supports a Clear, School-Wide Academic Focus”. This workshop addressed how schools and their community partners can design and implement enrichment programming that supports and complements a school-wide academic focus. It featured a presentation by a current partnership, Young Audiences of Massachusetts-Salemwood School, that has rethought its structure and goals in light of Salemwood’s K-4 focus on literacy, including an analysis of what the challenges and benefits of these adjustments have been for the school and the community learning organization.

Presenters: Emily Ullman, Young Audiences of Massachusetts
Brenda Keen, Salemwood K-8 School
Helenann Civian and Joe Rull, Massachusetts 2020

Materials: PowerPoint Presentation
ELT Expectations & Indicators with Partnerships Highlights
Academic Focus Guide
Sample Lesson Plans (Grade 4)
Young Audiences of MA tip sheet