More information coming soon
Last June, over 500 students in Excellence for All schools presented their Capstone projects at Boston University to their peers, BPS educators and community guests. Each year, all students in grades 4-6 in Excellence for All Schools are required to complete an interdisciplinary Capstone project.
About 80 students across EFA schools presented at the fist EFA/WGBH Capstone Showcase. Students from the Gardner Pilot Academy, the Guild Elementary, and King K-8 sat on a panel to discuss their project experience. Special guests include Jon Abbot, Laura Perille, Edith Bazile (our keynote speaker), and more!
Just two short weeks ago, I was strolling the Malecón with fellow National Board Certified teacher Kelly Garofalo. While walking along this seaside boulevard, we practiced our Spanish listening and speaking skills through interacting with Cuban citizens and ex-patriates while viewing sidewalk sculpture installations created by artists from each country of the Americas.
View Photos of the dinner here
On March 5, the Partnerships in Education and Resilience Institute (PEAR) sponsored an EFA Principal Appreciation Dinner to thank our principals for their dedication to the social-emotional health of students. Our hope in Excellence for All is to always bring the strengths, hopes, dreams, and potential of our most marginalized populations to the center for all work, coaching, and decision-making. This is a philosophy well-aligned with the PEAR institute's vision. Through PEAR, EFA schools receive student self-perception data, as well as coaching that utilizes the positive attributes that our children bring with them to design supports and enhance school culture, peer group curricula, and other services. David, Diaz, Assistant Principal of the Curley K-8, Julia Bott, Principal of the Mendell K-5, Jennifer Dines, Teacher at the Lila Frederick Pilot School, and Christine Connolly, Principal of the Henry Grew School, all spoke of the benefit of the PEAR partnership and the benefit of the Excellence for All Partnership overall. In attendance were also Karen McCarthy and Sean Brooks, Principal and Lead Coach at the Curtis Guild School K-5, and Laryssa Doherty, Principal of the Edwards Middle School.
300 students in grades 4 and 5 presented their Capstone projects at the Reggie Lewis Community College at the 2nd Annual EFA Capstone Conference in June 2018.
During April break in 2018, Excellence for All and Alterra Global Initiatives hosted an international professional development experience in Finland and Estonia. 15 BPS educators, including 11 teachers from EFA schools, received a first-hand glance at the steps our host nations have taken to integrate technological advances into education. Participants visited elementary and secondary schools to observe student projects, and learn directly from Finnish and Estonian educators on their experiences with professional development, autonomy and trust, rigorous teacher preparation, and more.
In early 2018, EFA hosted a Teacher Roundtable Dinner Series to show appreciation for EFA teachers' hard work and to improve awareness of our model, early successes, and goals beyond year 2. Teachers specifically learned about EFA's plan to support teachers in their important work in classrooms through coaching, professional development, and more