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Reflections - Spring 2020

Dear Allis Family,

Hope is not blind faith that things will get better. Rather it is the conviction, that with protest, awareness, collaboration, sustained effort, perseverance and care for each other it CAN get better.

America has always changed because young people have cared to hope. We can help our young people hope. When things seem darkest we need hope the most.

Heard Cared for and Connected:

We cannot let our school year end without recognizing the pivotal place we find ourselves in. Our community must know where we stand. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and too many more lives lost. It’s unacceptable. Our county has quietly passed 400 years by with racist ideas. It must end.

As educators we are called to action. We are called to dismantle a system designed with the oppression of black and brown people and the marginalization of students of color.

We will fight injustice by teaching as all of our lives depend on it.

To our students, staff and families of color: We see you. We hear from you. We value you. You matter. Your voice is important to us. We are here to support and empower you. We love you.

To our white students, staff and families: Join in, in unlearning, disrupting inequities, and working to be actively anti-racist. This means utilizing the privilege you hold to address unjust conditions that impact people of color each day. We are deeply committed to continuing our anti-racist practices. You can learn with us.

To our exiting 5th graders: You are the future. You are part of history in the making. Our path forward is in your hands, because you can decide to be the change we all hope for. Now you enter middle school, and in seven years you’ll enter adulthood. Seize this time, because the voice of youth will tell the world: CHANGE NOW and LET’S BE BETTER.

Our world is turned upside down by a pandemic and racial unrest. You just ended your elementary career watching your teachers learn how to zoom and screencastify. I am sure that is never how you imagined this spring. We do live in an uncertain time, and we don’t know what will happen next. What we know is you have your whole life ahead of you and that times of change are a part of each generation.You don’t have to accept our normal before now. You can create a new normal that is fairer, that treats people equally, that stands up for each other and that innovates our society. Raise up your voice for justice. Share your dreams for change. Tell the world how the new normal will be better.

I can’t wait to see what your generation does because we know it’s time. It’s time for justice. It’s time for healing. It’s time for love. You can take us there.

MAKE US PROUD. DARE TO HOPE

With Love, Sara

Reflections - 2018

Collectively we believe every day we can make a difference by earning the right to have high expectations for ALL students. We believe that all students can be successful when we honor and affirm each student’s gifts in order to foster our welcoming, inclusive and responsive community.

This is the beliefs I stand by. I also stand by the belief that classrooms are at the center of school reform. I believe that schools are the single-most powerful unit of social change. Frank Allis is a unit of change where teachers create the opportunities for all students to achieve.

Reflections - Beginning of Year 2018

The greatest gift we have as a community is the heart we bring to working with children to make a difference in our world:

Collectively we believe every day we can make a difference by earning the right to have high expectations for ALL students. We believe that all students can be successful when we honor and affirm each student’s gifts in order to foster our welcoming, inclusive and responsive community.

For this school year, I renew my commitment as an instructional leader. We want to build on our forward trajectory. In the last five years we have risen from 10% to 29% of students proficient in literacy. We have a long way to go, and we can get there. We know that student achievement does not occur overnight but rather with steady and dedicated instruction within an aligned system.

As our district is focusing on Black Excellence, at Allis we will build a strong, positive, scholar identity. Staff will center on deepening learning partnerships with our African American students so that we accelerate their growth.

We also know that we are part of the larger Madison Metropolitan School District. I invite you to read our new district Strategic Framework. Our success is part of our success as a district. We have an exciting year ahead of us, and I am confident that together we will achieve great things!

The heart of Frank Allis sounds in our vision of equity:

Earning the right to have high expectations.

We believe that all students can be successful when we honor and affirm each student’s gifts in order to foster our welcoming, inclusive and responsive community.

We are dedicated to our community, to the families and students we serve. As a white-female leader working for social justice and racial equity, I know that the strong school community we build makes Frank Allis a special place to work and grow. It is here that we continue to find our purpose and identity.

Positive identity starts with the story we tell ourselves. As teachers we are changing this internal narrative one brain at a time. We are earning the right to demand high expectation of each other and our students, through the development of a strong positive scholar identity before, during and after school.

In a time when fear dominates the narrative outside these walls WE CAN collectively create a loving, safe place of belonging with the spaces of our school. All humans are wired for connection-- all our brains want to belong. At Allis we are connected to each other.

My leadership purpose started with my career identifying as a social justice educator. Today I wonder how my leadership transforms from: Equity Warrior to Equity Peacemaker. So this year we started with listening to a panel of parents who asked us to recognize the impact we have on their children: "School is another family. They (our children) are able to open up to you and they all should have their own voices." The voices of our families inspired the staff to connect to our purpose and commitment to families and children.

I believe that schools are the single-most powerful unit of social change. I now lead one of those units of change and together we commit to creating the opportunities for all students to achieve.

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Observaciones al Principio del Ciclo - 2018

El corazón de Frank Allis suena en nuestra visión de equidad.

Nos ganamos el derecho de tener altas expectativas.

Creemos que todos los estudiantes pueden lograr éxitos cuando honramos y afirmamos cada uno de sus talentos, fomentando a nuestra acogedora y sensible comunidad.

Nos dedicamos a nuestra comunidad y a las familias y estudiantes que servimos. Como una líder blanca de sexo femenino, estoy consciente de que la fuerte comunidad escolar que construimos hace que Frank Allis sea un lugar especial para trabajar y crecer. Es aquí donde seguimos encontrando nuestra identidad y dirección.

Una identidad positiva comienza con el cuento que nos decimos a nosotros mismos. Como maestros estamos cambiando este narrativo interno en cada uno de los estudiantes en la escuela de uno en uno. Nos estamos ganando el derecho de tener altas expectativas de nosotros mismos y de nuestros alumnos por medio del desarrollo de una fuerte identidad estudiantil positiva durante y después de la escuela.

En esta temporada con tanto temor fuera de estas paredes, juntos NOSOTROS PODEMOS crear un lugar con cariño y sin peligro donde todos tienen el sentido de pertenencia. Todos los seres humanos buscan una conexión con otra gente-- el cerebro de cada uno(a) de nosotros quiere pertenecer. En la Escuela Allis, nos conectamos los unos a los otros.

El propósito de mi liderazgo comenzó con el reconocimiento de mi misma como maestra de justicia social. Este año por primera vez, el personal docente escuchaba mientras un grupo de padres y madres nos informaba sobre el efecto que tienen los maestros en las vidas de sus hijos(as). “La escuela es como una familia. Nuestros hijos pueden abrirse con el personal docente y ser escuchados.” Las voces de las familias inspiraron al personal docente a conectar su propósito profesional con su compromiso a los niños y sus familias.

Yo creo que las escuelas son la entidad más poderosa para fomentar el cambio social. Yo soy líder de una de estas entidades de cambio y espero que juntos nos comprometeremos a crear oportunidades para que todos los estudiantes puedan ser exitosos.

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End-of-Year Reflection

As the Frank Allis community prepares to celebrate 100 years of education, we both reflect on the past and prepare for the future.

Most importantly we are furthering and deepening our work on the behalf of kids. This year we begun the work of creating learning partnerships with our scholars and our families. This means that we are focused on creating connectedness with students in order to build an alliance that empowers them as learners.

Core Beliefs

Below are the core beliefs that ground my leadership work.

Equitable Classrooms at the Center

Foremost I am a teacher. I began my career as a classroom teacher and I believe the most important place in the school is the classroom. When teachers and students create learning partnerships, which build on their great cultural and linguistic backgrounds, all students succeed. Good teaching matters.

Good teaching starts when high expectations are set for all students through rigorous, standards-based outcomes and instruction and we must earn the right to demand these expectations by first seeking to understand each child’s gifts.

Collaborative Leadership

Great teachers know how important they are in the lives of their students. Great leaders know how important teachers are to the success of the school and continue to seek input and feedback.

I believe in a distributed leadership model that comes from a place of deep trust and respect for each other as colleagues. In the coming year this is be a main focus of my leadership: building the capacity of our talented staff in order for each member of the community to feel efficacious in the work of transforming urban schools.

Collective Responsibility for Data Focused Results

I am committed to continuing the upward trajectory of Frank Allis Elementary. I believe that together we build on the incredible strengths our students, staff, families and community partners bring to our school.. I believe in being of service to others through education, because I also believe that education is an act of social justice.

I work in education to better the lives of students by working together to remove the institutional barriers that prevent student from being successful. This includes a continual review of assessment data in order to refine our practices, focusing on what supports student results. This is hard work and we must do it together.

Beginning-of-Year Reflection 2017

Goals for the Entry Process

1. Listen to staff, students, families, and community partners to deepen my understanding of the Frank Allis community and our needs.

2. Identify strategic actions for school year based upon information gathered.

3. Communicate the complied reflections, actions and continued opportunities for growth.

Phases and Timeline for the Entry Process

Pre-Entry Phase: Present – August 15, 2017

Activities

· Host listening sessions with staff and the community

Purpose

Seek answers to the following questions to better understand the strengths, growth areas, communication preferences and priorities at Frank Allis Elementary School.

Timeline

Week of July 31- 1:1 Conversations with staff with Sara

Week of August 21- 1:1 Conversations with staff with Andrea

Family listening Sessions:

August 29^th- All school picnic

Entry Phase: July-September 2017

Activities

• Conduct further interviews with staff, families and community partners as needed
• Host listening sessions with students
• Schedule listening sessions at identified community sites for targeted family listening sessions
• Further understand community partnerships and work to develop these relationships while pursuing further community partners
• Begin compiling data from the pre-entry phase and share with the SBLT (School Based Leadership Team)

Purpose

Continue to develop and nurture positive and collaborative relationships with members of the our school community to ensure we meet the needs of all of our students

Gain student perspectives regarding strengths and areas of growth

Timeline

Further interviews:

• Office hours and by appointment added date of August 14

Student listening sessions:

• September- Schedule small group interviews and consults with grade levels

Family listening sessions:

• October 3rd- Open House, Garden Celebration and Academic Parent Teacher Teams for 4k-3rd Grade
• January 20th- Academic Parent Teacher Teams Grades 4K-3

Implementation phase: School-year 2017-2018

Activities

• Share results of data collected with the staff, parents and community
• Use the results from the listening sessions, one-to-one conversations to identify and create actions steps for the school year and future years
• Continually seek feedback from various stakeholders
• Establish monitoring system to continuously reflect on our progress and implementation of strategic actions named through the entry process

Purpose

Collaboratively develop an action plan to build upon the strengths and address root causes of our challenges

Make implementation steps to ensure we are positively growing together

Timeline

September:

• Share findings with SBLT, analyze data and determine actions steps

October:

• Share findings with families and staff during the Open House October 3

January:

• Reflect on data-based progress made with all staff and families through various means and adjust the action steps
• Share findings with students

May/June:

• Share progress and reflections from the school year with all staff and families through various means