Professional Development Team on Pace to Facilitate 30 Events This Trimester

As our 76th trimester gets underway at Eagle Rock School, our Professional Development Center continues to host and facilitate the needs and opportunities of educational organizations around the country — with 30 such events on the calendar for the trimester at hand.

With an asset-based lens embedded in our facilitation, we support educators in determining and applying steps that lead towards powerful organizational transformation. The objective is to re-engage students in their own education. Learn more about our work by visiting the Professional Development Center section of our website. Or, for a more precise accounting of our work — including a partial list of current PDC clients and the work we’re doing between now and the end of this year — please see below:

AUGUST 2018

August 9 – 10

iLEAD, Castaic, Calif.: Founded 10 years ago in the Santa Clarita Valley area of Southern California, iLEAD  charter schools focus on project-based learning and student-led assessments to improve the quality of education. Dan Condon, Eagle Rock’s Associate Director of Professional Development, spent two days with Empower Generations (a charter school that supports pregnant and parenting teens) and Innovation Studios (a high school with a hybrid learning environment of human resources and technology). Dan’s objective was to cover enduring understandings and learning targets with the two program’s instructors.

August 20 – 21

I Have a Dream Foundation (IHAD), Boulder, Colo.: With the objective of assisting low-income students to and through college, iHAD’s seeks to provide a long-term, comprehensive educational and cultural enrichment programs to members of Boulder’s student body. Dan Condon was on hand to provide support for launching professional learning communities within this organization.

August 24

New Visions Charter School for the Humanities IV, Queens, N.Y.: Dan visited the charter school in Queens, N.Y., to discuss a future partnership. New Visions school in Rockaway Park, offers routes to success for urban students who otherwise might not have access to both formal arts training and a college preparatory education. Eagle Rock envisions working with the organization to support restorative practices in its learning community.

August 27- 28

Rosemary Anderson High School, Portland, Ore.: Eagle Rock Professional Development Associate Anastacia Galloway Reed met with staff members at Rosemary Anderson High School to discuss the purpose of their school and examine how perceptions feed outcomes. While there, she also did a deep dive into the school’s focus on the “Kids at Hope” framework and worked up some advanced planning for the year in light of this focus.

SEPTEMBER 2018

September 5

I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County, Colo. (IHAD): Dan Condon returned to Boulder and iHAD to continue working with iHAD on classroom focused Professional Learning Communities.

September 10 – 11

“We The People” Alliance, Miami, Fla.: The purpose of the “We the People” Alliance is shared among its stakeholders — including students, parents and guardians, teachers, community members invested in the social and economic health of their communities, school leaders, mathematics educators, mathematicians, and others in higher education. The focus is on youth who perform in the bottom academic levels in math, with the objective of preparing these students for graduation, college and career. Comprised of about 40-member organizations, Eagle Rock supports the Alliance as a whole by serving “local alliances” such as the one in Broward County, Florida. Eagle Rock Professional Development Director Michael Soguero was on hand to facilitate the development of leadership for supporting Algebra Project practices.

September 20

Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC) Alternative School, Steubenville, Ohio: The Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC) Alt School provides a structured approach to students who demonstrate poor attendance, aggression toward others, withdrawal, and poor peer/adult relationships. The objective of the program is to teach students the behaviors necessary to function within acceptable behavioral norms of the community. Anastacia Galloway Reed continued the whole school book study on the “Body Keeps the Score” as they enter a second year of developing trauma-informed pedagogy at the northeastern Ohio school.

September 26- 27

School Foundry, Seattle, Wash.: Eagle Rock’s Professional Development Director Michael Soguero, Associate Director Dan Condon, Professional Development Associate Anastacia Galloway Reed, and Professional Development Fellow Doen Lee) traveled to Gig Harbor to  work with Henderson Bay High School— a Big Picture Learning School, and with School Foundry at Impact Hub in Seattle. The visit included examining Asset Mindset and how that approach can serve school improvement practices. The team also demonstrated how to conduct an Asset Inventory, and worked with School Foundry in launching the second cohort of its leadership incubator in Washington State.

OCTOBER 2018

October 1 – 2

Education Reimagined, Washington D.C.:

We invited members of Education Reimagined to visit Eagle Rock as a way to continue contributing to their vision and obtain feedback on our practices. The Education Reimagined community is dedicated to transforming education in the United States through elevating and forwarding learner-centered education. With established learner-centered practices already in place at Eagle Rock School, we will use the group’s observations in order to further our own commitment to competency-based education and equity.

October 3

Honda Property Risk Forum, Torrance, Calif: Earlier today, we took the opportunity to host tours of the Eagle Rock campus to a group of corporate executives attending the Honda Property Risk Forum conferencein Estes Park.

October 5

I Have a Dream Foundation (IHAD) of Boulder County, Colo.: Once again, our associate director of professional development, Dan Condon is visiting iHAD of Boulder to facilitate Professional Learning Community protocols related to Classroom Instructional Practice.

October 8-12

Campus Visits, Estes Park, Colo.: During the third week of Eagle Rock School classes, we’ll be hosting visitors interested in learning about our approach to education. These visitors include staff and leadership from the following programs:

• iLEAD (October 8 – 10)
• New Earth (October 10- 11)
• Public Allies new CEO Jaime Uzeta (October 10 – 12)
• Blueprint Douglas County (October 10)
• Vantage Point Alternative Campus (October 12)

October 11- 14

YesPhilly, Philadelphia, Pa.: Michael Soguero will be leading a planning session for the board and staff of YesPhilly in order to develop an approach to meeting the needs of out-of-school youth to prepare them to become successful adults. YesPhilly is an accelerated high school that helps students become confident and competent lifelong learners. Since its inception, YesPhilly has provided opportunities to more than 200 high school drop-outs each year.

October 12

Rosemary Anderson High School, Portland, Ore.: Anastacia Galloway Reed will be in Portland to kick off a new project with Rosemary Anderson High School (RAHS) aimed at infusing project-based learning into RAHS’ curriculum. With Anastacia’s support, participants will examine elements of high-quality projects and start to work toward including these elements in RAHS’ 2nd quarter curriculum. RAHS is committed to the future success of at-risk youth through the age of 25, offering high-quality services in education, mentoring, family outreach, employment training and placement.

October 17

Public Allies, Milwaukee, Wis.: Associate Director of Professional Development Dan Condon continues to work with Public Allies to bring current Eagle Rock Public Allies and alumni together in Professional Learning Communities. Here at Eagle Rock, we actively support Public Allies on our mountainside campus because this national movement engages the leadership potential of young people through a service-year program around the United States. The organization currently operates its AmeriCorps program in 25 communities throughout the United States.

October 18

Future Focused Education, (FEE) Albuquerque, N.M.: Eagle Rock Director of Professional Development Michael Soguero will be facilitating a meeting of schools and school districts in New Mexico — on behalf of FFE— as they brainstorm scenarios for taking advantage of opportunities to provide alternative forms of assessment to best serve their students. FEE continually works to transform education and schools so they are responsive to the realities faced by many students and can better connect underserved and nontraditional students to college and career.

October 19

Leadership Schools Network, Albuquerque, N.M.: Following last year’s successful development of internship programs connected to the health field with Health Leadership High School, Tech Leadership (which is part of the Leadership School Network) has asked Eagle Rock to help their staff develop a similar program in the technology field. Michael will convene local tech industry leaders to create a nearby ecosystem for a tech sector internship and training initiative for youth from the school.

October 21- 22

Education Reimagined, Nashville, Tenn.: Michael Soguero will participate in a Pioneer Lab Gathering convened as a pre-conference for the 2018 iNACOL Symposium. This event is dedicated to exploring the future of open-walled approaches to educationand the potential of a fully open-walled system. Michael will be advancing our thinking through conversations and exercises led by the School’s Out Group — education practitioners and organization leaders committed to exploring what an open-walled education system might look like.

October 23 – 24

Flagstaff Unified School District, Flagstaff, Ariz.: Anastacia Galloway Reed will continue supporting a team spearheading the Alpine Institute as it develops a Kindergarten through Grade 12 cohesive experiential education experience for its students. The Alpine Institute is a program within the Flagstaff Unified School District and a magnet program intended to provide an academically focused, place-based service learning educational opportunity for its students.

NOVEMBER 2018

October 31- November 3

Vermont Adult Learning (VAL), Waterbury, Vt.: Here, Michael Soguero is leading a two-day work session with Vermont Adult Learning to discuss refining competencies across multiple disciplines. Vermont Adult Learning provides basic skills instruction, high school completion, transition to college and career services, and English language instruction for young people. The organization is leading the way in developing competency-based approaches to education that can influence the multiple schools and school districts with which they work.

November 6

Jefferson County Educational Service Center Alternative School Related Arts, Steubenville, Ohio: Eagle Rock School Art Instructional Specialist Cindy Elkins travels to Ohio to continue her support of art teachers across the seven school districts around the Ohio Valley. This is the third year Eagle Rock has partnered with the Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC) Alt School to support the related arts instructors, and we look forward to continuing to examine what differentiation looks like within the related arts.

November 8 – 10

School Reform Initiative (SRI) Fall Meeting, San Antonio, Texas: Dan Condon (Associate Director of Professional Development), Doen Lee (2018/2019 Professional Development Fellow), Kim Téllez (Societies and Culture Instructional Fellow), and Zach Greimann (2018/2019 Math Instructional Fellow) will be in San Antonio to attend the School Reform Initiative Fall Meeting 2018. Motivated by a commitment to educational equity, this select group of Eagle Rockers will be practicing the skills, habits, and dispositions of professional collaboration and reflective discourseusing SRI protocols and resources. The team will also present a session titled Improving Teacher Preparation & New Teacher Support — a workshop aimed at sharing lessons learned when engaging in short term coaching cycles and other takeaways from leading and supporting new and returning teacher preparation programs.

November 12

I Have a Dream Foundation (IHAD), Boulder, Colo.: Dan Condon continues his monthly facilitation of protocols for iHAD of Boulder’s three professional learning communities focused on classroom practice.

November 15

Belvidere High School, Belvidere, Ill: Dan Condon — in partnership with the McCormick Foundation’s Democracy Schools Project— will facilitate a full day of Instructional Rounds at Belvidere High School relating to a problem of practice.

November 19-21

Philadelphia Learning Collaborative, Philadelphia, Pa.: Last year, Michael Soguero facilitated the successful founding of a new collective of schools to support one another in student–centered deeper learning (SCDL). Since then, the organization has renamed itself the Philadelphia Learning Collaborative (PLC) and hired executive director Crystal Cubbage. Michael will be returning to work with PLC to develop its organizational design moving forward.

November 28 – December 1

Education Reimagined, Washington, D.C.: Pioneer Lab Community is a growing community of learner-centered pioneers committed to making learner-centered education inevitably and irreversibly available to every child in America. This community of movement builders includes education practitioners, young learners, school and district leaders, and state and national actors from across the country working to bring “A Transformational Vision for Education in the U.S.” to life in their communities. This gathering will include movement builders at the policy level of education. Michael will be serving as a community builder for the event.

November 30

iLEAD, Castaic, Calif.:  Dan Condon returns to iLEAD to work with Innovation Studios on implementation of competency–based graduation practices.

DECEMBER 2018

December 5- 9

High Tech High Graduate School of Education, San Diego, Calif: For the past three years, Eagle Rock has participated in and facilitated work with the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation (CREI) at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. CREI has brought together schools that want to tackle the persistent problem of improving access to a college education for all high school students. Building on the success of past work, they are now launching the CARPE College Access Network, which gives more schools and districts an opportunity to improve college access for traditionally underrepresented students. Eagle Rock’s Michael Soguero has committed to join the first of five years of convenings to facilitate the work.

December 14

I Have a Dream Foundation, Boulder, Colo.: Dan Condon continues his monthly get togethers with three iHAD of Boulder professional learning communities that are intent on developing protocols for classroom practice.

December 19

E’tude, Sheyboygan, Wis.: Dan Condon continues his work related to Restorative Practices with E’tude, an organization that applies an experiential approach to empower youth to think critically, engage creatively, and establish strong human connection. The objective here is to cultivate the next generation of changemakers. The É’tude schools are tuition-free, public charter schools located within the Sheboygan Area School District.

December 20

The New Teacher Project (TNTP), Milwaukee, Wis.: TNTP strives to end the injustice of educational inequality by providing excellent teachers to the students that need them most and by advancing policies and practices that ensure effective teaching in every classroom. The project counts state departments of education and 30-plus other districts among its members. Dan continues work with TNTP’s executive vice president of public affairs to innovate practices based on the results of its national student survey.

December 21

Public Allies, Wis.: Dan Condon travels to Wisconsin to continue Eagle Rock’s work with Public Allies to build virtual education-based Professional Learning Communities. This national organization promotes leadership within young people through a year-long service commitment at schools throughout the country.

If you are interested in the professional development work we do at Eagle Rock, or you want to know how your school or organization can connect with the team of talented facilitators in our Professional Development Center, please contact our associate director of professional development, Dan Condon, by emailing DCondon at EagleRockSchool dot org.

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About the Author: The information for this post was compiled by Doen Lee — the 2018/2019 Fellow in Professional Development at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center in Estes Park, Colo. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Doen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in community and nonprofit leadership, as well as certificates in Educational Policy and Educational Services.