Over the past year, K-12 school teachers from across the region have gathered to find ways to build a sense of belonging in their schools through the Consortium’s Building a Positive School Climate (BPSC) cohort.
The Consortium has run a variety of cohort-based programs over the years, each with its own distinct outcomes and areas of focus. All of them have proven effective in launching and sustaining significant change in schools and providing educators with a system of support that encourages them to keep moving towards their goals.
The BPSC distinguishes itself from other cohorts, particularly from those since the interruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, because this group is predominantly classroom teachers, and they began with a visit to the Ron Clark Academy where teachers were inspired to adapt some of the strategies and bring them back to their own schools.
As Christy Kuehn, one of the co-leads for this year’s program said:
“I noticed our educators grew in their leadership and networking skills. At nearly every meeting, we asked a different team to present to the broader group on their progress, specific work, or a resource they found, reminding them that they are good at presenting and facilitating discussions with adults, not just students. We also witnessed school teams create partnerships and relationships with one another, bringing in new schools to our cohort and visiting schools to see each others’ work in action.”
While teachers selected various strategies to bring back to their schools, the teams of teachers from each school continued to meet together over the year to not only troubleshoot problems of practice and learn from one another, but also to encourage each other and ignite a renewed sense of energy around their work.
City Charter High School, for example, leveraged workshops from the cohort to create in-house professional development for their teachers, and they’ve seen remarkable improvement in their parent engagement numbers. Both the qualitative and quantitative data demonstrate encouraging changes for the schools involved.
This renewed passion and sheer joy was palpable to anyone who attended a cohort meeting, a professional development day, or a site visit. Teachers were enthusiastic to find their own place to belong and grow in ways they felt confident would address some of the challenges they face daily with their students. And that sense of belonging then carried over into their schools where they could better foster a positive school climate that lends itself to all kinds of positive outcomes for students, teachers, and communities.
As Candice Murrell, the other co-lead for this year’s program, said, “So far, 26 schools have participated throughout our region impacting thousands of students, families, and community members. With more schools joining next year, the ripple effects will continue to multiply. I am THRILLED for what that means for so many people across Western PA!”
A year two of the Building a Positive School Climate cohort is planned for the 2025-2026 school year. For more information email Christy or Candice.
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