Community Leadership Team Updates & SAT

Good morning,

Community Leadership Team Update, Specific Need Request
See general notes on formation of this, and possible May launch, below. HOWEVER: the most immediate need Todd has identified is to have us help to get students to, and to get them to take seriously, the SAT tests Saturday May 1. This would require a very quick “community pride” and perhaps car pool and phone call types of efforts. I have a query in to Todd to see whether he is able and willing to provide us with a list of all students required to take this test, so we can divide it up into call lists; and if he can highlight (or not) the most “at risk” students. He reported to me there are 3-5 students a year who just don’t show up to take the test; and another 25% (estimated) who do not take it seriously once they get there. I have also asked him if he can write a letter to the paper saying why the tests ARE important, and noting that they ARE aligned with the Maine Learning Results—to try to offset the negative press these tests have gotten over the last few weeks. What do you think? Ideas? Can we get some real effort behind this this quickly? We can’t necessarily improve, at this late date, the results of those who do take it seriously; that is part of the broader, longer term academic effort. But we might be able to get a few kids to take it more seriously, and to help get kids there. Unfortunately, I will be out of town April 15 through May 1, so will not be able to provide hands-on assistance. Let us all hear from each other!

Community Leadership Team Update, General
I’ve got messages in to contacts with which Todd provided me regarding launching a Community Leadership Team for education using the Jackman, ME model. It appears that their CLT was driven originally by a combination of business people, parents, and concerned citizens. When the Stonington Economic Development Committee held a Business-Education breakfast in January we got an unexpectedly large turnout of local business people, who voiced both passion and concern for the quality of the education with which our graduates were emerging from the high school. This looks as if it might be a perfect structure to merge their desire for a Business-School Partnership with wider community concern—we will see.

It seems part of the success of the model is to host short monthly meetings in the early evening, say from 6-7:30 p.m., and to hold these NOT at the school but at a local restaurant—to create a climate of “out-of-the-box” thinking and sociability. The goal would be to engage in serious conversations with school administrators and teachers regarding what is happening in the schools; student learning results (for those of you who left the school board meeting Tuesday after the vote, the new MEA/NECAP test scores for 3rd and 8th graders were made available); community educational needs; etc. I’m interested in what you all think of this type of model.

Todd is interested in launching this as early as May and we have several dates available on his calendar. But the more immediate priority is the SAT drive described above, so . . . Looking forward to your thoughts.

-Linda Nelson