Ready to Grow?

GoEnnounce Student Centric Digital Citizenship Portfolio

Posted by Scott Barron on Jun 22, 2017 5:30:48 PM

GoEnnounce delivers a new way for schools to teach and reinforce digital citizenship. Using this beautifully designed application, students can track, save, and share their academic and extracurricular progress with family, friends, and advisers. They can highlight awards and accomplishments, post updates, showcase school work, and even raise money for school-related activities. 

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Topics: Educational Technology

ATL Innovation Workshop Offered Diversity of Mission and Learning

Posted by Scott Barron on Jun 15, 2017 12:03:35 PM

Will you achieve a breakthrough in the next 90 days? You may have a strategic plan for communicating your vision, but what about your tactical plan? This week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, a group of schools gathered in Atlanta to participate in our Innovation Workshop, developing a tactical plan to achieve remarkable results by September 30th. 

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Topics: Events

School Violence and the Long-term Impact

Posted by Scott Barron on Jun 10, 2017 12:35:11 PM

An article in the Washington Post yesterday highlighted the life-changing experience for 1st graders who survived a shooting massacre on their playground in Townville Elementary on September 28, 2016. No child should have to endure such a horrific experience, and the long-term impact is real.

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Topics: Leadership Resiliency

Overcome Your Biggest Obstacle to Growth in the Next 90 Days

Posted by Scott Barron on Jun 9, 2017 9:48:08 AM

What is your biggest headache as a school leader?
What's keeping your school from growing?
What if you could start fixing that problem
immediately?

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Sustainable Energy for the School Board

Posted by Scott Barron on Jun 7, 2017 9:36:26 AM

It was late on a Friday afternoon in southern California. The sky was crystal clear with a light breeze. Under such ideal conditions, going inside a building for a school board retreat is difficult because your mind keeps urging to linger outside a little longer. 

The invitations were sent out to the board members two months ago, followed by reminders every few weeks. Delicious snacks were delivered and setup by the spouse of the chief administrator (including peanut M&M's--the best!). The room was thoughtfully arranged in an effort to foster productive conversation.

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Topics: Administration, Board Culture

We're Going to Miss You, St. Anthony's

Posted by Scott Barron on May 26, 2017 11:38:41 AM

St. Anthony High School (Jersey City, NJ) is terminating operations this month. After 65+ years of service to a diverse population, the leadership ran out of money because the economic model of the school was unsustainable. It's a harsh reality that President Bob Hurley, Sr., and his team were unable to overcome. I'm sad for the families of Jersey City and the many students and alumni who will be impacted by the loss of this important community institution.

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Topics: Leadership

Check This Out Before Planning Your Next Building

Posted by Scott Barron on Mar 21, 2017 9:53:10 AM

Prakash Nair is a guru of 21st century school design. He's written two books that expound on his philosophy and share the process used by Fielding Nair (FNI) to fashion cost-effective renovations of current buildings and to create remarkably inspiring new facilities. The latest one is, Blueprint for Tomorrow: Redesigning Schools for Student-Centered Learning.

Read this book before you plan your next building!

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Topics: School Design

March Madness is Driving Your School Crazy

Posted by Scott Barron on Mar 19, 2017 11:27:40 PM

March is a frenetic time of year for educators, and I'm not just talking about college basketball's version of March Madness™ with Cinderella upset stories and incessant variations of the tune, "One Shining Moment."  Picking the winners on your Tournament Challenge bracket isn't the real madness that is driving your school crazy. It's far worse than that!

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Topics: Engagement, Board Culture

Planning a Meaningful Board Retreat

Posted by Scott Barron on Feb 13, 2017 1:37:17 PM

Consider the following statement when thinking about your next board retreat:

"If my school board would _______ we would be 100% more effective.”

The purpose of asking the board to set apart time for a retreat is to reset. It’s a time where the board is setting aside time to rejuvenate and set clear objectives. You need to make sure you’re pursuing a board retreat plan that will allow you to set goals for the whole organization as well as to collect feedback on existing objectives.

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Topics: Engagement, Board Culture

Back to the Future of American Education: Pluralism

Posted by Scott Barron on Feb 7, 2017 11:03:30 AM

The future of American education is will very likely involve a return to its roots: A diverse or plural school system. Did you know that the United States had pluralistic school systems in its first 100 years? 

If you are an education leader, teacher, school board member, legislator, parent, or care at all about schools, I've recently discovered a book that you MUST read. It's Dr. Ashley Berner's book: No One Way to School: Pluralism and American Public Education. Dr. Berner is Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and is an historian by training.

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Topics: School Growth, School Policy

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