Educator Voices

podcastED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill interviews leaders of Miami Catholic Virtual School

redefinED staff September 30, 2020

redefinED staff

On this episode, Tuthill talks with Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School principal Rebeca Bautista, left, and coordinator of special programs Marcey Ayers. The online school is the only Catholic virtual school in the country run by an Archdiocese – a Catholic version of the well-known Florida Virtual School, which provides a robust curriculum to public, private, charter and homeschool families and school districts nationwide.

The three discuss why the school was created and how it enhances existing curriculum options for Catholic families nationwide –as far flung as Alaska. While Bautista and Ayers say flexibility has been the key driver of their success, they agree more flexibility is needed, perhaps through an expansion of education scholarship accounts that would allow families greater customization of their children’s education.

“Before (the pandemic) there was a misconception of what virtual education was, that it was easier or not legitimate … Now parents and schools are realizing virtual education can help students and schools grow …. It’s going to bring virtual to the forefront.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

How “partner schools” can augment their existing offerings with Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School’s platform and curriculum

How teaching in a competency-based system has allowed the school to better meet student needs

Catholic schools on the creative forefront of “unbundling” education

Legislation changes necessary to bring more customization and flexibility to families

LINKS MENTIONED:

RedefinED: Catholic Virtual School Offers Options to Families Seeking Online Faith-Based Education

September 30, 2020 0 comment

Education and Public Policy Education Legislation Educator Voices

Florida’s Principal Autonomy initiative showing signs of success

Livi Stanford August 17, 2019

Livi Stanford

Students at West Riviera Elementary have seen their school grade go from a ‘D’ to ‘B’ under the Principal Autonomy Program

Editor’s note: Throughout August, redefinED is revisiting stories that shine a light on extraordinary educators. Today’s post, first published in August 2018, features two strong school leaders, one in Palm Beach and one in St. Petersburg, who saw critical needs at their schools and took the necessary steps to address them.

When Robin Brown took the helm as principal of West Riviera Elementary School in Palm Beach in 2017, the school was struggling.

It had been designated a “D” by the Florida Department of Education.

Realizing the situation, Brown made critical changes.

She assigned 28 teachers to the grade level she felt they were best suited to teach, strengthened the school’s leadership team, collaborated with education professionals who have done effective work in school turnaround programs, and reached out to business leaders who have saved failing companies.

As a result, the school rose two letter grades to a “B” this year.

Brown, who participated in a new legislative initiative known as Principal Autonomy, credits the program with helping to improve student achievement at her school, where 98 percent of students are on free or reduced-price lunch.

The program, which is now open to any district in the state, has given several principals the opportunity to build leadership skills and mark their own vision on how their schools can improve. Those principals say the program is helping to increase student achievement and giving them the opportunity to think outside the box.

Under the new law, principals are given more flexibility and greater authority over staffing, the curriculum and the budget.

Brown said the program “allows you to gain valuable insight from other educators from different parts of the country who have completed the same type of work and have been successful. It helps us to help our leadership team build their capacity, so we can function at a higher level to improve student achievement.”

Last year, LaKisha Falana, who also participated in “principal autonomy,” decided to deviate from Pinellas County district guidelines and select a different math program for her students at Maximo Elementary School – a school whose struggles have been documented by the Tampa Bay Times.

The change in math, coupled with other instructional changes, helped boost her students’ fifth-grade Florida Standards Math Assessment test scores. Indeed, 46 percent of students scored a level 3 or above this year on the assessment compared to 37 percent the year before.

Like Brown, Falana has just completed her first year in the program and said she appreciates the ability to make site-based decisions.

“If there is something I want to do that is outside the box, then I have the autonomy to try it,” Falana said. “It helps us as a leadership team to narrow our focus and our vision. We developed a strategic plan in order to get the results we are seeking to achieve.”

State Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, wrote the legislation that created the Principal Autonomy Pilot Program in 2016. That first year, three school districts – Broward, Palm Beach and Pinellas – were allowed to pick low-performing schools that could enter autonomy-for-accountability agreements with the state.

In 2017, the program was extended to all school districts. Three schools in Broward – Bethune Elementary, Village Elementary and Park Lakes Elementary – have now participated in the program for two years and the schools all earned C’s this year compared to D’s and F’s in previous years.

Diaz, a former public-school administrator, said instilling leadership in a school is one of the most important things in improving student achievement. “You bring in a leader who is dynamic and fits the bill and they themselves incorporate their program, get things done, and it matches the needs of the school,” he said.

Diaz said improvements in student achievement take time and one essential ingredient is that the school culture must be changed at the onset. “When you bring in high-performing leaders who care, you are going to see a change in culture first before you see empirical results,” he said.

Falana said she put several practices in place to improve student achievement at Maximo Elementary School, which improved one letter grade to a C from the previous school year. Above all else, Falana said teachers must focus “like a laser” on standardized-based instruction and they must ensure students master the standards for their grade level.

She also altered the structure of the instructional team at the predominately black school, where all its students are on free or reduced-price lunch.

Although the school remains a C, Falana said she is hopeful the school’s grade will improve.

The Florida Department of Education reported no new school principals have registered for the autonomy program for 2018-19. However, signups for the program are open until December.

August 17, 2019 0 comment

Educator Voices Faith-based Education School Choice Tax Credit Scholarships

Go & grind: School choice gives this principal a platform to inspire

Ron Matus August 10, 2019

Ron Matus

Melissa Rego, principal of La Progresiva Presbyterian School in Miami, has 18 years of experience in district, charter and private schools. When she assumed the helm of La Progresiva a decade ago, it had 162 students in K-12. Now it has 673– all of them with school choice scholarships.

Editor’s note: Throughout August, redefinED is revisiting stories that shine a light on extraordinary educators. Today’s post, first published in September 2018, features a veteran educator who shares her own life lessons to help the students at her school.

MIAMI – Little Havana is in a hurry.

Long before dawn bathes the palms in soft light, thousands of workers stream from neighborhoods where modest homes are tucked in tight as pastelitos in a Cuban bakery. Ignition. Traction. Acceleration. Past the store fronts with the proud Latin names. Past used car lots studded with American flags. Past the restaurant walk-up windows where smooth, sweet cortaditos pump fuel into true believers.

In the thick of this working-class hum is a faith-based school once harassed by Fidel Castro. He couldn’t kill La Progresiva Presybterian. Neither could the teachers union. Now it’s thriving more than ever.

How fitting that it’s led by a former public school teacher who’s the daughter of exiles.

Melissa Rego grew up four blocks from La Progresiva, the second child of a bank teller and a car mechanic. When she became principal a decade ago, the school with vanilla paint and Cuban roots had 162 students in K-12. Now it has 673 – all with state-backed school choice scholarships for lower-income students.*

The director who hired Rego told her to do whatever it takes to propel the school to its potential. So the woman with 1,000 facial gestures behind horn-rimmed glasses became Inspirer-in-Chief. Over and over, she reminds the sons and daughters of cooks and waitresses and gas station attendants what Little Havana teaches them every day. They know it in their bones, but still can’t hear it enough from somebody who’s been-there-done-that.

“More than anything, it was speaking life into these kids,” Rego said. “Battling with these kids about the thoughts they have, that they can’t accomplish anything. We told them, ‘You have the ability to do this. We’re going to equip you. You have a future. But you have to grind. You have to work like a dog. Things are not going to fall out of the sky for you.’ ”

Florida is home to arguably the most diverse array of school choice in America. The pluses for students and parents are well established. But choice is helping educators, too. More and more (see here, here, here, here) are able to work in, lead, and even create educational options that are in line with their talents, visions and values. In a world where choice is still “controversial,” they are trail blazers.

Rego, 42, didn’t set out to be one. She graduated from public school in Miami, got a full ride to Miami-Dade College, earned a bachelor’s in health science from the University of Miami. (Later, she earned a master’s in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern.) Her teaching career began 18 years ago. She started as a sub in the Miami-Dade district, working with emotionally disturbed students, then taught four years at a career academy high school. At the invitation of a friend who had become a principal, she headed to a new charter school.

The charter was serving 600 middle school students … in a movie theater. Its intended building wasn’t completed on time, so the school had to wing it.

That it did, successfully, helped Rego understand the power of school choice.

Students, parents and teachers all chose to be there. All worked harder to make their choice work. They were, Rego said, “invested.”

An American missionary founded La Progresiva in Cardenas, Cuba in 1900. It excelled for generations, but the Communist government assumed control of the property in 1961. Ten years later, exiles resurrected the school in Miami.

Rego tells her students: “You have the ability to do this. We’re going to equip you. You have a future. But you have to grind.”

Rego raised expectations, making college a fundamental goal. The students looking sharp in green, white and khaki uniforms are descendants of Cubans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, Dominicans. Seventy percent don’t have parents who attended college. But Rego uses her life as an example of what’s possible. Her students know her mom died of leukemia when she was 13. They know she dug deep to go and grind.

“She’s an amazing human being,” said Solange Robles, a senior who wants to be a doctor. “If you have to talk to her, she’ll talk to you, no matter what. In other schools, you don’t have as much access to teachers and administrators as you do here. In other schools, teachers forget who you are.”

“She’s been a mom to me. I’ve been in her office, crying,” said Leidiana Candelario, a 2018 grad now attending Miami-Dade College. “She said it’s ok to cry, it’s ok to let it out and be vulnerable. Conversations like that I’ll never forget.”

Rego is confidant one minute, goofball the next, commander the next. The school’s Instagram shows her sinking a free throw, granny style, then raising her arms in victory. In class (Rego still teaches Introduction to Government) she’s warm but no-nonsense. As she gooses a discussion about elitism and pluralism, she pumps her fist, scrunches her nose, cocks her head. “Bro,” she says during the follow-up quiz, “it drives me crazy when someone talks during a test.” Snickers fade fast into silence.

It’s easy to find students at La Progresiva who didn’t fare well in public schools. It’s easy to find some who say language barriers slowed them academically and made them prey for bullies. But at La Progresiva, something allows them to rise.

“It goes back to the nurturing,” Rego said. “The kids feel like, ‘There’s somebody in my corner that actually cares about me. I’m not just another face.’ “

What else makes it work? Maybe it’s because it’s smaller. Maybe there’s something about common culture and language that fosters trust. Maybe it’s because La Progresiva can deviate from the script on curriculum, discipline, what’s for lunch. Maybe it’s the emphasis on character. Maybe it’s the constant reminders, from the placards in the front office to weekly chapel, that there’s a shared moral code.

Rego dodges many of the tangles that snare her district counterparts, too. When she took the helm, she hired teachers who shared her vision. Today, La Progresiva has 38 teachers, 40 percent with experience in public schools. Many, like Rego, would make more money in the district.

“But you know what?” she said. “I’m happier here.”

It’s easier to grind when you’re free.

* La Progresiva students use the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, a school choice scholarship administered by nonprofits like Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog.

August 10, 2019 0 comment

Educator Voices Gardiner Scholarship Podcast School Choice Special Needs Education

PodcastED: How education choice serves special needs students

Doug Tuthill August 6, 2019

Doug Tuthill

Educational choice supporters believe that the future of public education looks a lot like growing models and services available to students with unique abilities.

For instance, the Gardiner Scholarship will serve approximately 14,000 students in Florida this upcoming school year. The scholarship is an educational savings account for families of children with certain diagnoses that allows parents to tailor educational experiences based on how their child learns – including outside of “traditional” school time.

On this episode of PodcastED, Step Up For Students’ President Doug Tuthill sits down with Carol Macedonia and Paula Nelson, leaders of Step Up’s Office of Student Learning and two of Florida’s leading experts on special education.

With a combined six decades of experience in public education, Carol and Paula talk about their years working in special education in Florida’s district system, and dispel some common myths about how the districts serve students with unique abilities.

Thank you for listening.

August 6, 2019 1 comment

Advocate Voices Educator Voices

Tony Barhoo: When it comes to schools, parents know best

Special to redefinED March 19, 2019

Special to redefinED

19.3.10-Barhoo-DBNJ

March 19, 2019 0 comment

Catholic Schools Education Reporting Educator Voices Faith-based Education Private Schools School spotlight Teacher Empowerment

Private school, public district collaborate to benefit teachers, students

Jeff Barlis February 27, 2019

Jeff Barlis

St. Andrew assistant principal Bambi Giles, left, and principal Judi Hughes worked together for more than four years in Lee and Collier county district schools

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Judi Hughes is a serial retirer.

Nowhere is her quick wit more evident than when she explains why she came out of retirement a third time – after more than 40 years in the School District of Lee County – to be principal at St. Andrew Catholic School in this sprawling, sun-soaked suburban city.

“Irish Catholic guilt,” she says with a rhythmic chuckle, adding that she only had intended to help with the hiring process when the school drafted her.

Five years later, she’s still brimming with infectious energy that flashes from her baby blue eyes, and she’s found a way to marry her knack for building relationships with a natural instinct for being a private school administrator.

Some folks just aren’t meant to retire.

“I know!” she beams. “I’ve tried it a few times. I think I’m getting the hang of it now.”

Hughes did it all in Lee County public schools. A teacher in the county’s first middle school program, a principal, district director for elementary and secondary education. She opened a few schools, won blue ribbons and other awards, worked as a curriculum director in jails, retention centers, and drug rehabilitation centers before twice being coaxed out of retirement to start ninth-grade programs.

Now she’s the leader and beating heart of a thriving Catholic school – 315 K-8 students, up from 295 last year and 275 the year before – and she couldn’t be happier. Seventy-nine students use a Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for lower-income families. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, administers the scholarships.

“This place is just different, and it’s a pleasure,” she said during a recent tour. “These folks have known each other for years, but they welcome new people in. The understanding is that you join the culture of caring and building faith. Hearts and minds, it’s not just words in a mission statement. They pondered it. These teachers do more. They know every child by name.”

It’s no coincidence that Hughes and assistant principal Bambi Giles, who spent more than four years in Lee and Collier county schools, have hired educators with a similar public school background. Ten of the school’s 23 teachers, in fact.

It’s also no surprise that Hughes and those teachers have maintained their ties. For years, teachers at St. Andrews have participated in professional development with the Lee County district, learning about classroom management, teaching strategies and exceptional student education.

“Once you’re a member of the school district of Lee County, you’re part of our family,” said Lynn Harrell, executive director of leadership, professional development and recruitment for Lee County schools. “Judi was for lots and lots of years. That makes it just a little bit easier, just like in any family, to keep and maintain that relationship so that we’re working together. Because in the end, we’re all working for children.”

Hughes was a mentor to Harrell earlier in her career when Harrell was a school administrator. It’s just one of myriad relationships forged through years of work and trust and common goals.

“Our relationship with Lee County is really wonderful,” said Giles, noting the weight that Hughes’ name carries. “They are very professional. They’ll answer any questions. They’ll contact us. It’s never a problem.”

James Herzog, associate director for education with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, is encouraged by this example of public-private school partnership.

“It shows that education is not an us-against-them proposition,” he said. “Instead it’s all about collaboration to benefit all of Florida’s school children. Hopefully we can encourage other schools and districts to work together.”

Every Wednesday at St. Andrew there is early dismissal for teachers to collaborate and do professional development.

“I just think that’s what runs everything,” Hughes said.

Some of those former public school educators at St. Andrew, like first-grade teacher Crystal Melton, get two emails every Monday morning about professional development offerings – one from Giles and one from a former public school mentor.

St. Andrew educators, from left, Sharon Zebley, Crystal Melton, Lisa Olson, Susie Loughren, Cathy Calcaterra and Bambi Giles, come together as a family to nurture students and each other.

This group-within-a-group of teachers has helped the members transition from public to private. They’re all grateful for the extensive training they received in the public school system, but they’re also quick to state their reasons for choosing to teach at a private school.

Music teacher Julius Davis simply feels more at home in a spiritual environment. Davis, in his first year at St. Andrew, said he feels “set free” to be himself and exude his principles. Christmastime was particularly satisfying after nearly 20 years in public schools.

“I grew up in a black Baptist church, and I’ve played (music) for Methodist churches,” he said. “Coming here, the emphasis on the spiritual, this is the first time I’ve been able to teach stuff I grew up with. I wasn’t allowed to do that in the public school.”

Others, like Melton, kindergarten teacher Susie Loughren, and fifth-grade teacher Lisa Olson, have children at St. Andrew. But while the family atmosphere contributes greatly to their happiness, their choice to teach in private school was more complex.

Loughren, in her second year at St. Andrew after seven years teaching in public schools, feels she can be more creative, has more freedom and less test anxiety.

“The administration trusts us that we’re going to do what’s best in the interests of those children,” she said. “So if something goes on in your classroom and you need to focus on a social, emotional skill, you take that liberty to do it. It’s not just about getting in the academic rigor. We do it on a daily basis, but we have the opportunity to stop and do those teachable moments.”

Hughes recognized that stress, saw the anxious teachers who were afraid to break from the mold, “afraid of their own shadow,” as she saw it. There was more and more emphasis on tests and fewer field trips.

At St. Andrew, she works to pump confidence and empowerment into her staff.

“I’m happy I made the choice to come here, because I didn’t end my teaching career at a time when things weren’t going as positively,” she said. “I felt the stress of the teachers and couldn’t do anything to help them. They were losing their identity, feeling like they don’t have any choice or any power.

“Here they are free to make sound educational choices. And they have to be sound, because they have to show how it’s going to help with the standards. We give them as much freedom as we can. And they really own part of this school.”

February 27, 2019 0 comment