Last week Montclair Public Schools held a District-Wide School Action Team for Partnership (SATp) leadership team meeting with all schools and Central Office represented.
With over 50 administrators, staff and parents in attendance, the SATp teams came together to kick off the year with annual training.
Lead by Assistant Superintendent of Operations and School Support Services, Dr. Felice Harrison-Crawford presented an overview of the district’s current SATp model along with its history. For more than 30 years, the School Review Council was the catalyst for school-based change. It included five parents and five teachers in its membership. In response to the Board of Education’s goal of increasing family/community engagement, the district adopted a more inclusive model for implementation in the 2010-2011 school year allowing for more representation and diversity of its 20 members which include parents, administrators, teachers and community partners. Under this model, the SATp functions as an advisory board to the principal on school-based change, district initiatives and Epstein’s Six Types of Involvement: Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Learning at Home, Decision Making, and Collaborating with the Community.
“Our SATps support the mission, vision and goals of the District,” said Dr. Felice Harrison-Crawford. “These teams understand the importance of having authentic and deep engagement with all stakeholders.”
While some SATp teams have already had school meetings, others are preparing their forthcoming agendas. Within the next month, each school will have information regarding its leadership team membership, meeting dates and times, contact information, and agenda and minutes which will be posted on their individual website homepages.
Suggestions from the district-wide meeting included creating a district-wide Google form for all schools to access for sharing best practices, raising questions, and collaborating on district-wide initiatives, such as Juneteenth celebrations, Parent Math Nights and more.
In the future, some topics that SATps hope to address are school budget priorities, participation in the review process and recommendations for new, district-wide curriculum, as well as initiatives specific to individual schools.
“There is much work that has been done, and there is much work to be done,” said Harrison-Crawford. “We are excited to see the positive outcomes our teams will have in the near future.”