Unlock the Potential of Absolutely Every Learner
Welcome to The Core Collaborative’s newsletter, where we share professional learning insight, highlight our community, and keep you in the loop about upcoming events.
It’s that time of year!
Open House and Meet the Teacher are upon us. Check out this perspective on what parents and guardians desire from this time together!
RestorED & ConnectED
As another year begins, students enter schools bringing many different experiences, perspectives, and attitudes with them. These students need to be supported in understanding themselves and others so they can thrive together.
Develop a restorative heartset and mindset with our restorative practices professional learning pathway; “Restored and Connected”. Restorative practices build connections between individuals and within the community through vulnerability, reflection, and healing. Through the process, power and decision-making are shifted to students who practice active listening, share their perspectives, take ownership of their behavior, and engage in acts of empathy and forgiveness to resolve disagreements and repair harm.
Together we will coach and support your learning community to cultivate a safe and welcoming culture of equity, connection, and healing.
Learn more about how to build a restorative culture with RestorED & ConnectED here!
Time is running out to register for our “Leading for Racial Literacy” course!
You are invited to an eye-opening course, “Leading for Racial Literacy”. Join in the conversations as we delve into the complexities of identity and race. Together we will explore ways to foster inclusivity for all learners.
Be sure to act fast as limited seating is available! Learn more and register here!
School Spotlight: PS 9 Naples Street Elementary
Three years ago, PS 9-Naples Street Elementary embarked on a journey to rethink the role of culture at their school site in order to better meet the needs of EACH student and family. In spring of 2021, an amazing group made up of teacher leaders, counselors, and administrators met with Dr. Ingrid Twyman (TCC Partner Consultant) for three days to build and add to their foundational knowledge of Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education (CRSE) and create an action plan they would begin to enact school-wide.
In the Fall of 2021, the newly formed “CRSE Team” expanded to include the ELA Team leads and through CRSE planning sessions with Ingrid, they redefined culture, explored their individual cultural identities, and examined current practices and curriculum to see where they could be elevated with a cultural lens. They learned how to utilize the HILL Framework from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad to ensure their updated unit plans were addressing not only Skills, but the other 4 pursuits of Identity, Intellectualism, Criticality, and Joy. These lead teachers then shared their adapted unit plans with their grade-level teams and the meaningful learning experiences took off from there!
In 2022, the CRSE team continued to expand and the new team members engaged in Evidence Walks to see CRSE in action within their peers’ classrooms to help deepen their understanding of the impact of the work. The initial CRSE Team members shone as they challenged third graders to identify mirrors, windows, and sliding doors in their read aloud, fourth graders to listen to each other’s perspectives while discussing different cultural elements from diverse groups around the globe, and fifth graders to use multiplication and division as they discussed solutions how to distribute food for countries facing hunger crises. Students were engaged in deep conversations about things that mattered to them and it was electric.
By enacting CRSE with intentionality, PS 9 teachers created culturally responsive classrooms where students developed their own cultural identities to help them build agency.
Want to bring this work to your school? Learn more here!
Consultant Spotlight: Marisol Quevedo Rerucha
Mother, Abuela, Chicana, Educator, Writer, Advocate, and Speaker… These are only a few of the identities educator Marisol Quevedo Rerucha brings to her work supporting schools and communities with equity and restorative practices. She gets results and changes lives whether leading career readiness and career technical education in juvenile court and community schools, guiding the largest high school in Colorado as a founding board member, or in any of her other roles.
Her book, Beyond the Surface of Restorative Practices continues to impact readers through its thoughtful, practical approach to getting the most out of restorative practices. Don’t pass up a chance to meet this warm and wonderful person at the Excellence Through Equity conference in California or the COSA Equity Summit in Oregon this September! Or better yet, invite her out to work with you and your colleagues.
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15)
At The Core Collaborative, we joyfully celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by embracing the vibrant tapestry of culture, innovation, and resilience woven by Hispanic and Latino communities. Hispanic Heritage Month is a cherished opportunity to honor their invaluable contributions and share in the richness of their stories. Check out this resource with ways to celebrate and incorporate Hispanic Heritage month within your classrooms and communities!
