By Bruce Pollock | Executive Director
FREE Partnerships Report - January 2012 Update
Happy New Year!
Friends of Educational Excellence (FREE) Partnerships made great progress on many fronts in 2011:
In 2012, FREE Partnerships will provide even more support for teachers and students. The theme for next year is: “Make It Happen!” Our goals include:
FREE Partnerships principals have been pleased with the support they’ve received. Here are comments from two principals:
Denise Rainey, Principal School 52
Q1. Are you pleased with how your FREE partnership is supporting your school?
A1. We are delighted with how our partnership is going. It makes so much sense to have a “centrally coordinated” data base for the number of volunteers that come into our school. I also appreciate the support that FREE has given to training volunteers and to being the initial contact for questions, concerns, changes in assignments, etc.
Q2. Are you pleased with how volunteers are supporting your teachers?
A2. Our volunteers have established solid relationships with our teachers. They are responsive to what teachers ask of them, and a number of them ask to remain assigned to the same teacher from one school year to the next.
Q3. Are you pleased with how volunteers are supporting your students?
A3. Our volunteers work with students according to their personal expertise and training that we have provided. It is very impressive to see them get into the flow of materials and activities that address individually identified student needs.
Q4. How could your FREE school partnership support your school even better?
A4. I can’t think off hand of anything more needed, but as little things or questions do come up, we address them at our monthly Partnership Committee meetings. This is an invaluable forum for keeping abreast of what the partnership looks like from both sides, and for raising the question of what else needs to be done or done differently.
Tim Mains, Principal School 50
Q1. Are you pleased with how your FREE partnership is supporting your school?
A1. Yes. Our partnership coordinators are very capable and committed. I used to know all the volunteers in the building but we have so many now I don’t know them all. Fortunately, our partnership coordinators keep track of all the volunteers.
Q2. Are you pleased with how volunteers are supporting your teachers?
A2. We have more volunteers than ever before. They all report that things are going well. My teachers have gotten better using folders that contain materials for volunteers so their activities support teacher requirements and focus on the most effective activities to support student learning.
Q3. Are you pleased with how volunteers are supporting your students?
A3. In December we had 44 volunteers providing 170 hours of support for students each week. Having these volunteer resources has allowed us to support more students. School 50 is undergoing renovations next year to become a K-8 school. When we relocate to our temporary school home for the 2012-2013 school year, we will certainly take our volunteers with us to continue supporting our students.
Q4. How could your FREE school partnership support your school even better?
A4. Our teachers will continue to learn how to best guide volunteer activities so students are supported in the best way. That’s something that we can better at. I can see this is a process and my teachers are getting better at it all the time. As our FREE school partnership demonstrates value to teachers, I am confident they will embrace this support model more and more.
With your support, FREE Partnerships will continue to “Make It Happen!” for principals, teachers, and students in 2012.
May you and your family have a Blessed New Year!
Peace,
Bruce Pollock
Executive Director
FREE Partnerships
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