Private Schools with Public Purpose

Check-in and grab coffee and pastries before the pre-conference welcome!

Join us for a conversation about Hathaway Brown's Aspire program in the Hathaway Brown Worldwide Communications Center. Coffee and pastries will be served.

Shuttle will depart from Hathaway Brown and take you on a tour of these Cleveland neighborhoods. 

Tour the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum.

Registration, tours, and coffee and continental breakfast.

Located in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Hathaway Brown School provides an inclusive environment that challenges girls in grades K through 12 and boys and girls in the Early Childhood Program. Founded in 1876, Hathaway Brown is committed to a fusion of academic and experiential learning. The school focuses on educational innovation as it prepares students to rise boldly to the challenges of our times and live out the HB motto of learning “not for school, but for life.”   In 2016, Hathaway Brown opened several new and interesting learning spaces.  Sign-up for a tour of the IDEA Lab, where students have access to 3D printers, a shop bot and other machines that encourage them to be thinkers, makers and doers.  Visit the new Learning Commons, which includes the Hath Cafe, a student run shop through the Center for Business & Finance.  

Tours will depart from the registration tables in the atrium. 

Reem Rahim Hassani is Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Numi Organic Tea. She started Numi with her brother, Ahmed Rahim, in Oakland, California in 1999. A labor of love, the company began with the mission to inspire well-being of mind, body and spirit through the simple art of tea. Sixteen years later, the company continues to celebrate people, planet and pure tea; Ahmed remains the alchemist and Reem the artist behind each of Numi’s blends.

Ahmed and Reem have built Numi out of a commitment to using the highest quality, organic, non-GMO ingredients sourced directly from Fair Trade Certified gardens. Using only 100% real ingredients, Numi celebrates the pure art of tea with each and every blend.

At Numi, Reem oversees brand identity, including packaging design, brand voice and experience. An artist by trade, Reem’s original artwork has been a source of inspiration. Along with her brother, Reem is a co-creator and contributor to the Numi Foundation, a non-profit organization with initiatives that focus on acknowledging and addressing the challenges within inner city Oakland; from education to art to health. Reem is proud to maintain a core goal of service to those focused on creating positive impact on our global communi’tea.

Enjoy Numi tea, coffee, and Stone Oven pastries.

The Education Collaborative of Western New York was formed in 1999 and is composed of 16 private schools - 4 independent high schools and 12 catholic high schools. We have worked cooperatively and have received several community foundation grants for diversity scholarship, inclusion, technology advancement, and STEAM education. Total grants are nearly $7 million dollars. In addition, we have 14 affinity groups from teachers and administrators for each of the 16 schools; consult on issues such as governance, strategic planning, faculty compensation, technology integration, and inclusion with individual schools, and are in partnership with several key community groups. We would like to share our story and explore how you can replicate our consortium in your community.

Learn how to establish meaningful service-learning projects and foster critical conversations around citizenship, equity, inclusion, and social justice within our schools. The Nobis Project service-learning model understands the critical role of building relationships with community partners by listening to their stories. During this interactive workshop, participants hear stories from teachers on how they use this model in their classrooms. Using hands-on activities and the collective wisdom of the group, participants explore the Nobis Big Ideas framework for teaching about social issues by reflecting on their own practice and brainstorming ways to change their curriculum.

We know collecting and understanding data in schools is important. The question is, how can the
data we track and analyze help us better support underrepresented students? How can data assist our efforts at diversity, encourage conversations between schools and programs, and support successful outcomes for students? Please join us for a lively panel spotlighting this project and the data and diversity efforts of independent schools and academic enrichment programs. Regardless of where your school or program is in its journey for improved data collection, increased diversity, and supportive student practices, you will find this session helpful, practical, and thought provoking.

Learn how University School's Shaker Campus has deliberately created and cultivated programming and relationships with underrepresented groups in the city of Cleveland so that our campus can be more representative of the diversity in the world. Through presentations about Admissions and Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, attendees will be informed of the step-by-step process by which our programs have been created and implemented.

Imagine a monthly professional gathering of educators where a teacher from the metropolitan detention center, the head of an independent school, the director of an education non-profit, and a student teacher in a public school classroom are collaboratively engaged in deep inquiry, innovative thinking, and creative design for action. The Sofia Center for Professional Development at Bosque School opened its doors in January 2013 with the launch of REFLECT : INNOVATE : ACT, its signature public-private collaboration. In two and a half years, the Sofia Center has welcomed educators from over 115 schools and organizations in New Mexico – pre-K through university, public/private/charter, and non-profit education and cultural entities. Each month, we take a deep dive into an education topic or theme such as Place-Conscious Education, Cultural Competency, The Labyrinth of Teaching & Learning, Reclaiming Wonder, and Ritual & Ceremony in Education. This  workshop will offer an overview of the REFLECT : INNOVATE : ACT model, with emphasis on how we bring together educators from diverse schools and organizations in a truly collaborative format that invites both critical inquiry and strategic action. The session will include strategies for building inclusive community partnerships; highlights of specific programs from the REFLECT : INNOVATE: ACT series; an overview of our retreat designed for education leaders; the importance of aesthetics to honoring participants; and we have funded all public programs so that they are available at no charge to participants. We will share both the exhilarating moments and the real-world challenges of developing a public-private partnership that inspires, honors, and elevates the work of educators. 

Students at the University of Chicago’s Laboratory Schools (Lab) and its Charter School (UCCS) are different in many ways. Although differences exist in equity and access to resources, economic opportunity, and racial identity, these students share a commitment to education nurtured by their affiliation with the University of Chicago, a major research institution with rich academic atmosphere and outstanding facilities.

Discover how three greater Cleveland based organizations have executed powerful programming and built partnerships with public and private organizations across the city.

Lake Erie Ink: a writing space for youth’s mission is to provide creative expression opportunities and academic support to youth in the greater Cleveland community.  Located in Cleveland Heights, an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, Lake Erie Ink works with youth of all backgrounds, school experience, and ability. We offer after-school, evening, weekend and summer programs for youth in grades 3 –12.  We also provide programming to k-12 schools and other youth serving organizations throughout Cleveland. Our workshops range from play writing and poetr y to college essays and creative nonfiction.  Lake Erie Ink is founded on the belief that increased self-expression increases self-confidence and self-esteem, and leads to more effective communication and better school and community citizenship.  Through exposure to various forms of creative expression, the development of informal mentorships with volunteers, and the mutual respect built across socio-economic differences, youth improve writing skills, develop greater confidence socially and academically, and create a more connected community.  

Rainey Institute is where the arts change lives. We are dedicated to positive change for Greater Cleveland’s youth and families through education and participation in the visual and performing arts. Children ages 3 and up attend Rainey after school, on Saturdays, and during the Summer to explore music, dance, drama, sewing and art. They develop their artistic abilities and their character. Rainey students learn to be leaders and positive role models. They are prepared to be “on stage” at all times, enabling them to succeed in school and life.  Rainey reaches over 1,800 children and young adults each year through its programming, and holds many public performances for the community throughout the year. We invite you to call or visit to learn more about Rainey Institute.

Facing History & Ourselves
Since the Cleveland office was established in 1999, Facing History has provided more than 2,266 educators with programs and resources that connect the study of history to lessons about tolerance, respect and civic participation today. These teachers reach over 147,700 middle and high school students in public, independent, and religious schools across Ohio. Since 2008, Facing History has deepened its relationship with Cleveland area school districts including Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) and expanded its in-depth schools network to include Facing History New Tech High School, Laurel School, Citizens Leadership Academy, Magnificat High School, Hawken Middle School and Hathaway Brown Middle School. In addition to providing one-on-one support to individual teachers as they infuse Facing History's content and approach into their respective classrooms, Facing History has also been integrated into an ongoing program within CMSD -- Facing History New Tech High School.   Our Cleveland office has helped more than 147,700 students connect history with the choices they make every day, and consider how they can make a difference.

Horizons National is an award-winning, tuition-free, summer academic program serving low-income, public school students on the campuses of independent schools, colleges, and universities across the country. Join a Horizons representative and a head of school who currently has aHorizons program at his school and hear first-hand the impact it makes on under-served children, current families, and alumni of the private school. In addition, learn how Horizons can leverage community partners, positive public relations, and resources for your school.

The Aspire Program offers young people an enriching summer internship opportunity during which they practice the art & science of teaching.  With teachers coming from top colleges and universities across the country, and outstanding local high schools, Aspire creates an enviornment that allows young people to delve into the everyday practice of being a lead teacher in the classroom.  It also provides educators at all stages in their careers a chance to serve as mentors, leaders and administrators in a school setting.  

The mulitgeneratoinal approach is built on mentorship and the power of feedback in developing teaching practice.  More than 65% of former Aspire teachers have purused careers in education and have taken the lessons gained from Aspire into their home schools.

Join us for a rich conversation about the art and science of teaching and the journey we all take to become our best educators.  Exchange ideas about iproving teaching practice for students in all of our nation's schools. 

Join the directors of Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Great Lakes Science Center, and Cleveland’s Museum of Natural History to learn about the collaborative relationships and creative programming designed to address educational imperatives here.

One of the most crucial elements of a successful public-private collaboration is funding. While the design of an initiative centers on potential for impact and the capacity to address a real need, the challenge of securing initial and sustainable financial resources factors significantly in the work of most program directors. In this session, you’ll hear different perspectives on funding a new idea and sustaining a good one.

Learn about three models of service learning programs within private and independent
schools.

Join us for a Cleveland-themed Happy Hour inspired by local favorites and the West Side Market!

With origins of the land dating back to 1840 the West Side Market is Cleveland’s oldest publicly owned market. Beginning as an open air marketplace on a tract of land donated by two Ohio City landowners, Josiah Barber and Richard Lord, at the corner of West 25th (Pearl) and Lorain it has undergone much growth and many improvements to arrive at its current form. The centerpiece of the market, the yellow brick markethouse with an interior concourse, was designed by the architects Benjamin Hubbel and W. Dominick Benes who also designed other famous buildings in Cleveland, such the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Wade Memorial Chapel in Lakeview Cemetery. The markethouse was dedicated and opened to the public in 1912. Its 137 foot clock tower has stood as a Cleveland landmark for over a century. The last major renovation of the West Side Market took place in 2004 when the arcade portion of the market was enclosed and heated and major interior and architectural renovations were completed in the main building.

Today the market is home to over 100 vendors of great ethnic diversity. You can find not only fine meats and fresh vegetables, but also fresh seafood, baked goods, dairy and cheese products, and even fresh flowers. There are also booths that sell ready-to-eat foods, herbs, candy and nuts. Tourists from all over the world tour the market every year drawn by television programs produced by the Travel Channel and Food Network featuring segments on the West Side Market. Last year it is estimated that over a million people visited the market. Whether as a day-tour destination or a weekly shopping experience, the West Side Market continues to be an interesting and historical Cleveland tradition.

Registration, tours, and coffee and hot breakfast.  Join us for a waffle, yogurt and oatmeal breakfast bar! Fresh fruit and other light pastries will also be available.

Worldwide Voyage for a Sustainable World by Kylee P. Mar, PUEO Program at Punahou School: One sixty-two feet long, double-hulled Hawaiian canoe with two powerful crab-claw sails and 12 crew members embarked on a new journey in 2013, with a more urgent purpose: a four-year circumnavigation of the globe — more than 60,000 nautical miles — with events along the way aimed at drawing attention to the effects of climate change on the oceans. This single mission pulled together educators from across Hawaii to commit to educational transformation. Join our quick look into the voyage and the parallel voyage of educators looking to improve the overall educational playing field through uniting around this "life-calling."

The REACH Program at University School by Terry Lipford, University School: REACH is a rigorous summer enrichment program for academically talented African-American middle school young men and college undergraduates at University School. The five-week, tuition-free program for middle school boys is challenging and is designed to teach boys lessons concerning focus, thoughtfulness, creativity, persistence, determination, courage, resilience and excellence.

Horizons National by Mariann Bernlohr, Horizons National: Using 20 images for 20 seconds, follow the story of Horizons students as they build relationships that give them the opportunity to realize their potential. Horizons works to change the life trajectory of its students across the country by instilling in them the joy of learning, the skills for success, and the inspiration to realize their dreams. One of the key elements of Horizons is its meaningful partnerships with its host independent schools, especially with the student body. Learn how you can develop these meaningful relationships.

A More Perfect Educational System by Toni Cross, Hathaway Brown School: All pre-supposed limitations aside, what could - no, what should - our schools look like? Let's dream for a moment about what the perfect school could be in our imperfect world. Proposing a radical idea around the fundamentals of professional development and reimagining boundaries and ego, I hope to inspire you to think differently about education, family and community.

Building a Meaningful Service Program: Student and Staff Perspectives by Libby Panhorst & Diala 'Didi' Abboud, Montessori High School at University Circle: Using examples from their experience at Montessori High School at University Circle, Libby Panhorst and Diala Abboud will discuss how to coordinate a place-based service program, including building relationships with neighboring organizations, identifying meaningful projects, and incorporating service into student life.

Collective Impact-Supporting Youth During the Summer by Sheryl Davis, Convent & Stuart Hall/Collective Impact: Learn about strategies to support high potential youth. How a private school, University and community partners work to serve hundreds of youth and their families during the summer months. Learn about four projects that offer support and opportunity for quality learning experiences for under-resourced youth.

Why You Need to Know Your Population Richey Piiparinen, Cleveland State University Center for Population Dynamics by Richey Piiparinen is a Senior Research Associate at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University: He focuses on migration, demography, culture, and economic and community development. Richey is a co-editor of the book Rust Belt Chic: A Cleveland Anthology, Contributing Editor at New Geography, and a blogger at HuffingtonPost. His writings on urbanism, culture, and social trends, as well as his research on economic development and demographic trends, have appeared in various outlets, including NPR's Morning Edition, Salon, Business Insider, the CBC, Atlantic Cities, Cleveland Magazine, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Inner City Tennis Clinics by Brian Smallwood, Inner City Tennis Clinics: From 2010-2015 The Inner City Tennis Clinics (ICTC) has fostered a positive environment for over 3,000 of Cleveland’s at-risk youth. ICTC was designed to expose at-risk urban youth to new concepts and skill sets as well as to increase literacy skills that would provide long term, positive effects on their lives and ultimately help children graduate from High School. For the past six summers, Inner City Tennis Clinics’ (ICTC) free eight-week program is focused on five components: Literacy, Fitness, Poetry Slam, Wellness, and Tennis. Along with these components, breakfast and lunch are provided free of charge with the help of the City of Cleveland Department of Parks and Recreation meal program. All participants experience each component Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. The program takes place at the Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center, 8611 Hough Ave., Hough, Cleveland (former site of the race-riots in the 1960’s). Inner City Tennis Clinics is a non-profit organization devoted to providing Cleveland’s at risk youth with access to a multi-component summer program designed to promote hope, healthy living, and productive futures.

During this workshop, participants will learn about the development of the K – 12 Purpose in Community service program at The Spence School. They will learn how the Spence service team used a backwards design approach to build a shared understanding among faculty of what it means to have a public purpose. Participants will see the eleven essential understandings, as well as counterpoint misunderstandings, that guide service curriculum development at Spence. They will also learn how to use Critical Friends Group protocols to produce buy-in among faculty and how to translate this shared understanding to students. The workshop will challenge commonly held beliefs about service and provide a new way of envisioning service learning in a school. Participants will leave with a new understanding of what is means to have a public purpose as well as a framework for use in their own schools.

The Young Entrepreneur Institute at University School shares its curriculum, expertise, and programming at no charge with hundreds of schools, impacting thousands of kids in Northeast Ohio. We have a particular focus on under-served and under-resourced organizations and schools. We use a leveraged model to maximize our impact. This approach has positioned University School as a leader in the local education ecosystem. Using our private school as a platform to serve the needs of the broader community, the Young Entrepreneur Institute has developed strong partnerships with foundations and corporations as well. Learn about this unique approach to education outreach and funding. Learn why entrepreneurship teaches critical life skills, and why every student should understand and experience entrepreneurship.

The Boys Hope Girls Hope Academy Program provides long-term, year-round intellectual growth, social-emotional development and holistic wellness opportunities for high-achieving low-income students from the summer before sixth grade through college graduation and career launch. By engaging in after school, weekend, and summer learning opportunities of the Academy Program over an eleven-year period of service our Scholars develop the academic and life skills and experiences needed to prepare themselves for college, career and life success. The workshop outlines our elevenyear continuum of service, our residential program, and the process we have undergone to create this continuum. We aim to educate others about the value of programming like ours and how those in the community can get involved.

This workshop will allow participants to consider the needs, culture, strengths and challenges of their own institutions in creating or strengthening a program that will create a private school to public sector partnership. The Meadowbrook Vacation Program is an initiative which intends to partner with local community organization and public schools, to offer an academically and socially enriching program during public school students’ February break. Through interactive and collaborative exercises, the presenter will task participants with creating and compiling justifications for such programs that take into account the actual school environments in which they work and the resources to which they have access. Participants will also be asked to share their own experiences in this work, to create cross-school networks and to glean from real-world examples. In its second year, the Meadowbrook Vacation Program operates during a public school weeklong break for 3 days. Each day includes mini-sessions led by Meadowbrook faculty, along with lunch and snacks at no additional cost. Though the program is competitively priced, particularly in comparison to other low cost out of school programs (ie the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club), scholarships are still available to ensure that finances are not an obstacle to a child's participation.

Join the National Network of Schools in Partnership as they share with you a number of ways to evaluate your partnership program, establish its strengths and identify areas of weakness. Use their Framework for Effective Partnership and Principles of Good Practice to examine the necessary components of a successful partnership program and learn how to apply it to your programs.

Beyond the walls of our classrooms lie opportunities for students to solve relevant real-world problems in our communities, such as homelessness, income inequality, environmental degradation, and equal access to amenities/services. This session, led by Catlin Gabel School’s PLACE Director, George Zaninovich, will use our unique and innovative model for PLACE Program and Center in a dense Portland, OR urban neighborhood in the midst of profound change to discuss strategies for 1) private school immersion in our communities, 2) addressing us vs. them perceptions, and 3) addressing issues of equity and achievement gap impact on our schools and communities.

Learn how to use the SOLE model in the classroom. SOLE is based on Sugata Mitra's School in the Cloud research. It exposes students to research and exploration of higher level questions, pushing them to the top of Bloom's Taxonomy. Discover how this model can help push students in their understanding and questioning of the major issues facing the world with a thematic connection to various pieces of literature.

Learn how adding an “A” to STEM, while combining real world engagement through service, drives motivation and engagement in students to effect real world change. Students can learn and grow while also having direct impact by innovating better systems and methods in service agencies throughout the world. Both Service Learning and Design Thinking are necessary 21st century skills/knowledges/mindsets for students to cultivate and practice so that they can be successful in their learning and careers. You will learn how to give students useful design tools to take advantage of challenges and opportunities now and in the future. You will engage in practical, take-with-you- TODAY classroom activities and techniques guaranteed to get your students to empathize with others, leverage and understand their individual and collective assets, and realize that they can have positive real world impact now.

City as Our Campus was recognized by the Edward E. Ford Foundation as one of the top independent school programs in the nation in 2009, when the Foundation awarded WT one of only four coveted Educational Leadership Grants. City as Our Campus is an initiative that utilizes and integrates the community into the school's core academic curriculum to extend student learning beyond the classroom, introduce students to a diversity of people, and increase student investment in their community. Through this initiative, students participate in urban design challenges, engage in entrepreneurial product develop, receive mentorship from community educators, utilize the city as their classroom, welcome guest educators into the school, and much more. Business leaders, researchers, technologists, artists, community members, and parents are transformed into coeducators as they share their expertise and reimagine schooling. Adam Nye, the Director of City as Our Campus, will provide an overview of the initiative and its related projects, dissect the program to explore learning objectives and teacher practice, and help participants to consider ways of adapting aspects of the program for their own practice.

How can we use committees to cultivate engagement in partnership-building from within and beyond our schools? This workshop offers three different models of how independent schools bring together different stakeholder groups -- faculty and students across divisions, as well as faculty from other public and private schools -- to develop and strengthen private-public partnerships through committee and consortium work. Join us for a conversation as we discuss the successes and challenges of developing and sustaining these committees, explore how these models have evolved, and consider future directions for committee growth. Participants will leave with three replicable and adaptable approaches for building stakeholder committees with a public purpose and a focus on service learning.

Everyone loves summer camp! Why wait for summer to get your kids' "hands dirty" in joyful learning? Learn how Wheeling Country Day School weaved creative learning into the regular school year curriculum through educational "camps" that connect students and teachers with their passions.

At Urban Community School, located in the heart of Cleveland’s near west side, two-thirds of the student body qualify for free meals in the Federal Food and Nutrition Service Program (FNS). Another ten percent qualify for reduced-cost meals, making approximately 76 percent of the student body eligible for free/reduced breakfast and lunch. UCS has spent more than four decades serving the students and families in our neighborhood, providing 500 primarily multilingual, under resourced students with an individualized, innovative, and challenging education. More than six years ago, UCS created the Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator role within the school, partnered with the Greater Cleveland Foodbank, and hosted many events to share information and celebrate wellness. This year, UCS opened the Edible Schoolyard Learning Garden, which serves as a tangible example of UCS’s ongoing commitment to the health, wellness, and nutrition of UCS’ children and families.In this session, learn about the strategic process and partnership with the local non-profits – the Cleveland Botanical Gardens (CBG) and The Refugee Response (TRR) -- that transformed vacant land into a vibrant and welcoming outdoor classroom, inviting students young and old to explore, harvest, learn and taste together. Hear how this garden, originally envisioned by middle school students as part of a math lesson on scale drawing, became an integral part of UCS’s 21st Century curriculum and how strategic partnerships ensure the sustainability of innovative programming and the maintenance of the learning garden.

Learn how to establish meaningful service-learning projects and foster critical conversations around citizenship, equity, inclusion, and social justice within our schools. The Nobis Project service-learning model understands the critical role of building relationships with community partners by listening to their stories. During this interactive workshop participants hear stories from teachers on how they use this model in their classrooms. Using hands-on activities and the collective wisdom of the group, participants explore the Nobis Big Ideas framework for teaching about social issues by reflecting on their own practice and brainstorming ways to change their curriculum.

If you had $1,000 to donate to a cause, how would you make that decision? Learn about how students in grades 5-12 come together each year to raise funds and award grants to regional and global service non-profits. In this workshop, members from the GROW Foundation at Hathaway Brown School will lead you through activities as you delve into the world of philanthropy and the role it plays in the areas of partnering, networking, and collaborating to grapple with tough decisions and to make change. The GROW (Girls Reaching Others Worldwide) Foundation at Hathaway Brown School has been actively engaged in philanthropy since 2000. The Middle School branch awards grants to organizations that address education needs and programming geared toward helping at risk adolescent girls in the Cleveland area. The Upper School branch promotes economic and social empowerment through the grants it awards and the microfinance loans it lends. This unique student-run foundation has raised and awarded over $125,000 since its inception, and it is highly regarded in the Cleveland community and beyond for its contributions.

Present opportunities to develop seniors into effective and generous alumni - teach them the value of the alumni network, the importance of philanthropy to the ongoing mission of the school, and the direct impact of their philanthropy.

We plan to discuss the organization of this graduation strand program, which is in its second year at Gilmour Academy. We will describe the selection process, the curricular roots, and the personalization that is provided by our faculty and community internship mentors.

A vector is...

• an organized and concentrated set of experiences regarding a particular theme, field or skill all meant to bring further specificity and cohesion to your learning at Gilmour.
• a program that blends select courses from our catalogue, outside experiential learning activities that you plan and participate in, and a capstone experienceto be conducted as you near graduation.
• an opportunity to work with a faculty mentor who will help you navigate a path; ultimately, you sit in the captain’s chair, you are the architect of this plan.