Summary
 High School Renewal Partners
 Student Voice
 Readings
 Grants

Boston’s Office of High School Renewal, in collaboration with its partner organizations and with generous financial backing from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, supports the creation of small, dynamic learning environments that promote student engagement, positive relationships among adults and students, and a love of learning. We seek to assist schools in the development of skilled, motivated, independent learners who graduate with a commitment to their communities.

High School Renewal has been launched with support from the Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation. Four core partner organizations work alongside the Boston Public Schools in High School Renewal.

The Boston Public Schools' Office of High School Renewal (OHSR) is the school district's lead entity for driving high school renewal, including the development of small schools and small learning communities and overall school improvement. The OHSR ensures that new school designs and large school conversions are feasible, and provides extensive technical assistance and on-site coaching to new schools. The OHSR also assists the BPS central office to support high school redesign and ensures that facilities, students and staff assignment, and other cross-cutting issues are addressed quickly and effectively.
http://www.highschoolrenewal.org

Boston Plan for Excellence
The Boston Plan for Excellence is a local education foundation that works in close partnership with the Boston Public Schools to support principals-headmasters and teachers as they identify the instructional, organizational and cultural changes they need to make to ensure all students meet high standards. The nonprofit also works with the central office to identify and address policy issues that present barriers to improvement. Additionally, BPE works with high school headmasters and students to inform the progress of the initiative and promote student voice at both the school and district levels. As part of its high school work, BPE is also the fiscal agent for the Schools for a New Society (SNS) grant from the Carnegie Corporation.
http://www.bpe.org

Jobs for the Future
Jobs for the Future is a national, nonprofit research, consulting and advocacy organization that works to strengthen our society by creating educational and economic opportunity for those who need it most. In Boston, JFF serves as fiscal agent for the Gates Foundation grant, assists the High School Renewal office in supporting the development of small learning communities, and organizes peer learning opportunities across large high schools, small schools, Pilot schools and alternative schools. It also provides design and technical assistance to the new small schools to ensure that graduates make smooth transitions to further education and training.
http://www.jff.org

Boston Private Industry Council
The Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) strengthens Boston's communities and its workforce by connecting youth and adults with education and employment opportunities that prepare them to meet the skill demands of employers in a changing economy. The PIC convenes the Boston Compact, the city's historic school improvement agreement among the BPS, the BTU, the business community, higher education, and others. Through the Compact, the PIC organizes business partnerships and jobs and internships that connect the classroom to the workplace. It also organizes the Teacher Advisory Committee, which includes district high school teachers.
http://www.bostonpic.org

Center for Collaborative Education
The Center for Collaborative Education's mission is to improve student learning in K-12 public schools and districts by creating small, democratic, and equitable schools. The Center seeks to influence the larger public's view on education to better support autonomous schools in which students and teachers know each other well, and learning is purposeful and has value beyond school. In Boston, CCE is the coordinating organization for the 19 Boston Pilot School. CCE is providing assistance in the design, launch, and implementation of new or developing BPS small high schools, including an annual summer institute on small school design, and annual Critical Friends Group Facilitator institute, structured visits to successful small schools, and substantial on-site coaching to design teams and small schools.
http://www.ccebos.org

Involvement of students, teachers, families and community is central to high school reform. In Boston, the high school renewal initiative has made this statement a reality. Browse the High School Renewal Newsletter and you will see many creative examples of teacher-developed projects and activities. Look at the literature of high school renewal and you will see student research and student voices represented throughout every aspect of high school renewal. Attend any event at a Boston high school and you will see family members and adults from the community supporting the students.

The Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC)

The Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC) is a citywide body of student leaders representing their respective high schools. Among their many activities, BSAC members convene two Thursdays a month; meet with the Superintendent and members of the School Committee to offer their perspectives on high school renewal efforts; and inform their respective schools about relevant citywide issues.

For information on BSAC’s important role in Boston TeachNet’s CHESP - Community, Higher Education, School Partnership - click on http://www.bostonteachnet.org/bsac/index.htm

To keep up to date on BSAC doings, read BSAC Buzz regularly featured in quarterly The Boston Globe’s citywide newspaper Teens In Print.

The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute's Education and Society Program focuses on high school transformation work, linking these issues with efforts to better prepare students for college and for life beyond as a citizen, worker, and parent. Read Rethinking High School: The Next Frontier For State Policymakers [PDF] and Coaching: A Strategy for Developing Instructional Capacity - Promises and Practicalities [PDF] and visit the website at http://www.aspeninstitute.org/education.

Gates Foundation: Small High Schools
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting high school reform efforts in communities throughout the United States, with a goal to improve high school and college graduation rates by creating small, focused high schools that help all students achieve.

National Youth Employment Coalition
The NYEC has done a lot of work creating a means by which small schools can evaluate the work they are doing in relation to the needs of the student, the school climate, as well as the school's relationship with outside resources. This link includes questionnaires and templates that are helpful in designing new school environments.

Small Schools Workshop
The Small Schools Workshop (SSW) is a resource for public schools and school districts engaged in restructuring and whole-school improvement. The Workshop brings experience and expertise in elementary and secondary school redesign, curricular focus and building professional teams by providing guidance and professional development to large public schools that are in the process of restructuring into smaller learning environments.

Transformational Education Schools
This is a reference site for individuals and organizations that are planning and thinking about innovative approaches to small school design.

Why Johnny Still Can't Read [PDF]
This article is "recommended reading" from the Edutopia News website at http://www.edutopia.org. Edutopia News, the weekly electronic newsletter from The George Lucas Educational Foundation, features original stories on K-12 topics and practices, as well as editorial highlights from other news sources.

Carnegie Proposal [PDF]
Boston's proposal to the Carnegie Foundation includes a set of benchmarks for the BPS and its many partners to meet under the High School Renewal and Small School Development initiative.

Carnegie First-Year Report [PDF]
The first year report to the Carnegie Foundation highlights progress of the initiative.

Gates Proposal [PDF]
Boston's proposal to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation outlines the proposed small high schools to be developed throughout Boston.

Gates II Proposal [PDF]
Boston's proposal to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for work over three years to accelerate the school and system redesign necessary to support a portfolio of excellent high schools. The proposed effort builds on Boston's intensive efforts to reform all of its high schools and provide every high school-aged student in Boston with an excellent education characterized by rigor, relevance, and relationships.