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Principals, administrators receive grants from Houston A+ Challenge

More principals and school administrators will be able to afford a rich learning experience through the Houston A+ Challenge Leadership Development Grants, which have been awarded to seven educators in the Houston Independent School District.

Administrators were awarded $19,094.31 in grants for personal and professional development focused on the key elements of the Houston A+ Challenge New Visions in Leadership Academy.

The Leadership Academy is an intensive two-year study program that creates individual assessment profiles for each participant. Principals learn to create what are called professional learning communities on their campus. In professional learning communities, teachers and other faculty collaborate, analyze and share best practices on how to improve student achievement and the principal works from the middle of the organizational pyramid, not from the top.

The principals will use the grants, coupled with what they learned during the first year of the academy, as a foundation to make changes on their campus to see that all students get the knowledge and skills to be successful in college, career or civic activities.

The seven recipients for this year are:

• Connie Berger, E.A. “Squatty” Lyons Elementary, to attend The Association of Supervision and Curriculum 2006 National Conference in Chicago.
• Linda Boas, Rucker Elementary School, to attend the Association of Supervision and Curriculum 2006 National Conference in Chicago.
• Sarah Castro, Westside High School, to attend the Landmark Education Conference in Houston.
• Vernie Derbonne, Milby High School, to attend the Harvard Institute for School Leadership in Cambridge, Mass.
• Anastasia Lindo, Robinson Elementary School, to attend the Principals’ Center at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
• Monica Sandoval, Wharton Elementary School, to attend the Principals’ Center at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
• Magdalena Strickland, Milby High School, to attend the Harvard Institute for School Leadership in Cambridge, Mass.

After completing their professional development, grant winners will turn in a report and a plan of action for change on their campus. The grants range from $3,000 - $5,000 each.

“I returned (from the Harvard Institute School for Leadership) with a new set of standards and visions to improve my school academically and culturally,” Moses Diaz of Chavez High School said in his report on his 2004 grant. “Quality instruction is not absorbed by osmosis. I observed strategies that created an accountability system that is reflective, supports learning and sustains creative teachers.”

Last year’s recipients included Mr. Diaz and Maria Gardner from Chavez High School, Richard Barajas from Milby High School, Susan Monoghan from Lovett Elementary and Gayle Curtis from Helms Community Learning Center. They were awarded a total of $17,383 in grants.

For more information on Houston A+ Challenge initiatives, visit www.houstonaplus.org. Houston A+ is an independent, public-private education organization.