An Exciting New Partnership and Professional Development Service

By Kathleen Harris Administrator of the North and Central Florida School Choice Resource Center

The Southeast Coalition of Essential Schools (SCESC) and the Fischler School of Education at Nova Southeastern University have formed a partnership. This growing CES center is currently housed at Nova's Tampa facility and was formed by a consortium of school districts working on secondary reform through the formation of smaller learning communities or career academies.   The center offers the member districts and schools no cost networking activities as a venue for critical conversations among high school practitioners. As a partner, The National Innovations in Educational Options (NIEO) at NSU offers technical assistance and consulting in concert with SCESC.

The generous financial support Nova is providing will enable the SCESC to pursue private foundation funding to develop a virtual model of a conversion high school using the best practices from all the member schools.   The virtual model will become a tool to view SLC and academy teams and classrooms demonstrating the best of what small schools structures can offer.   The practitioners seen in the virtual programs will also become peer coaches and provide video conference services and personalized technical assistance.   A yearly conference will allow direct interaction among all the contributing schools and subscribers that are part of the virtual school network.   Stay tuned for more information about becoming a provider for, or subscriber to, this cutting edge professional development service.

Visit www.southeastces.org for a list of upcoming events and further information