FACILITATOR(S): Emily Hurst – Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School, Executive Director
Elyssa Yuen – Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School, Head of School
Emily Fernandez – Hebrew Public, Chief Schools Officer
Kim Kassnove – Hebrew Public, Chief Talent Officer

DESCRIPTION: Starting a school is all consuming, exhilarating, daunting, and profound. But the work of launching an intentionally integrated school in communities that are increasingly segregated takes complex strategy from political navigation to recruitment to helping communities learn across difference. This session will give planners and practitioners a peek into key tactics for recruiting diverse communities and ideas of how to help founding families connect across difference to begin to form a sense of belonging from the beginning. We’ll share our aspirations and our shortfalls, and how we hope to build on the foundation established in the years to come.

FACILITATOR(S): Dorie Turner Nolt – Be Clear, Communications Strategy Consultant
Adele McConnell – Prospect Schools, Director of Communications

DESCRIPTION: In this session, we’ll discuss the role strategic communications and media relations hold in the charter space and how leaders of diverse schools can best leverage that to share the incredible work happening in their classrooms. School leaders can always use more tools in their toolkit to communicate effectively (and proactively) to their various constituencies, whether it’s through news coverage, social media, newsletters or other ways of communicating. We hope attendees will leave this session with a better understanding of how to “think like a communicator” in their daily work and implement strategic best practices in a way that feels authentic and representational of their community.

FACILITATOR(S): Priscilla Wohlstetter – Columbia University Teacher’s College, Distinguished Research Professor
Sarah A. Cordes – Temple University, Assistant Professor

DESCRIPTION: A prominent and longstanding criticism of charter schools is that they exacerbate patterns of racial and socioeconomic segregation between schools. In contrast, an emerging group of intentionally diverse charter schools and charter management organizations (CMOs) have begun promoting more integrated schooling spaces. These “diverse-by- design” (DBD) charters remain focused on improving educational outcomes for poor students and students of color while also intentionally prioritizing the creation of diverse communities, and engaging in a range of practices to build, sustain and draw on this diversity in achieving equitable outcomes for young people. Despite the proliferation of such schools across the country, little is known about the extent to which these schools fulfill their mission of diversity, let alone what practices they employ to promote integration among students and families.

FACILITATOR(S): Suyin So – Central Queens Academy Charter School, Executive Director
Derrell Bradford – 50CAN, Executive Vice President
Ron Rice, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Senior Director of Government Relations

DESCRIPTION: As fights over charter schools and charter policy spill over into the general political debate, charter leaders, teachers, and families are being asked to advocate for their schools in ways they may never have previously. This session will feature both a strategy discussion for strong advocacy planning as well as practical examples for how charter schools can engage opinion and policy makers.

FACILITATOR(S): Sahba Rohani – Roots ConnectED, Inc., Executive Director
Allison Keil – Community Roots, Co-Founder and Co-Director, and Board Chair of Roots ConnectED, Inc.
Jayne Sohn – Community Roots, Coordinator of Equity and Anti-Bias Education and Coach for Roots ConnectED, Inc.

DESCRIPTION: This session is about the importance of a rich, anti-bias curriculum in diverse by design schools. If classrooms are not places where students are taught to think critically, can connect to the curriculum, are taught history in a way that de-centers whiteness, and given opportunities for social action, then we are not being responsible to the power of bringing young people together and building equitable communities across lines of difference. The intentionality with which we consider our curriculum and the practical and systematic processes necessary to make those shifts are critical to creating truly integrated communities.

FACILITATOR(S): St. Claire Adriaan – Academy of the City Charter School, Middle School Principal
Richard Lee – Academy of the City Charter School, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION: This session will provide an opportunity to discuss and delve into the difficulties faced by students of color and students with disabilities within schools and how restorative practices can redirect these difficulties and address current disparities in educational outcomes for these subgroups as an issue of unequal opportunity to learn.