Office of Strategic Partnerships eport al r nu n a Smarter 7 1 – Together 6 1 20 ar school ye Smarter Together: Annual Report for School Year 2016–17 Office of Strategic Partnerships School District of Philadelphia July 2017 CONTENTS 1 Introduction 3 About Us Government has got to 4 Using Data open up and engage citizenry 5 Partner Match Highlights as partners. 1 6 Cross-Departmental Collaboration —Cory Booker 7 Aligning 7 Anchor Goal Alignment 9 Communities of Practice Working with other people 10 Leveraging Corporate Resources just makes you SMARTER, 11 Building Capacity it’s been proven... Office of Strategic Partnerships of Strategic Office 11 Training and Best Practices We elevate each other. 12 Creating Forums for School/Partner —Lin-Manuel Miranda 2 Collaboration 12 Building Out School-Based Support for Partnerships Coordination • 2016–17 Annual Report 1 Quoted in “A Glimpse of How Cory Booker Wants to Fix the Federal Government,” by Gregory Ferenstein, TechCrunch. com, March 14, 2013. 440 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130 [email protected] 2 Quoted in “Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Genius Behind philasd.org/strategicpartnerships Hamilton, Broadway’s Newest Hit,” by Jeff MacGregor, Smithsonian Magazine, November 12, 2015. Introduction We are smarter together, stronger together, In this brief document, we hope to share with and more successful together. These are our you our progress to-date, and our hopes for foundational principles. the future. Specifically, we: We at the Office of Strategic Partnerships Provide a short history of the office; (OSP) see Philadelphia as being home to a rich tapestry of partner organizations Describe how we increasingly utilize data and programs that, in collaboration with to strengthen partner efforts; schools, help to create vibrant learning environments for our students. We believe Discuss how we are working to align that partnerships can be an important lever partner strengths with schools’ needs; and in helping schools reach their goals and that strong partnerships grow out of a spirit of Examine how we are building capacity collaboration and understanding among all aimed at promoting system-level change. stakeholders. These beliefs guide our work Above: Seventh graders with partners, schools, and other School In addition, this report identifies exemplary Partnerships of Strategic Office learned about District District of Philadelphia (District) offices. efforts by a number of our partners. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs through the CTE Fair Now in our fifth year, we continue to leverage With your help, we are confident that we held at Temple University. the support of key partners and listen as can continue to enhance the educational See page 8 for more information. Photo schools share their fundamental needs. This experiences of our students across the courtesy of Joseph allows our office to more effectively connect District. We welcome your feedback, and Labolito/Temple University. necessary programs and resources with our look forward to working with you in the Cover: Dr. Tanner G. school communities. Of course, the District is months and years to come. Duckrey Elementary the institution with the primary responsibility • School hosted one 2016–17 Annual Report hundred City Year to educate students, but in a world of AmeriCorps members and rapid change and increasing challenges, it over 200 volunteers for only makes sense to engage leaders from the April 2017 Comcast Cares Day project. In total, business, civic organizations, philanthropy, eighty new murals were and communities in ways that create as many created, four stairwells options and opportunities as possible for our painted, and twelve new benches constructed for young people. K–8 students to enjoy in their schoolyard. 1 Sixth grade students from Southwark and Hartranft spent the day learning about career opportunities at Philadelphia companies through the Chamber of Commerce's Future Ready program. Photos (this page and opposite) courtesy of The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. .. of. ce f o e h t s p i About h s r e n Us t r a p ic teg ...stra Four years ago, the District established the The key functions of our office are to: Office of Strategic Partnerships (“OSP”) to improve the way the District and Assist schools in identifying key schools engage with the many external need areas where partners can organizations that support, provide provide support; resources, and offer programming and services at no cost to the District or schools. Use data to connect external partners with schools to equitably invest Over the past four years, the scope programs and small donations; and breadth of our efforts have grown In 2016–17 Office of Strategic Partnerships of Strategic Office the OFFICE of exponentially. The core of our work, Provide partners and schools with tools STRATEGIC however, continues to center around to help establish and maintain PARTNERSHIPS... supporting each school in identifying and healthy partner relationships that ...turned leveraging partner resources to further their align with school priorities and District YEARS 4 OLD mission and progress toward the District’s Anchor Goals; Anchor Goals. This past year, we have ...mapped & mapped and tracked over one thousand Support partners and schools in tracked partner relationships, supported principals navigating District policies to ensure 1,000+ in identifying and strengthening school- partner compliance; and PARTNERSHIPS based partnerships, and successfully • 2016–17 Annual Report ...matched matched partner programs with over Serve as a liaison between partners, 100+ one hundred school communities. schools, and departments within the PARTNER District’s central office. PROGRAMS with SCHOOLS 3 x rs artne t p ec ir d o t e g Using n a h c l Data a rn te in ive of ALL and dr PARTNER 89% MATCHES were made with schools scoring In the 2015–16 school year, the District's Office of Research and Evaluation and OSP received below 50% on the School Progress Report survey responses from 98% of school principals regarding school needs and external support services housed in District schools. The Support Census identified 1,690 external support relationships, most of which were previously undocumented at the District level. School Progress Report (SPR): Over this past year, OSP has used the Support The School Progress Report is a new tool Census data to match partner resources with designed to help the District support, school needs and to inform our internal process respond to and improve our schools. Key for onboarding partners. features of the SPR: Office of Strategic Partnerships of Strategic Office We continue to focus on distributing resources The SPR looks at schools across equitably and supporting the schools with the multiple dimensions, reflecting and greatest need. To that end, we’ve relied on data appreciating the richness and complexity from the School Progress Report, the District’s of the educational experience. report card for schools and a key indicator of need. Last year, 89% of all partner matches were Among these domains, the SPR made with schools that had overall scores below puts the most emphasis on student 50% on the School Progress Report. growth, reflecting our focus on and • commitment to ensuring that all 2016–17 Annual Report of our students are learning. At the local school level, we mapped existing District-community partnerships alongside local school needs in order to better match The SPR includes useful comparisons generous community resources with local school communities, within “peer group” schools that are and to prepare for a more strategic development of partners’ serving similar student populations. support to further District goals. The SPR is a local management tool that is — William R. Hite, Jr., Ed.D., Superintendent designed to be both fair and actionable. 4 Partner Match Highlights This past year, we: Facilitated a meaningful collaboration with RevZilla, a local eCommerce motorcycle gear company. With OSP, RevZilla selected Taggart as a partner school, located near their original store. RevZilla collected teacher wishlists and purchased all items. They supported students on a service learning project, provided library storytime, and led toy and clothing drives. RevZilla helped launch the Friends of Taggart School to maintain the new schoolyard and grow the library. Partnered with Global Citizen, the Mayor’s Office, Back on My Feet, and RevZilla for the 2017 King Day of Service at Girard College. The project supported school recycling by engaging community and school volunteers in workshops hosted by the District and the city, and creating an environmental messaging campaign. Facilitated a robust matchmaking process between Harlem Lacrosse, an out-of-school time partner new to Philadelphia, and two Districtschools— Anderson and Finletter—which involved site visits and principal interviews. The benefits that we received by Careful planning between school leadership and Harlem Lacrosse will completing the OSP Partnership position this partnership for success over the three year grant cycle. Census were priceless! The enrollment in our programming Coordinated Girl Scouts Middle Years Program expansion into seven schools has soared and we were able to in Neighborhood Network 4, which provided 344 middle school girls with a reach District principals that were workshop series centered on healthy relationships and self-esteem building. previously unreachable… – Adrienne Bishop Opera Philadelphia Need Area Addressed #'s Impacted by Partner Match Schools Students* Career Readiness 17 600 College Access and Readiness** 4 318 Financial Aid/FAFSA Completion 14 200 Literacy 28 800 Mentoring 9 819 OST/After-School Programming 10 95 Partnerships of Strategic Office SAT/ACT Prep 1 50 School Climate and Safety 1 712 Total 84 3,594 Need Area Addressed #'s Impacted by Event-Specific Projects Schools Students* Day of Service 18 8,611 Donations 8 2,955 • Green Futures (Sustainability) 5 2,204 2016–17 Annual Report Student Service-Learning Projects 5 2,221 Total 36 15,991 Opposite page, top: Villa volunteers paint a mural during City Year's * Estimated.