Rocketship charter schools4/6/2023 ![]() ![]() He dropped out of school after the eighth grade to pursue tennis full-time. It's a complicated story that Agassi says starts with his own education, or lack thereof. Guerrero launched her career in elementary education over 20 years ago and was a founding teacher at the very first Rocketship school, Rocketship Mateo Sheedy, where she later became principal.How did Andre Agassi go from a tennis star to a public charter school advocate who's helped open dozens of schools? Maricela Guerrero is the executive director of Rocketship Public Schools Bay Area and leads a network of 13 public elementary schools. We can build stronger and more resilient kids and communities by investing in community schools. We can use this crisis to transform our public schools into more supportive and joyful learning communities that ensure all students are prepared to thrive no matter what the future holds. To accelerate student learning, we must prioritize the needs of the whole child. The long-term risk to our kids’ future is the social, emotional and psychological toll of the last year and a half. With the majority of our students at Rocketship Public Schools now back on campus, our educators are seeing firsthand the trauma inflicted by both the pandemic and ongoing racial violence. This year, in addition to our mental health professional at every campus, we are hiring a dedicated team member at every school to provide case management support and care coordination across our community partners to deepen our wraparound support for students and families.Īfter a year of school closures, parents, educators and policymakers are understandably concerned about “learning loss.” But catching up on reading and math is not what’s keeping our educators up at night. The last 14 months have underscored the importance of our relationship-centered school model and highlighted critical ways we can grow stronger. Annual home visits are an essential part of our community school model. And to this day, every fall, all Rocketship teachers visit the homes of every student they serve. I still remember doing home visits with every family in my class at the start of the school year. I was a founding teacher at that first campus. Two of those leaders are here in San Jose: the Santa Clara County Office of Education and Rocketship Public Schools.Ĭultivating a strong connection with families has been a top priority at Rocketship Public Schools since we opened our first school 14 years ago. ![]() Just 20 programs were awarded funding in this highly competitive program. Recently, over 100 education agencies applied for funding from the California Department of Education to expand or sustain existing community schools. There are community schools scattered across the Golden State. And community schools provide students with extended learning time and experiential learning activities designed to help students take more ownership of their education and foster more joy in learning.Ĭommunity schools are not a new concept. They emphasize authentic family engagement and understand that a strong relationship between family and school is the backbone of child development. They coordinate with local support programs to address the full-range of possible learning barriers including health care, food assistance, counseling services, housing assistance and more. And one model provides a blueprint for how public schools can build back stronger: Community schools.Ĭommunity schools are like a neighborhood nerve center for families. We cannot accelerate learning when kids return to campus if we don’t put relationships at the center of our school models. To fully engage in their learning, children must feel safe, valued and understood. So as educators prepare to fully reopen next school year, we must design supportive school communities and classrooms that truly care for the whole child. The traumatic events families have endured over the last year are among the key factors that cause children to experience “toxic stress.” Research shows that toxic stress can derail student learning and delay child development. High rates of COVID-19, poor access to healthcare, food insecurity, lost wages, threats of eviction, racial violence… the list goes on. But it was disproportionately hard on communities of color. This school year was tough on everyone: parents, students, teachers and school leaders. ![]()
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