Dear Colleagues:

In February 2011, a group of Chelsea teachers and administrators traveled together to New York City to participate in the American Federation of Teachers' (AFT) Center for School Improvement professional development. The professional development focused on fostering high-functioning school improvement teams who work together within our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) structure to improve student achievement. We were so impressed by the quality of the content, pedagogy, and facilitation, that Chelsea Teachers' Union President, Mary Ferriter and her team along with me and my team from Central Office worked to bring the AFT training to Chelsea--for Chelsea.

For two days this week, Tuesday, August 23rd and Wednesday, August 24th AFT National through their Center for School Improvement (CSI) will work with approximately 135 teachers and administrators on public school reform. Our work with AFT CSI will take on a systems perspective; together, we will look at the way our schools are organized and the way decisions are made. AFT's CSI facilitators will help us to look at each school as a micro-system working within the macro-system of the school district. We will focus on moving our schools to the next phase of improvement through the creation of labor-management partnerships among teachers’ unions, school administrators, community, and school committee to improve planning, decision making, problem solving, as well as the ways teachers, administrators, community members, and school committee interact. At the end of the two days of professional development each participant will have completed four modules: 1) Effective Communication to Promote Collaboration; 2) Team Building: Collaborating to Get the Job Done; 3) Data Informed Decision-Making; and, 4) Professional Development to Support Student Achievement.

From our work with AFT CSI we seek to build the foundation for our district's school improvement process that includes open communication, deep collaboration, and reflective practice. Both Mary Ferriter and I want to thank AFT National, Chelsea Teachers' Union, and Chelsea Public Schools for sponsoring this valuable professional development experience.

Sincerely yours,

Mary M. Bourque
Superintendent