1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
|
ROCKLAND 21C TIMELINE
1995 - 2 Rocklanders attend the Yale National Academy
- 30 Rocklanders are invited to Yale to learn about the School of the 21st Century (21C) program
- Outreach meetings are held to inform the community about Schools of the 21st Century
Top
1996 - Volunteer Planning Committee formed to explore Rockland County interest in 21C
- Needs assessment distributed throughout Rockland
- County School Superintendents join County coalition
- Rockland County school districts provide financial support to Rockland 21C, and continue to do so annually with increased commitment
- 30 Rocklanders attend the Yale National Academy
- Executive Steering Committee and Standing Committees created to strengthen the coalition and develop priorities.
- Executive Committee serves as governing body until March 2002.
Top
1997 - Presentations about the Rockland 21C initiative made to many County organizations
- 50 Rocklanders attend Yale National Academy
- Established Advisory Committee of Rockland leaders from government, education, business and community organizations
- Official Rockland 21C “launch” featured guest speakers State Commissioner of Education Richard Mills; U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education Judith Johnson; Dr. Edward Zigler, founder of Head Start and Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale
- Formal recognition of Rockland as first countywide 21C effort in the U.S.
- Held first Annual Rockland 21C Symposium — Early Childhood Transition
- Partnership with Yale permits qualifying schools to be designated “School of the 21st Century”
- Rockland's first School of the 21st Century is created at Upper Nyack School
Top
1998 - Established 33 member Strategic Planning team reflecting the diversity of Rockland County
- Created 7 Action Teams involving over 200 community leaders and volunteers representing a broad range of Rockland's sectors and communities, which articulated 50 Action Plans
- 21C County Connections newsletter begins publication to inform partners and community about 21C activities and successes
- Held second Annual Symposium — School Age Care Partnerships
- 3 more Schools of the 21st Century are created — West Haverstraw Elementary, George Miller Elementary, Sloatsburg Elementary
- Rockland contingent attends Yale National Academy
- Rockland County provides financial support to Rockland 21C, and continues to do so annually
Top
1999 - Strategic Plan approved by 33 member Strategic Planning Team
- Implementation Teams formed to take designated Action Plans to the next level and work on strategies to achieve quality health and mental health care for all children; safe, secure environments; opportunities and support for all children to learn; parental support; help for children in trouble; and a Countywide information and referral system.
- Rockland 21C funds 18 implementation projects at $6,000 each
- Rockland 21C Coordinator hired to oversee Implementation Process
- Family Resource Center Team established
- Held 3rd Annual Symposium — Family Resource Centers
- 4 more Schools of the 21st Century are created — Grandview Elementary, Neary Elementary, New City Elementary, Link Elementary
- Rockland 21C incorporated as a not-for-profit organization
- Rockland contingent attends Yale National Academy
Top
2000 - Rockland 21C office opened on BOCES West Nyack Campus
- Held 4th Annual Symposium — Resiliency
- Rockland 21C Listserv established
- Strategic Planning Progress Report submitted; Strategic Planning Team re-convened; Identifies developing governance structure a top priority; determines sustainability of Family Resource Centers is top programmatic priority
- FRC Network established to provide Coordinators with Peer Support Network
- Executive Committee funds Higher Education-School Age Care Task Force to promote college student employment and internships in school age care programs and to ease the staffing crisis in school age care programs
- Rockland 21C delegation attends National Coalition for Community Schools Conference
- $105,0000 in $10,000 and $5,000 grants awarded to Family Resource Centers are matched by school district dollars
- 3 more Schools of the 21st Century are created — South Orangetown, Little Tor, Bardonia
- Rockland contingent attends Yale National Academy
Top
2001 - Rockland 21C achieved 501c3 status
- Rockland 21C identifies the measurable outcomes it will focus on in the future:
- Increase Sustainability of Family Resource Centers
- Increase the Numbers and Impact of Community Schools
- Increase Collaboration among partners to create programs and results impossible to do alone
- Build Public Support for School-Community Partnerships
- Support Professional Development of 21C Partners to Achieve Their Program Outcomes
- Executive Committee works with the Institute for Educational Leadership on Organizational Development in preparation for establishing Board of Directors
- Held 5th Annual Symposium — Celebrating Five Years, James Comer keynote
- 10 more Schools of the 21st Century are created — West Nyack, Strawtown, Congers, Highview, Liberty, Valley Cottage, BOCES, Margetts, Connor, Summit Park
- 21 elementary schools in 8 school districts now have Family Resource Centers
- BITS & PIECES newsletter established for the FRC Network
- There is considerable national interest in the regional nature of our model and the financing structure
- Big Apple Circus begins annual run in Rockland and invites us to be their community partner
- $160,000 awarded to school-based Family Resource Centers and matched by school districts
- Rockland contingent attends and presents at Yale National Academy
Top
2002 - Inaugurated first Rockland 21C Board of Directors at milestone event which celebrated the changing landscape of Rockland's school-community collaborations
- Rockland 21C governed by Board of Directors beginning in April, 2002
- Held 6th Annual Symposium — Achieving Results Through Collaboration
- Family Resource Center Directory published
- Parent Child Home Early Literacy/Home Visiting initiative launched in 6 school districts
- Rockland contingent attends and presents at Yale National Academy
- Rockland contingent attends and presents at Coalition for Community Schools conference
- Middle School FRC opened at MacArthur Barr Middle School
- Rockland contingent attends and presents at Yale National Academy
- Rockland contingent attends and presents at Coalition for Community Schools conference
- Big Apple Circus continues annual run in Rockland and involves us as their community partner
- $160,000 awarded to school-based Family Resource Centers and matched by school districts
- Beyond the Juggling Act, keynoted by Ellen Galinsky, Family and Work Institute, highlights the challenges of juggling work and family
- Rockland contingent attends and presents at Yale National Academy
- Training Series for new FRC Coordinators established
Top
2003 - NYS Board of Regents visit Rockland County to learn more about the collaboration between schools and community partners and leave wanting to replicate our success elsewhere
- Create position of Operations/Communications Specialist to augment the growth in our organization
- Marty Blank, Director of the Coalition of Community Schools, co-authors report based on meetings with Board and Staff concerning evaluation. It recommends we work with an evaluator to establish a feasible way to discern child, family, school and community outcomes resulting from the 21C initiative.
- Marty Blank also co-authors report based on meetings with Board and Staff concerning the future development of 21C/Family Resource Center Schools. It outlines the need for more FRCs in our high-need elementary schools as well as in our middle schools.
- Rockland’s Americorps program becomes the national pilot for Parent Child Home Program with five participating Americorps members serving 25 families
- Town of Ramapo commits $1,000 per 21C school in East Ramapo and Ramapo Central
- Held 7th Annual Symposium, Leadership in Action, Vincent Ferrandino, Executive Director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals,
keynotes
- FRC Coordinator’s Network receives the Children’s Champion Award
- 21C Board hosts nationally recognized authorities on community schools; author, Joy Dryfoos, “Inside Full Service Community Schools” and Gail Koser, National Vice Present, Family Support America, and Jane Quinn, National Community Schools Director, Children’s Aid Society.
- 21C attends and presents at Yale National Academy
- Big Apple Circus continues annual run in Rockland and involves us as their community partner
- East Ramapo School District establishes FRCs in Fleetwood and Hempstead (K-3) and expands each FRC to serve all five sister (4-6) schools-Lime Kiln, Elmwood, Hillcrest, Colton and Eldorado
- Clarkstown Family Resource Center Partnership establishes new FRCs at Lakewood
- 30 elementary and middle schools in 8 school districts have Family Resource Centers
- Over 75 families participate in Parent Child Home in the East Ramapo, Nanuet, Nyack, North Rockland and Ramapo Central school districts
- $160,000 awarded to school-based Family Resource Centers and matched more than 2:1 by school districts
Top
2004 - Rockland Department of Health partners with Rockland 21C to establish School Health Teams in 32 elementary schools to improve practices concerning nutrition and physical activity in an effort to reduce incidence of obesity, diabetes 2 and asthma
- School Districts, in aggregate, contribute 85% of the cash and in-kind resources needed to sustain their family resource centers during 2003-4 school year
- Recognizing and Meeting the Needs of Limited English Proficient Families, keynoted by Fred Frelow, Rockefeller Foundation, explored challenges for families new to this country, and their schools and communities
- Jane Knitzer, Acting Director of the National Center for Children and Poverty, addresses Rockland 21C Board on Strategies That Work: Social/Emotional Skills and School Readiness
- Philliber Research Associates retained to oversee initial qualitative and quantitative evaluation
- Woodglen Elementary starts up FRC
- Big Apple Circus continues annual run in Rockland and involves us as their community partner
- 21C Web Site Launched
- The Vital Partnership: Parent, Teacher, Child, Community,8th annual symposium, with keynote by Dr. Karen Mapp, Deputy Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement, Bost Public Schools
Top
2005 - Partnership with Rockland County Department of Health on Healthy Schools, Healthy Lifestyles continues. An additional 8 schools participate in rigorous self-assessment process intended to lead to changes in policies, practices, and environments. Results include Family Resource Centers and PTAs taking responsibility for increasing the frequency of healthy snacks sent in by parents, improved bake sale choices, healthy family night refreshments; parent education; creation of walking clubs; and changes to food service menus. Showcase for participants in May.
- AmeriCorps partnership with Youth Bureau and districts continues.
- 1C participates in variety of other county initiatives, including Better Baby Care Campaign (packets distributed to parents of newborns), TV-Turnoff Week, Rockland County YouthFest attended by thousands (school flyer program developed by 21C).
- FRCs report working with 134 different groups. Surge in work with school-age children seen. On average, 28 early childhood programs are held in Rockland FRCs each week.
- Big Apple Circus returns.
- 21C County Connections newsletter doubles in size to accommodate more quality stories, and is chosen by Yale as a communications best practice.
- Program innovations include Neary Elementary starting a school-day ESL class for parents, as the need to work with recent immigrants, especially Spanish speakers, increases across the county. Grandview and Fleetwood Elementary schools replicate Neary’s strategy. Coordinators encouraged to use outcome planning.
- Board creates Resource Development Committee to identify grant opportunities suitable to partners, particularly those serving high-needs districts, as well as to reflect on grant opportunities, such as those for specific programs (i.e. early literacy), for Rockland 21C.
Top
2006
- 21C celebrates 10 Years of Rockland 21C, with event attended by partners, board members, funders and stakeholders. A Sampling of 21C Programs Held in Rockland Schools booklet distributed to show types and breadth of work FRCs undertake, as FRC programs continue to grow in variety and attendance rises:
o 152 Partner Organizations
o 83 families participate in Parent-Child Home Program
o 19,283 total attendance for Early Childhood Programs (counting each person each time s/he attends a program session)
o 13,821 total attendance for Community Engagement Programs
o 49,417 total attendance for School-Age Programs
o 6,169 total attendance for Family Support Programs
o 6,111 schoolchildren participate in 2,626 sessions of child care or academic enrichment programs developed for them, for total of 44,502.
- Continued work with Rockland County Department of Health, supporting previous year’s 30+ teams, while helping 6 new school teams assess their health environments and apply for funding to make improvements.
- Presented talk at a US Centers for Disease Control conference on achieving county buy-in for investment in programs that address childhood obesity.
- Continued partnering with the Rockland County Youth Bureau, school districts, and FRC coordinators on the AmeriCorps literacy project, offering PCHP home visits, classroom support, and translations in schools and on home visits. 10 AmeriCorps members placed in schools and homes and 54 families receive PCHP home visits.
- Nyack Middle School FRC program begins.
- Well Connected in Middle School symposium -- keynote Dr. Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins and author of School Connectedness: Improving Student’s Lives; with Jane Quinn, Director of the National Technical Assistance Center for Community Schools for The Children’s Aid Society -- about school connectedness.
- Member item grants received from NYS Senator Thomas P. Morahan (used to assist in provision of AmeriCorps members and parent workshops).
- Como estar listos para la escuala Americana/Welcome to American Schools workshops series for recent immigrants who are parents of preschoolers held in community locations, then in schools; developed with EPIC. 227 English language learners served.
- Bowl-a-thon fundraisers support work of 21C.
- 21C successfully applies for grants to support FRC work from two towns.
- Coordinator positions regularized thanks to district commitment and with substantial board assistance.
- Complete personnel policies developed and retirement & savings benefit plan formalized for 21C staff.
- Rockland 21C delegation attends National Coalition for Community Schools Conference.
- Dr. Edmund Gordon speaks with coordinators about supplementary education.
- Beginning and Refresher Spanish classes offered to coordinators.
- As part of focus on FRC outreach, handbill-sized FRC posters developed for posting in community locations.
- 235 families receive Better Baby Care Campaign packets.
- Clarkstown FRC Partnership begins to reorganize and streamline; Nanuet decides its FRC program will become a nonprofit organization.
Top
2007
- Continued work with Rockland County Department of Health. Over 85% of Rockland schools have completed the SHI and made healthy environmental, system, and policy changes. Many FRC coordinators routinely work on health topics and sit on school health teams. Distributed health funding awards to 16 secondary schools.
- Active participant in Steps to a HealthierNY collaborative.
- With the Rockland Teachers’ Center Institute and the Rockland County Department of Health, offer Connecting Health with Learning symposium with Superintendent Pat Cooper -- how to support student and staff health.
- CATCH program (a nationally recognized, evidence-based school health program) piloted at the Nanuet school district’s after-school program.
- Eat Well, Play Hard grants designed so that FRCs are eligible to work on nutrition education projects serving families and young children, through the Health Department; 21C sits on planning group.
- Completed three series of Welcome to American Schools workshops for three separate community agencies/schools in Rockland County.
- Board Retreat looks at what keeps Rockland from having FRCs in every school and 21C from growing: Lack of understanding by larger society of how a community school makes a difference; Districts and funders face competing realities and resources; Lack of communications and PR by 21C, funding, and being integrated into district planning. These become priority items.
- United Way of Rockland County awards Community Impact grant to expand provision of Parent-Child Home Program and connect graduates to school; four more AmeriCorps positions provide workforce; 79 families reached.
- FRCs mature and busy, reporting on previous year’s work:
o Increase of 10,000 attendees for Early Childhood Programs, to 16,552
o Increase of almost 3,000 attendees for Community Engagement Programs, to 16,401
o Increase of nearly 5,000 attendees for School-Age Programs, to 54,240
o Community Partner Organizations rose from 152 in 2006 to 201, an increase of 51
o Youth Development Programs for school age children, 46,208
o 4,300 information and referral inquiries across county.
- Big Apple Circus successfully returns after one-year hiatus; tickets sell out.
- 21C assists and supports several countywide projects: Literacy Extravaganza, NY Fathers Conference, DELTA Project and the Better Baby Care Campaign.
- 21C participates in NYS Parenting Education Partnership initiative convened by Prevent Child Abuse New York and the NYS Children & Family Trust Fund
- 21C attends strategic planning meetings convened by Coalition of Community Schools.
- Ongoing outreach work: develop bookmark with FRC contact info and a description of FRC activities that was given out by FRCs and 21C at many public venues, notably well- attended YouthFest; Community Resource Exchange helps articulate 21C message.
- Beginning and Refresher Spanish classes offered to coordinators and school staff members.
- Provided training for FRC coordinators in developing and measuring outcomes, communications, and hard-to-reach groups.
- Begin sharing minutes of coordinator meetings with assistant superintendents of instruction.
Top
2008
- Co-sponsor Connecting Health with Learning to 70 people with School Superintendent Mark Doody. Information provided about county health and mental health services and trends.
- Active participant in Steps to a HealthierNY collaborative.
- Ongoing partnership with districts and Youth Bureau to place AmeriCorps Literacy Corps members in schools and sustain PCHP.
- United Way of Rockland County awards second year of grant expanding PCHP.
- First FRC Report created and distributed to stakeholders; powerpoint presentation given to school district superintendents.
- New banner and handout promoting FRCs designed for YouthFest;, 21C’s table focuses on infants and distributes Better Baby Care Campaign packets.
- Big Apple Circus returns and sells out.
2- 1C, EPIC, and Neary FRC coordinator present at Yale on Getting Ready for American School workshops.
- Rockland BOCES’ FRC coordinator Joan Raynor is given the Joseph R. Bernstein Award for outstanding contributions to the mental wellness of Rockland citizens by the Mental Health Association of Rockland.
- East Ramapo Central School District FRC coordinator Tanya Soto named one of “40 under 40” Honorees by the Rockland Economic Development Corporation and The Journal News.
- Cornell Cooperative Extension’s horticulture community education program partners with six schools on school gardening programs.
- 21C facilitates Eat Well Play Hard grants to three elementary schools in higher needs areas to encourage good nutrition.
- Rockland 21C welcomes Michael Denney of Kentucky’s Family Resource and Youth Service Centers program to speak about middle-school level community school work .
- 21C begins project to assess impact of its first ten years, looking in particular at the results of the initial strategic plan, working with ActKnowledge, a NYC consulting firm known for its work on evaluations and theories of change.
- 21C participates in several county agency initiatives, including Ready by 21-Quality Counts.
- 21C becomes part of NYSPEP, the Parenting Education Partnership run by Prevent Child Abuse New York, a network representing organizations from across the state, working together to promote, provide and improve parenting education.
Top
2009
- Rockland 21C works with the Health Department to ensure the continuation of health efforts in schools by supporting the School Health and Wellness Coalition.
- With the coalition and the Rockland Teachers’ Center, 21C runs a another “Connecting Health with Learning” symposium featuring Dr. David Katz, and featuring local school success stories in addition to outside experts.
- United Way of Rockland awards funding for the third and final year for the expansion of the early literacy home visiting programs.
- 21C begins pilot fiscal sponsorship service.
- Newsletter focused on PCHP issued.
- Report focused on strategic plan achievements issued.
- Rockland BOCES’s GHR-SEPTSA (Gateway-Hilltop-Rockland BOCES Middle School Special Education Parent Teacher Student Association) awarded a certificate for increased membership by the national PTA.
Top
|
