The James Logan Courier

By Rick La Plante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

The Ball Foundation, which has adopted a handful of districts across the country to support the development of high-performing schools, has made New Haven Unified its first Northern California partner.

“The Ball Foundation’s goal is to help children learn at high levels, regardless of race, national origin, socioeconomic status, native language or culture, and the Foundation believes that the key to accomplishing that goal is supporting instruction in literacy,” New Haven Superintendent Kari McVeigh said. “We share both that goal and that philosophy, and we’re thrilled to join a very select group of districts where the Foundation has agreed to work.”

Visit the Ball Foundation's website. During the past two years, New Haven has increased and intensified its focus on literacy, a proven means of improving student performance not only in English/language arts but in mathematics and science, as well. The District’s literacy work also has attracted the support of the East Bay Community Foundation.

The partnership with the Ball Foundation began in June when Bob Hill, Director of Educational Initiatives for the Foundation, and veteran educator Jeff Nelson, who works with the Targeted Leadership consulting group that provides training for Ball districts, met with Superintendent McVeigh and New Haven principals and administrators. The Ball/Targeted Leadership team returned this month to host a day-long workshop for the principals and Instructional Leadership Teams (ILTs) made up of teacher-leaders from each school.

“Any time you get teachers together to talk about instruction, there’s a certain amount of excitement, but the level of engagement and interaction at this workshop was above and beyond anything I’ve seen in more than 30 years in public education,” Superintendent McVeigh said.

The Ball/Targeted Leadership team also promotes empowering teachers, by creating a culture of shared leadership and collaboration, and the use of data to target specific goals for student learning.