Bridges Elementary School Overview

http://www.bcs.isd77.org

Bridges Community School is a public choice school in Mankato Area School District
that is run by a Lead Teacher, who oversees day-to-day operations and the Bridges Site
Council, which sets direction and policy for the school.

Bridges Community School opened in 1999 and has been supported by the district as a
choice school. They began with 78 students and quickly grew to 90 students. The
original and current administrative model of a Lead Teacher facilitating a Site Council to
determine student and program needs that are aligned to District policies has evolved
over the last several years.

As Bridges Community School continues to be successful in assuring student learning

and readiness the interest in Bridges has grown, as evidenced by more applications than
can be accommodated. The Bridges Community School by-laws currently support a lead
teacher position. The lead teacher position has evolved into a full time leadership
position.

The student population was 78 in 1999-2000, 182 in the 2016-2017 and 216 planned for
the 2017-18. The enrollment projection for 2019-2020 is 254 students and 12 full time
classroom teachers. Bridges is on track to meet that goal.

Bridges Community School Site Council consists of 7 teaching staff, 5 parents, 1 lead
teacher, 1 Mankato School Board representative, 1 principal liaison and 1 community
representative. The primary goals of site-based decision making are to improve trust
based on open communication, cooperation and collaboration among the stakeholders.
The Bridges Advisory Committee (BAC) is a group composed of parents and/or
guardians of Bridges Community School students who support Bridges Community
School.

Both groups supported a request for consideration to replace the current Lead Teacher
position model with a Principal Instructional Leader model at Bridges Community
School starting in 2017-2018.

The request was tabled for discussion at a later date, which means the request was denied.
 Minneapolis North Community High School Overview

https://www.minnpost.com/education/2017/03/minneapolis-north-high-school-
dramatically-increased-its-graduation-rate-howd-they

In 2010, the Minneapolis school district considered closing the school because of
declining enrollment and poor academic outcomes. In response to impassioned pleas
from the community to keep the doors open, it ended up investing in an effort to rebuild
the school. Rebuilding included bringing in new leadership and thus Shawn Harris-Berry
came on board four years ago. She hand-selected her team of educators who were willing
to fully immerse themselves in the rebuilding of North.

Institute for Student Achievement ISA

https://www.studentachievement.org
https://www.studentachievement.org/solutions/restructuring-of-existing-school/

North High started the rebuilding process with the implementation of college prep
teaching and learning in partnership with the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA), a
renowned educational organization accredited for developing small learning
communities. ISA utilizes a comprehensive approach to addressing the academic, social,
and emotional needs of high school students, so that they are well prepared for success in
college and career. ISAs seven principles provide the framework for creating successful
schools and are well founded in established education research. ISAs seven research-
based principles provide the foundation for each schools customized implementation of
the ISA model. ISA collaborates with schools to create customized comprehensive plans
and implementation strategies designed to meet their needs and to achieve and sustain
success. Comprehensive planning and implementation strategies focus on three areas:

Area 1 - College Prep Teaching & Learning

1. College Preparatory Instructional Program
2. Extended School Day and School Year
3. Continuous Professional Development

Area 2 - Building Relationships & Personalization

4. Distributed Counseling

5. Dedicated Team of Teachers and Counselors

6. Parent Involvement

Area 3 - Continuous Improvement

7. Continuous Organizational Improvement

Utilizing the ISA model North High School has grown from 52 students starting the
school year 5 years ago to almost 400 students at the start of the 2016-17 school year. For
2017-18 North High will be offering two different academies for students and small class
sizes will still be a priority within two different academies. The small class sizes enhance
student engagement in the interdisciplinary curriculum. Students enrolled in NAAC will
have opportunities to excel in dance, theater, radio, video production, visual arts, music,
and public speaking. With the onboarding of NSTEM in the fall of 2017, incoming ninth
graders will elect a project-based learning approach as a mean to studying Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math. North's mission is to ensure that all students acquire
the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and their chosen career path.

North Academy of Arts & Communications 9th-12th (NAAC) Focus (Art; dance;
music; radio broadcasting; theater; digital music and video production)

North Academy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 9th (NSTEM)

- Focus (Coding; mobile app design; software engineering)