Innovation

Catalyst for Innovation 

At the core of the Alliance's model is a belief that our local school system must find ways to bring new and innovative teaching and learning methods to our schools.  As community partners with the local schools we have worked to research best practices and seek ways to introduce these ideas to the local school systems.  In many cases this involves the funding of pilot programs or grant programs that encourage innovative thinking.  Our most successful on-going program is the Teacher Mini Grant Program that seeks to place small grants directly at the classroom level for innovative ideas.  These grants are not to exceed $750 per grant and are awarded on a competitive basis. 

Larger scale examples of our work include efforts to bring Coordination of School Health through a Healthy Schools Initiative and our Learning To Finish Campaign that seeks to address the alarmingly high drop-out and non-graduation rate in our communities.

It is our working model that small investments can be used to expose a district to new thinking and then that thinking can catch fire and find a way to replicate itself within the structure of a school district.  This can be achieved through project based work and/or through putting together collaborative partnerships to champion an issue whose time has come.  Recent success with our "30 Days In September" attendance campaign, a public media campaign to highlight student absenteeism in the first month of school, has shown us we can also be a catalyst for change at the district level through the power of community awareness.