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Foundations & Residency

Summer Foundations and Residency Year

Summer Foundations is a rigorous five-week training institute with New Leaders Residents from across the nation. Taught by outstanding educators and national education and business leaders, the program focuses on developing instructional and organizational leadership skills. After completing this training institute, leaders begin a year-long, full-time, paid residency in an urban public school working alongside a mentor principal. With the support of a veteran mentor principal on our staff, Residents are full members of school leadership teams and directly responsible for raising student achievement and leading teachers. The year also includes intensive academic studies that further develop leadership skills.

Foundations Pedagogy
Foundations is the year-long, academic core of the New Leaders for New Schools' program. Designed to equip Residents with a comprehensive toolkit of knowledge and skills necessary to successfully lead and manage an urban public school, Foundations is best described as intense and inspirational. A great deal of material is covered in a relatively short amount of time. Foundations has two components: a five-week summer Foundations Institute and four one-week-long Foundations Seminars scheduled throughout the school year (Residents who are developing new schools also attend a five-day New School Start-up Workshop).

Courses are taught by leading academics, thought leaders, experts, and master principals from around the country. They are case- and problem-based, using interactive pedagogy as much as possible and focusing on the acquisition of problem-solving skills and application of best practices.

Foundations Curriculum
Our curriculum is organized into three strands which align to our Principal Leadership Competencies - the critical skills of successful principals as identified by New Leaders for New Schools. The Principal Leadership Competencies are based on research from 90-90-90 schools (schools where at least 90% of students are students of color, 90% are on free or reduced lunch, and at least 90% are achieving at or above proficiency). These curriculum strands also incorporate the common themes that impact urban school leadership: family involvement, diversity, and education policy and reform.

School Leadership addresses the key skills and behaviors demonstrated by successful principals who promote high academic achievement for all children, including: high-quality teaching and learning; the alignment of curriculum, standards, and assessment; the effective use of data to drive student achievement; high-functioning teacher teams; effective leadership and management; positive school culture; and strong relationships with families and the broader community.

Personal Leadership addresses the essence of leadership - the skills, insights, perspectives, personal voice and authority, and change management strategies necessary to lead a school that has high expectations for every child.

Technical Leadership addresses the critical building and organizational management topics needed to support high student achievement and a positive school culture, including any local knowledge, networks, and skills a successful principal needs to support a high-quality school in their particular district, city, and state.

Residency Year

The is a full-time, full-year experience. Each New Leader works with a mentor principal as a member of the school's leadership team to hone his/her leadership skills and advance the goals of the residency school.

Principal Leadership Development Plan
At the start of the year, the Resident will refine the Principal Leadership Development Plan created at Summer Foundations, including School, Personal, and Technical Leadership Competencies, with the veteran mentor principal on our staff. This is done to ensure the Resident has responsibilities/opportunities to develop proficiency in the Principal Leadership Competencies. This plan serves as a benchmark throughout the residency year.

Coaching from Veteran Principals on our Staff and Weekly Meetings
Through direct coaching, support, and instruction on coursework and day-to-day challenges faced at residency sites, veteran mentor principals on our staff help Residents develop the Principal Leadership Competencies. Coaches also lead the weekly meetings - a time for Residents to learn, reflect, problem-solve, develop skills, and support one another.

Mentor Principals and Residency Placements
Residents are in a formal mentor relationship with a highly-skilled, successful urban public school principal who shares our core beliefs, believes in our model, and is willing to train and empower aspiring leaders. If you know someone who would make a great mentor principal, please contact our local program offices.

Reflective Practice
Reflective practice is encouraged for New Leaders for New Schools Residents. Residents keep a journal, which is submitted monthly to their veteran mentor principal (from our staff). This journal helps them understand and process what they learn, observe, or experience, as well as significant decisions and experiences during their residency. The journals can include anything from insights into their personal leadership style to the difficulties they experience balancing school leadership responsibilities with technical ones.

Residency Project and Portfolio
Residents complete three year-long projects that are based on their own development needs, as well as the goals of the residency schools. Two projects focus on working with a team of teachers to improve instruction in ways which lead to increased student achievement. A third project focuses on designing a comprehensive school plan based on the Resident's vision and mission of a high performing school. In addition, each Resident compiles a portfolio of evidence that documents their fulfillment of the Principal Leadership Competencies and serves as a resource for their future principalship.

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