Partnership Schools Prepare For September Start Date In Cleveland

The new school year will arrive soon for students. 

For students at two of Cleveland's Catholic elementary schools, the new school year will bring big changes to the curriculum and educational approach.
Partnership Schools of New York has expanded to Cleveland, taking over Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas Aquinas schools last month. The two schools become the first in the Partnership Schools network to be located outside of New York.

The schools promise a rigorous curriculum for students and continuous professional development for teachers to help improve educational outcomes, a formula that worked in New York. The plan is to eventually have six Cleveland Catholic schools in the Partnership network.

Sound of Ideas host Rick Jackson discussed Partnership Schools and the changes for students and teachers with Rich Clark. He is an education innovator who was the founding president of St. Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland.  Clark is now the founding director of Partnership Schools Cleveland. Also in the discussion: Portia Gadson.  She is the Enrollment and Recruitment Coordinator for Partnership Schools Cleveland. And Christian Dallavis is the assistant superintendent for the Partnership Schools Network based in New York. 

Before that conversation, Rick talked with Pierre Bejjani, chairman of the board of the American Lebanese Community Council. He discussed reaction reaction to the massive explosion in Beirut Tuesday, as well as efforts to organize a help effort in Cleveland for those impacted by it.

The number of dead and injured in Beirut continues to rise.  Investigators have pointed to ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a port-side warehouse as a potential cause.

Lebanon has declared a two-week state of emergency and international help is pouring in as hospitals have been overrun with victims. The sights and scenes from Beirut are particularly difficult for Lebanese the Lebanese community here in Cleveland.

And to end the program, the coronavirus pandemic presents challenges for workers and employers and has since it first emerged in February. Now that we are several months into the pandemic with fall and the school year on our doorstep, those challenges are not getting any easier.

Workers and employers are having to find ways to juggle jobs with childcare realities, as well as personal privacy. Ann-Marie Ahern, an employment law specialist, joined Rick to discuss some of the issues facing employees and employers.
 

Pierre Bejjani, Chairman, American Lebanese Community Council  
Richard F.  Clark, Founding Director, Partnership Schools Cleveland  
Portia Gadson, Enrollment & Recruitment Coordinator, Partnership Schools Cleveland  
Christian Dallavis, Assistant Superintendent Partnership Schools Network  
Ann-Marie Ahern, Principal- Certified Specialist, Labor and Employment Law, McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal and Liffman Co., LPA