About Us

Vision - Mission - Objectives - Partnership Powerpoint '03 (pdf)

The University of Georgia, the Clarke County School District, and the Athens community have joined together in a major collaboration aimed at improving student learning through the creation of community learning centers. The new initiative is historic in its comprehensive approach to bringing together the university, local schools and community for education renewal.

The initial five-year partnership will lead to research-based processes and practices that can be adapted by other schools. The Clarke County School District and UGA will work together to assess the specific needs of students in the district, pool resources and to research the effectiveness of innovations on student learning.

A 36-person design team including teachers, principals, district administrators, community service agency leaders, parents and UGA faculty collaborate together.

Components of the design team will include curriculum, assessment and technology. UGA students and faculty will work with Clarke school teachers and administrators to support such services as speech therapy, social work, music and art, guidance and counseling, and psychological services.

The design team will also explore different ways of establishing schools that serve as community learning centers. Parents, teachers and staff will be involved in the design of partnership schools. The design team will develop a timetable for study and implementation.

Vision
The goal of the partnership is to create schools that are community-learning centers designed to meet the intellectual, social, and cultural needs of all students.

Mission
The vision would be achieved through collaboration where leadership and resources are shared from the school district, the university, parents, and the community and its various organizations. Accountability within the community learning centers will be assessed across students, the community, the school district, the university, and parents.

The community learning centers will be characterized by learning and growth for each student where new approaches to effective, culturally responsive teaching are developed, assessed and refined. Students will be provided equal access and opportunities to develop problem solving and independent thinking skills and to prepare for the future as productive and contributing citizens. Teachers in the community learning centers will be respected as professionals and have time, resources, and support to develop curriculum, instructional approaches, and authentic assessments with invited university and community personnel.

Objectives
In community learning centers success is recognized across the "whole" of the student: academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

This will be accomplished by:

• Setting and communicating clear and high expectations for all students;
• Building on the cultural and linguistic diversity of students and viewing this as a resource that enhances the learning of all community members;
• Providing flexible and adaptable learning structures and school calendars to meet the varying needs of students;
• Integrating technology;
• Using multiple and authentic assessments; and,
• Establishing faculty/community teams who would study the effectiveness of their practices through collaborative action research.