Face to Face with Damen Lopez
Take a look at NEU Founder Damen Lopez as he is interviewed on Texas television.
Watch Face to Face: Damen Lopez on PBS. See more from Community Conversations.
TurnAround Blog
We believe schools are responsible for ensuring that all children are prepared to attend college. This blog is for courageous teachers and tenacious principals who embrace that moral imperative, and who seek strategies to make that daring dream a reality.
NEU Neighborhoods Taking Shape In Amarillo
Amarillo is proving to be the epicenter of NEU by the creation of three No Excuses/No Limits Neighborhoods that will support students from Pre-School through College under the NEU Umbrella. Check out the story below.
http://www.newschannel10.com/story/15885051/education-in-amarillo-on-the-verge-of-change
Build it Before You Fly It
As you reflect on this video, compare what you viewed to how we as educators normally do business in our schools. Do you see the brilliance of what the engineers in the video accomplished? They built the airplane and THEN they flew it. What do we tend to do in our schools? Do we typically design our systems, construct them carefully, and test their ability to function as we expect thoroughly before we call our systems into action? Do we tend to be proactive in our approach or reactive? The reality is that many of us, including me, tend to build the airplane as we fly it.
Now let’s just take a moment to think about the logic of that maneuver. We can rationalize our ability to improvise and prioritize in the heat of the moment. We are busy! We have a lot on our plate! We are under a lot of pressure! We are so experienced with working things out as we go that some of us are quite good at it. We get the job done!
All that being said, let your common sense prevail and consider the benefits of building your airplanes at your school before you schedule them for frequent flier service. Collaborate with your team. Establish your goals based on your needs and assemble a specific action plan that will fly you toward success. Anticipate the outcomes you may encounter and plan the adjustments you will make for each possible result. Imagine the quality of the systems you will empower your team to build if they have the luxury of focusing on the development of these systems without simultaneously managing the responsibility of implementing the untested and often incomplete plans. Build a plane at your school before you fly it and enjoy your flight!
Frank Nardelli is the Quality Schools Facilitator for MAPSA
and an Associate for TurnAround Schools
Los Pen Wins Blue Ribbon Award
It used to be that when a school wanted to win the coveted Blue Ribbon Award, they needed to apply. Today, you can only win the award when you are asked to apply. Such was the case with our flagship NEU Los Penasquitos Elementary School. I could not be more proud of the fact that this, one time “thorn among roses”, school is one of only 21 schools in California to win the award. Their efforts continue to help lead our college readiness charge. Well done Los Pen!
It’s NEVER Too Early to Start
The NEU at Flora Thew Elementary in Tempe has created a terrific partnership with the University of Oregon. Check it out!
Head of the Class
Check out this free resource to keep students academically active during the summer. It’s called Head of the Class and it contains over 10,000 activities to keep students engaged. The best part, it’s completely free. Follow this link to see it in action.
Los Pen Academy Wins Prestigious Innovate Award
Congratulations to the NEU at Los Penasquitos and their Academy for winning the Innovate Award! Take a look.
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Leonardo Leal: A True No Excuses Story
Read this story from the Herald Tribune about a homeless immigrant who is now headed to the Ivy League school of his choice. Simply amazing!
