Jeff King

Biography

Jeff King first entered a second-grade classroom as a new teacher in the Poway Unified School District in 1986. Since that time, he has had a broad range of site and district experiences that include:

• Teacher, elementary and middle school
• District Office, technology coordinator
• Assistant principal, Meadowbrook Middle School
• Principal, Los Peñasquitos Elementary School
• Principal, Abraxas Continuation High School
• Principal, Rancho Bernardo High School

Jeff’s proudest accomplishments began in 1996 when he was appointed principal at Los Peñasquitos Elementary School. Los Peñasquitos was (and is) a Title 1 school with students speaking 35 languages. For each of the 26 years prior to Jeff’s arrival, its students performed at the bottom of the district’s 18 elementary schools. Everyone knew it and few cared because Los Peñasquitos served “those” kids — children who lived in the largest federally subsidized housing complex in north San Diego County.

During the following 12 years, largely under Jeff’s leadership, Los Peñasquitos rose from being the school best known for poor student achievement, to becoming a national model for Title 1 schools. It earned the California Distinguished School award, the National Blue Ribbon School award, and California’s highest recognition for academic achievement (the California 10-10 designation) for 5 out of 6 consecutive years.

In 2006, Jeff co-founded TurnAround Schools. He now dedicates his full time to conducting conferences and workshops that help educators from across our nation learn strategies that will enable them to replicate the student success found at Los Peñasquitos Elementary School and other similar high-achieving, high-poverty schools. The strategies that Jeff presents get results, and he has the data to prove it. (References are available upon request. Testimonials are available online.)

If educators in your school or district are open to learning practical strategies that have a proven track record for positively impacting the student achievement of underrepresented children, please contact Jeff at Jeff@TurnAroundSchools.com.

Workshop Overview

As a cofounder of TurnAround Schools, I conduct workshops that teach leadership strategies for closing the achievement gap. Specifically, I share the 6 practical strategies that account for the success of high-achieving, high-poverty elementary and middle schools across our nation.

My work is founded on 2 core beliefs:

1. All children have the right to be prepared to attend college.
2. It is the responsibility of adults in the school to develop exceptional systems that make that dream a reality.

I understand from first-hand experience the challenges principals and teachers face. They struggle daily to help every child be proficient in the core academic areas. And they are often frustrated and exhausted.

I can help your colleagues. The strategies I share get results. When educators leave my workshops, they understand exactly what they need to do to replicate the accomplishments of these high-achieving, high-poverty schools.

The strategies I share are revenue neutral — they cost your schools no more than what is currently being spent.

This workshop will challenge the status quo thinking of many of your colleagues. At the same time, it will inspire them with hope as they courageously continue their work. There is a very good chance that this workshop will ignite a learning revolution that will positively impact the academic lives of your district’s most deserving and underrepresented students.

I would be pleased to discuss with you how I can help your site administrators and district leaders learn these strategies of success, and how they can make the dream of academic proficiency a reality for each of your students.

You can reach me at Jeff@TurnAroundSchools.com

Workshop Outline

Following is an outline of my two-day workshop for site and district leadership teams. As you can see, this workshop challenges your leaders to act on the beliefs that every student deserves the opportunity to be prepared to attend college, and that their staff has the ability to make that bold dream a reality.

Day 1 AM: Building Bridges to College

This session establishes the foundation of belief and practices that accompany rapid gains in student academic achievement. We discuss Title 1 schools where students beat the academic odds every day. We then discuss the 6 exceptional systems that distinguish every one of these schools, and that account for their success.

Day 1 PM: No Excuses University — A Model for College Readiness

My fundamental belief is that we have an obligation to ensure that every student is prepared to attend college. The choice to actually attend college is then theirs to make when they graduate from high school. I share an elementary and middle school college readiness model called No Excuses University. This model makes college readiness the primary focus at a school. At No Excuses Universities, the dream of college is first planted in kindergarten, and then nurtured continually throughout the elementary and middle school experience.

Day 2 AM: Creating Exceptional Systems

There are 6 specific, core exceptional systems that are in place at every extraordinary elementary and middle school. My contention is that schools must create their own versions of these exceptional systems before they can expect every student to experience success. Your colleagues will intuitively embrace the strategies for creating these systems as I guide them through the process. We will have career-changing conversations. Many educators leave this session understanding for the first time exactly what they need to do so that all their students will achieve academic proficiency.

Day 2 PM: Maverick Leadership — Creating a Culture of Universal Achievement

This exceptional system focuses on belief. Creating this system requires bold leadership. Once teachers and their principal believe that every child has the ability to be academically proficient and that the adults at the school have the power to make that belief a reality, the real work can begin. In this session, we discuss, and I model, the 5 collaborative steps that result in a culture of universal achievement becoming deeply embedded in the culture of a school.

(The content of this workshop can be modified, if requested, into a one-day format that still addresses the fundamental concepts.)

You can find out more at Jeff@TurnAroundSchools.com