Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville's invitation to

the Institute for Innovation Schools:

Dear Colleagues:

As you know, Governor Patrick signed the landmark education bill, An Act to reduce achievement gaps, on January 18, 2010.  This bill includes groundbreaking strategies to promote innovation in school districts across the Commonwealth, provide more comprehensive and targeted support to students and educators in our neediest schools, and increase students’ and families’ access to excellent public schools.  In particular, the provisions related to the Innovation Schools (formerly known as Readiness Advantage Schools and Readiness Alliance Schools) have established the legislative framework for opening the first cohort of schools in September 2010.

The bill includes provisions related to the development of innovation plans, the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, and the approval process for establishing Innovation Schools – it essentially provides you with a road map for your work.

The Executive Office of Education (EOE) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) will continue to support your efforts to establish the first cohort of Innovation Schools in September; to that end, I would like to invite you to attend an Innovation Schools Institute on Wednesday, March 10th (Worcester location to be finalized).

The primary purpose of this day-long event is to provide you with new guidance regarding:  1) the time frame for establishing your schools; 2) the development of the initial prospectus and innovation plan for each school; and 3) the approval process for establishing the Innovation Schools.

To promote effective collaboration and maximize the benefits of this event, we strongly encourage each district to be represented at the retreat by a team of stakeholders that includes the superintendent (or a designee), other district administrators, school leaders and teachers from the proposed Innovation School(s), members of the school committee (consistent with the Open Meeting Law), representatives from the local teacher union, representatives from partner institutions or organizations, and other community members as desired.

The retreat will be conducted by the Center for Collaborative Education, and co-sponsored by the EOE and ESE.  We will send additional information about the location of the retreat, and will also send a detailed agenda and supplementary materials in advance of the event.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Saeyun Lee at the EOE (saeyun.lee@state.ma.us or 617.979.8351).  Thank you for your continued commitment to this work, and I look forward to seeing you in early March.

Sincerely yours,

Paul Reville
Secretary of Education