When the Comer Process is implemented well, collaboration is evident in all aspect of a school's operation. The shared leadership of the principal and the high functioning of the three Comer Process teams--the School Planning and Management Team (SPMT), the Student and Staff Support Team (SSST), and the Parent Team--contribute to enabling all of the constituent groups to get "on the same page" about what is in the best interest of children so they can learn and develop well.
The School Development Program (SDP) is using Basecamp, a web-based project management tool, to promote collaboration and communication within and across the four schools that are implementing the Comer Process in Hartsville, South Carolina in the Darlington County School District. Southside Early Childhood Center, Thornwell School for the Arts, and Washington Street and West Hartsville Elementary Schools are the first Comer schools to use Basecamp.
The SDP has been using Basecamp for managing various aspects of the organization's work with schools and districts, for grant writing, communications, and as an online archive of professional development materials, articles, and other resources.
Each Basecamp is organized into Projects that include Files, Milestones (calendar), Messages (threaded email), To Do Lists, and Writeboards (wikis). Each of the four Comer schools has its own Project. All of the adults in the school-teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, custodians, clerical staff, and cafeteria workers-have 24/7 access to Basecamp.
"Our focus is on building capacity and empowering all of the stakeholders involved in the school communities," said Camille Cooper, the SDP's Director of Teaching, Learning and Development who leads the implementation of the Comer Process in Hartsville. "Basecamp helps us do that. Our initial goals for Basecamp were modest. We upload the PowerPoints, handouts, other instructional materials, and participant feedback after each of our professional development sessions. The Comer Core Teams at each school can download the files they need to turnkey the professional development with their colleagues."
Tara King, the District Comer Facilitator in Darlington County, quickly saw how Basecamp could be used to empower the schools and make her job easier. "Basecamp has given me a central location to share information and resources across and within schools. It took a while, but now people know they can find what they need on Basecamp."
In addition to Tara and the four schools, the District Planning and Management Team, the Mentor Program, and the TEACH Foundation that funds the SDP's work in Hartsville, have their own Projects on Basecamp. Sharman Poplava, the executive director of the TEACH Foundation, likes Basecamp "because it's accessible and provides a convenient platform to share project information among large groups of people. I use it regularly to stay up to date on the progress of the Comer SDP in our schools."
The schools are using their Basecamp Projects to post agendas and meeting minutes of their teams and subcommittees; to create a master calendar; and to share photos taken at school events. Catherine Romaine Henderson, a TEACH Foundation communications consultant, checks the Hartsville Basecamp regularly "to stay up-to-date with what's happening in the Comer schools. When teachers and staff share their information, stories, and photos, the TEACH Foundation uses the details on the web site to promote events and activities. Every chance to tell a story has the potential to change a child's life."
Bonnie Saleeby, a Comer Core Team member at West Hartsville Elementary School, likes that "a person can post something on the calendar for the people who need to see it and they get an e-mail telling them that they need to check Basecamp." One way we plan to increase Basecamp usage is to provide Bonnie and other "power users" in the Hartsville Comer schools with additional training.
While a school's Basecamp Project is only accessible to their staff, over 230 people have access to the Cross-Site Collaboration Project where anyone can share ideas, resources, photos, etc. The master calendar on the front page--the Dashboard in Basecamp lingo--includes all of the Comer-related activities in the schools and district.
Drew Sansbury, a Comer Core Team member at Thornwell School for the Arts, thinks the Cross-Site Collaboration Project is Basecamp's most useful feature, because "it links all four of our local Comer schools. This gives us an opportunity to see how the other schools are implementing the Comer Pathways and techniques with their children. Having that ability gives us insight into new strategies that we may not have thought of otherwise. Seeing the unique ideas they've come up with gives me new ideas to use at our school. I love that! Two heads are better than one, and hundreds of great minds coming together with a common goal are just absolutely amazing."
Veronica Jamison, a first grade teacher at Washington Street Elementary School, likes being able "to view the awesome things each school has to offer in their learning environment. We also get to see how we are all working on one thing: developing the whole child."
Bringing the Community into the Schools Physically and Virtually
Since January 2012 more 80 volunteers are mentoring students in the Hartsville Comer schools. We set up a Mentor Program Project for them to share ideas with one another after Tara King introduced them to Basecamp at a workshop. The mentors also have access to the Cross-Site Collaboration Project where they can find a wide variety of resources to deepen their understanding of how to support their mentees' development and learning.
"Basecamp has given the mentors access to information about events going on in the schools," said Tara. Veronica Jamison, Mentor Coordinator at Washington Street Elementary School, finds "the Hartsville Basecamp to be very beneficial for immediate feedback/responses from all involved. Basecamp has helped the Mentor Coordinators share valuable information with one another and the mentors."
Aside from people being able to access resources without assistance from her, Tara King likes using Basecamp to communicate with the mentors and to post positive messages and highlight accomplishments. The following is an excerpt of a message Tara sent to everyone through Basecamp in early June 2012 shortly after the end of the year celebration of the Hartsville Comer Schools at Coker College:
As I drove home last night and reflected on the day's event and the school year, I was on an emotional and spiritual high as I thought, 'What a big win for our kids.' Our kids fuel us each day to strive for the best. What I observed this year were people striving for excellence not only for our children, but for themselves, our families, and our community. What I observed this year was a refocus on putting children's best interest first. Not only was this evident in our teachers, but in the entire faculty and staff of the Comer Schools.
Counselors Collaborate to Develop Lesson Plans
Tara King, Camille Cooper, and Cyn Savo have been meeting monthly with the guidance counselors in the four Comer schools including Anita Goodwin from Southside, Citronella Smith at Thornwell, Roblynne McDuffie from Washington Street, and Veronica Gainey from West Hartsville, to align the Six Developmental Pathways, the Darlington County School District Character Words of the Week, and the South Carolina Guidance Standards.
Each of the weekly character words are now on the Cross-Site Collaboration master calendar. Books, songs, movies, and people for each of the character words and related Developmental Pathways and on Writeboards. Friendship is a common source of interpersonal conflict in schools, so we spent several meetings identifying resources like Confessions of a Former Bully and Trouble Talk by relational aggression expert Trudy Ludwig who has written extensively about children's social interactions.
"The collaboration of the school counselors in the four Hartsville Comer schools has been pivotal in helping us build solid guidance lessons, particularly for those of us who are first-year counselors. Basecamp helped us plan our weekly guidance lessons," said Roblynne McDuffie, the counselor at Washington Street Elementary School.
"Knowledge is power, and what we have seen in many schools are information haves and have nots," said Dr. James P. Comer, founder and director of the School Development Program at the Yale Child Study Center. "This unequal access to information can result in friction and resentment that becomes a barrier to creating a positive climate and culture in which all the adults can support the overall development of young people. Whether people use Basecamp or not, they have a mechanism for knowing what is happening within and across the other schools and for sharing great ideas."