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Weston, Fl. [Dec. 1,
2016] Downtown Doral Charter Elementary Head of
School Jeannette Acevedo-Isenberg in Miami-Dade County
was selected as the overall winner of the Council for
Educational Change’s prestigious Leonard Miller
Principal Leadership Award (LMPLA). The other two Gold
Medallion winners are Belleair
Elementary Principal Tabitha Griffin in Pinellas County and Reynolds
Lane Elementary Principal Marianne Simon in Duval
County. Each of them received $5,000 and Ms.
Acevedo-Isenberg received $10,000.
The award recognizes and rewards principals who have
participated in Council programs, and whose leadership
skills have improved the academic performance of their
students.
The Council for
Educational Change is a statewide nonprofit organization
that delivers programs that strengthen the leadership
team in schools across Florida with the goal of
improving student achievement. The Council was the
vision of the late Leonard Miller, co-founder of Lennar
Corp. Mr. Miller believed that principal leadership is
the catalyst to ignite school improvement. His
leadership, vision and expertise inspired the Council’s
Principal Leadership programs, including CEO/Principal
mentoring partnerships (PASS©-Partnership
to Advance School Success-PASS and Executive PASS).
Under this these programs, successful business
executives mentor and coach school principals to develop
programs that encourage students to graduate
career-ready and equipped with skills and abilities to
obtain meaningful employment.
Under the leadership of first-place finalist Principal
Acevedo-Isenberg, the newly created Downtown Doral
Charter Elementary School developed an award-winning
dual-language immersion program, which involves
providing tutors for children struggling with second
language acquisition. In addition, she coordinates
periodic observations in which teachers observe
high-performing colleagues and share best practices
along with monthly data chats. By reviewing data,
hosting discussions and tailoring instruction to meet
the needs of each student, teachers improve student
achievement. Principal Acevedo-Isenberg works closely
with her business mentor Ana-Marie Codina Barlick, of
Codina Partners, as well as other Council-facilitated
business partnerships.
Principal Simon and Principal Griffin were also honored
with the LMPLA for demonstrating strong leadership
skills and working closely with their business partners.
Principal Simon’s leadership skills raised Reynolds Lane
Elementary grade from an “F” to a “C” in just two years;
the school’s math gains were the second highest in Duval
County. Ms. Simon increased student achievement and
academic growth by improving the culture of the school.
Once this was achieved, she turned her attention to
instruction. Daily walk-throughs of classrooms allowed
her to deliver specific feedback to teachers and gather
information on professional development requirements.
Teachers felt supported and empowered to attempt new
methods of reaching their students. Principal Simon says
that part of her success comes from working closely with
business partner Russell Newton, among other
Council-facilitated business partnerships.
Principal Griffin’s leadership skills raised Belleair
Elementary two grade levels, from a "D" to a "B," by
aligning standards and instruction, examining school
data and applying the statistics to make instructional
decisions. She helped teachers provide specific
interventions to remediate deficiencies for students who
are not performing on grade-level standards. She hosted
regular data-driven chats and worked with teachers to
focus on students who were not proficient. Principal
Griffin’s partnership with Nielsen helped develop a
strategic plan focused on increasing parent engagement,
stimulating teacher and staff morale and improving
student achievement.
At the Nov. 17 award luncheon, business partners Vartan
Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New
York; Frank Scruggs, partner of Berger Singerman LLP;
and Alex Villoch, President & Publisher of the Miami
Herald Media Co., were recognized for their pivotal role
in establishing the foundation from which the Council
has been able to grow successful school leaders. In
addition, the Council recognized The Braman Family
Foundation and Debi Braman Wechsler for their support
and invaluable commitment to improving the quality of
education in our public schools.
Over the past 13 years, the Council has invested more
than $30 million in leadership programs across Florida,
and touched
the lives of more than 1.6 million students in over 900
schools. The
generous sponsors of the Leonard Miller Principal
Leadership Award luncheon were the Carnival Foundation,
Cobb Family Foundation, Miller Family Foundation and
Richard & Susan Finkelstein.
For more information
contact: Paola Iuspa-Abbott, 305.726.5848 or paola@topofmind-pr.com
About the Council for Educational Change
The Council
for Educational Change is a statewide, 501 (c)(3)
non-profit organization with a mission to focus on
LEADERSHIP to improve student achievement and address
critical issues in education. Leonard Miller founded
the Council for Educational Change in 2003, as the
successor organization of the South Florida Annenberg
Challenge. Based in Weston, the Council is led by a
Board of Trustees. Some of its accomplishments include
the creation of the Executive PASS© program,
which forms a partnership between a business leader and
a school principal to share business strategies to bring
positive changes to the school. The Council also has a
three-year matching grant executive partnership program
in which a CEO mentors a school principal and commits up
to $100,000 to develop and fund strategic plans to
create a culture of excellence and success. For more
information visit: http://www.changeeducation.org
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