Collinwood High School and Kenneth C. Clement Boys' Leadership Academy chosen as "Investment Schools" CMSD selects 13 schools for Phase I of Cleveland Plan

David Quolke, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, and Superintendent Eric Gordon, of the Cleveland Municipal School District. Photo by Maria Kaiser/Cleveland Photographic Society.

View Image Gallery

On April 25, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Michelle Pierre-Farid joined CEO Eric Gordon in announcing the District’s selection of 13 “Investment Schools,” for the 2013-2014 school year. 

The CEO sent an email to all staff prior to making the announcement at a press conference held in the Administration Building auditorium, and sent separate emails to staff at Investment Schools informing them of the school’s selection.

The Cleveland Plan requires CMSD to improve student achievement for all of its lowest performing schools within six years, and to do so by identifying and selecting groups of “corrective action” schools to receive intensive resources and supports, the CEO said.

“We chose the term 'Investment Schools,' for the schools selected so that staff, students, families, and our neighborhood communities understand that we are directing resources, time, and personnel where they are needed to help every student succeed,” he said. “We also want families to know that, on every level, CMSD is investing in their child’s school.”

The rigorous process for selecting Investment Schools for Phase 1 involved an intensive review of student achievement data and an analysis of the District’s capacity to find the right supports for particular schools. 

“We were honest with ourselves about schools in which quick, dramatic improvements were ambitious, but attainable,” said the CEO. “We drew on a vast research base in developing an approach for supporting schools and avoided taking a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to change.”

As a result, there are different possibilities for how the changes will look and feel in each Investment School building where different levels of interventions will be implemented and support strategies will be customized.

In the Collinwood area, two schools, Collinwood High School (which is currently divided into three separate schools: College Board Academy, Teaching Profession, and Interior Design & Fashion Merchandising) and Kenneth C. Clement Boys' Leadership Academy are among the first 13 schools chosen to participate in the "Investment Schools" phase of the Cleveland Plan. Both schools meet the criteria for learning institutions in which rapid and significant improvement is within reach.

Following the announcement the overriding questions included, “What does this mean for CMSD staff?”

It is important to note that CMSD’s “investment” in change extends beyond the Investment Schools to the entire district and community.  It is therefore an exciting time to be on staff, not only in our Investment Schools but in schools throughout the District, said the CEO.

“Across the District we are going to do things fundamentally differently in order to drastically transform a subset of schools in a short period of time,” he said.  “You will hear me continually reminding everyone that ‘It is not enough to become a premier school district; we must become a district of premier schools.’  In order to accomplish this mission, we need every staff member in every building to commit to doing work in a different manner in order to get to different, better results and to support our colleagues working in Investment Schools.   

In his email to the entire district staff, the CEO personally asked every member to be part of a necessary culture change across CMSD.