Partnership Summit Looks to Better Align Programs, Activities

SBISD partners at work during a SWOT analysis exercise at the Partnership Summit on March 8.

 SBISD’s Community Relations department welcomed some 60 district partners Wednesday morning for a partnership summit to help better align partner activities with T-2-4 and the strategic plan, The Learner’s Journey.

Coordinator for Strategic Partnerships and Volunteer Programs Abby Walker said the morning’s purpose was twofold: to better align not just what partners are doing now but what needs to be done, and to develop a baseline of where to begin that alignment.

“We want to be more strategic about our alignment with district goals,” Walker said. “And we want to develop a Resilient Foundation (one of the pillars of The Learner’s Journey) for partnerships.”

Partners participated in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, facilitated by Safal Partners, a local firm that consults nationally with educators. Community Relations Officer Linda Buchman lifted out one of the firm’s consultants, Leonel Olmedo, a 2006 graduate of Northbrook High School who went on to earn a biological sciences degree from the University of Chicago, where he was a Gates Millennium Scholar.

SBISD partners work at both the district and the campus level in a variety of programs. The district has more than 260 partners in its Good Neighbor program, which requires three or more activities in support of SBISD or the Spring Branch Education Foundation (SBEF), and some 10,000 approved volunteers.

“I feel really good about the summit,” Walker said. “We’ve gotten really good feedback so far … it’s been overwhelmingly positive.”

View a recent presentation on partnerships and volunteers >>