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Columbus, Ohio Public Schools Engage TeamWorks International to Lead
School Improvement and Leadership Development Process

TeamWorks Announces Opportunity to Subscribe to Insight Services

TeamWorks Develops School and Department Improvement Plans for Bloomington Public School

Columbus, Ohio Public Schools Engage TeamWorks International to Lead
School Improvement and Leadership Development Process

St. Paul, Minn., October 30, 2007 – Columbus Public Schools has signed a multi-year contract with White Bear Lake-based TeamWorks International, in partnership with the Panasonic Foundation, to assist in three key areas:

• Development of an operational Strategic Roadmap™ and Success System™ to help the schools to align the District’s mission, values and vision;
• Leadership development for both administrators and principals to increase leadership capacity and excellence at the individual, relational and systemic levels; and
• Development and implementation of school improvement initiatives with more than 30 elementary and secondary schools to move into “Effective Performance” as defined by the State of Ohio.

The comprehensive school improvement and leadership development process, which is scheduled to begin in late November, will include the superintendent, her cabinet, a representative team of school administrators from across the district and key union leaders.

Columbus Public Schools serve approximately 56,000 students across 127 schools. Like other large, urban public school districts, Columbus is grappling with declining enrollments, increasing diversity of students and needs, and decreasing resources. Also notable, however, is that Columbus has seen significant increases in the Academic Performance Index and in graduation rates in the last five years through a commitment to student learning and aligned leadership at the school, district, Board and city levels.

“While we still have many challenges before us, we have clearly demonstrated our commitment and resolve to set high goals for ourselves and the students we serve, and to putting the necessary systems and resources in place to attain those goals,” said Gene T. Harris, Ph.D., Superintendent of Columbus Public Schools. “We are on the right path, and our commitment remains steadfast. We believe our partnership with TeamWorks and the Panasonic Foundation will help us create an integrated, powerful and sustainable system of roles, responsibilities, policies, planning, tactics, measurement and feedback that improves outcomes for everyone, but especially our students.”

TeamWorks International is a leading consultancy group that works in education, community and faith-based
settings to help organizations increase their insight, alignment and action, and enhance their capacity for strategic, constructive change. In the last decade, TeamWorks has worked closely with several Minnesota school districts including Mounds View, Spring Lake Park, Wayzata, Edina, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Mahtomedi and Ricori to increase their effectiveness and improve student achievement.

TeamWorks Announces Opportunity to Subscribe to Insight Services

TeamWorks is now offering faith-based organizations the opportunity to subscribe to Insight Services, a web-based system that combines lifestyle, demographic and other relevant data with their private data to provide deep insights into their current reality and help them make decisions about facilities, stewardship, programming, etc.that have the potential to affect the long-term health of the faith community.

An annual subscription to our Insight Services gives church leaders access through TeamWorks’ secured web site to key information and analysis including:
• Demographic analyses that depict your local faith community in relation to variables including race, age, household income, and home value. This analysis, presented in a series of maps, is designed to highlight demographic trends in your community and identify those conditions that warrant future study;

• Financial capacity analyses of your community’s household giving data to help you understand your capacity for growth. This can aid with the allocation of resources and project planning, and is a useful tool for capital campaigns, risk assessment on loans, or for understanding your households' financial habits and patterns;

• Drive-time analysis which allows you to determine correlations between where your households are and level of engagement with your faith community;

• Personalized, data-informed research and analysis into 2-3 of your most pressing questions;

• Longitudinal data, after the first year, which will reveal trends, chart progress and provide a unique perspective on the direction of your faith community.


For more than a decade, TeamWorks has been helping faith-based organizations guide their growth and vitality through more effective insight, alignment and action and now we are pleased to be able to make this system available on a wider scale. For more information on our Insight Services or to sign up for our Subscription Services click here, call TeamWorks at 651-429-7340 or email amya@teamworksintl.net.

TeamWorks Develops School and Department Improvement Plans for Bloomington Public School

The Bloomington Public School District is an educational leader with a long and rich tradition of innovation and achievement.  As part of their ongoing assessment process, they engaged TeamWorks International to develop a Strategic Roadmap™ to help align their mission and vision, and a Success System to evaluate the implementation of their strategic direction.  Currently, individual schools and District departments are finalizing 2007-2008 school improvement plans including identified outcomes aligned with the strategic directions and Success Systems.
 
“Our mission is to develop in all of our learners the ability to thrive in a rapidly changing world,” states Les Fujitake, Superintendent of the Bloomington Public Schools.

“The challenge of fulfilling this mission is growing.  The globalization of our economy, the advancements in technology and our diversifying demographics are accelerating the already rapid rate of change in our world.”

“The new Strategic Roadmap capitalizes on our strengths of putting students first, working as a team and being data driven to help us fulfill our mission.”

The six-month process included facilitated workshops with the members of Bloomington’s School Board, the Superintendent, the District’s Administrative Team and meetings with individual school leaders.  “The leadership of Bloomington Public Schools came to this process eager to engage with one another to achieve greater results for the students they serve,” said Dennis Cheesebrow, President of TeamWorks International. “As a result, we were able to create a shared understanding of the desired economic, organizational and cultural conditions and what steps are needed to get there.”