In this week’s blog post, I’m happy to introduce our partnership with Gabriella Charter Schools, a network of two community charter schools serving the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Echo Park and Historic South Central. Gabriella Charter Schools were born out of the success of an after-school dance program, which was created in memory of the founder’s daughter who loved to dance. Inspired by the program’s success and in response to parent demand, Gabriella Charter School was opened in 2005 with a curriculum that paired rigorous academic work with daily dance classes required for all students. A second campus was opened in 2017.
Based on the success of his work at Gabriella’s Echo Park campus last year, our Behavior Interventions Coach Darrell Lane was asked to support Gabriella’s second campus this year in a part-time role. Like everyone else, we had to get creative in figuring out how to best support Gabriella’s students in the virtual world—but after some initial brainstorming, Darrell has settled into the following roles:
- Meeting regularly with Gabriella’s School Counselor and Assistant Principal to partner in creating support plans for higher-need students.
- Providing workshops for caregivers as part of Gabriella’s weekly Parent Academy series. January topics included Self-Care for Parents and Managing Anxiety and Stress for Students & Families.
- Providing individual consultation calls to parents and caregivers struggling to meet their student’s school-related needs at home.
- Coaching two teachers on engaging students, building classroom environments that are supportive of students with higher needs, and maintaining their own self-care practices.
- Supporting Gabriella’s team of Instructional Aides by co-leading weekly team meetings.
We will continue to monitor and adapt these roles as the year progresses and changes continue to surface. Overall, though, we have so appreciated the passion and commitment of the Gabriella staff, and feel lucky to have found partners with whom we feel so aligned.
Blog Post Written By: Sean Murphy, Director of School Partnerships
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