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MetroHealth. Centers for Families and Children. United Way of Greater Cleveland.
Cleveland Public Library. Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. Esperenza, Inc. Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Murtis Taylor

What do all of these nonprofit organizations have in common? Aside from being allies in the effort to support Cleveland families and children, they also represent the first group of local partners with staff and/or volunteers who have completed the recently launched Cleveland Transformation Alliance (CTA) Ambassador Training Program.

Currently a virtual workshop, the Ambassador Training Program is led by program coordinator Eli Stacy with the goal of building a diverse community of school choice advocates for Cleveland students and families.

Eventually, Cleveland Transformation Alliance plans to expand the program to include parents and other community members, such as PTA volunteers, etc. Anyone can be an advocate for quality schools and school choice, especially in Cleveland, where city leadership has committed to building a portfolio of high-quality public schools, both district and charter, to meet the needs of every student and neighborhood.

“I’m really excited about this work,” says Stacy, noting that in the short time he’s been doing the training (since July 2020) he already sees a shift in community and family awareness that CTA is a place where parents can reach out for advocacy, information and support.

His favorite part of the training is being able to familiarize participants with the 3 primary tools that Cleveland Transformation Alliance uses to empower families:

1. The Cleveland School Quality Guide (available in print and online) annually with detailed information about all public, district and approved charter schools in Cleveland
2. The School Finder Tool, an interactive online tool designed to help families navigate school choice options based on the factors that are most important to them
3. The Family Resource Corner, which highlights resources and information to help families advocate for their children

While the training itself takes between 30-90 minutes (depending on which version is completed) Transformation Alliance sees this as “just the beginning” of their relationship with those who complete the course.  A self-paced, online training module is available at no cost to any participant who wants to become an Ambassador and take the training independently.

“We want to know how to make all of our resources as useful as possible for families,” notes Executive Director Meghann Marnecheck. And they also want trained Ambassadors to reach out for help if they have a student or family who needs additional support. “If it takes longer than 5-10 minutes to guide a family through the educational landscape,” says Stacy “then please use the referral link” and CTA will assign a one-to-one navigator to follow up. “You are not alone in this work, this should be a supplement and resource to you, never a burden.”

To learn more about the Ambassador Training program, contact info@clevelandta.org.

What is most important to parents in choosing a school for their child? What challenges do families face in their decision making? Through hundreds of emails and conversational interviews with parents, educators, and local/national community stakeholders, the Cleveland Transformation Alliance Family Listening Campaign has become a thoughtfully designed research tool that will answer these important questions and more when it comes to school choice for Cleveland public schools.

In hopes of engaging the city’s district and charter schools, parents and education decision makers, the survey results will guide the work of Cleveland Transformation Alliance and will be updated annually to inform the organizations programming and service model. “Does the information we provide match up with what parents are looking for?” This is the key question that led Executive Director Meghann Marnecheck to engage researchers Audrey Altieri and Hailey Oppenlander in the development of a family-centric research protocol for school choice.

Altieri, a high school math teacher turned education policy wonk, is excited about the potential of gathering research results that will directly impact the lives of students and families. “There are so many organizations doing similar things in other cities but have not gathered parent perspectives in this way. It’s pretty novel to directly reach out to parents, and we have no idea what’s going to come from this — the future for Cleveland Transformation Alliance is going to be driven by parent voices.”

Both Altieri and Oppenlander, an undergrad at the University of Notre Dame, are experienced researchers who have been pleasantly surprised by the level of excitement and support the Family Listening Campaign has generated from the organization’s community partners. “I don’t know of many other places where you reach out with this level of success and willingness to help. So many people have been willing to review the survey, partner with us to send it out to their trusted networks. That’s [usually] so hard to get in research.”

Launched on July 20, 2020 for a period of 2 weeks, the survey is open to anyone. To design the survey, CTA engaged numerous stakeholders with interest in the Cleveland education landscape — including teachers, parents, principles, housing organizations, city council representatives, faith-based groups, refugee groups, and a student focus group of 8th-grade students.

“We know that COVID-19 will affect how parents are looking at schools, and the survey will tell us what they would like to know about technology, masks, safety, etc.,” said Oppenlander. The pandemic has clearly changed the landscape of school choice, and so the survey tool was designed to evolve year after year to reflect the most up-to-date information and resources parents are seeking and making it available in ways that are most helpful to them.

“This is really meant to put parents and students at the center of the conversation,” is the collective sentiment conveyed by the researchers and the Cleveland Transformation Team who are excited to elevate Cleveland’s high-quality schools and dynamic school choice model into the national conversation.

The Family Listening Campaign takes less than 5-minutes to complete. Click here to take the survey and/or share with your networks

Image and resources from Ohio Dept. of Education website.

Education Planning for Ohio Schools and Districts

Planning Guide for
Ohio’s Schools and Districts

From education.ohio.gov: “Since the ordered school-building closure began on March 17, Ohio’s education community stepped up to ensure a student-centered approach to caring, teaching and learning. The entire system turned on a dime to meet the nutritional needs of the whole child through meal deliveries and grab-and-go sites, and through the delivery of remote teaching and learning opportunities that drove education continuity. These efforts were geared toward challenging, preparing and empowering students for future success—and they were unparalleled, especially given the challenges that accompany a pandemic.

The information provided is intended to spur local-level, partnership-based discussions and decision-making in areas critical to the start of the 2020-2021 school year by sharing a coordinated and collaborative approach for codesigning and framing various considerations in planning the Reset and Restart of Ohio’s schools.”

“We want to meet families wherever they are,” says program coordinator Eli Stacy about the Cleveland Transformation Alliance’s recently re-launched Navigator program.  The program is an extension of the Alliance’s commitment to being a partner for Cleveland families choosing from the variety of high-quality options in Cleveland’s public school landscape, which includes both district and charter schools.

With the continued unknowns and challenges caused by COVID-19, this commitment to families will be both figurative and literal.  The Transformation Alliance will equip their Navigators with the tools needed to fully support and inform families at each stage of the decision-making process – from initial inquiries to research and assistance overcoming barriers that can affect a student or family’s access to quality education.

Navigator support can include phone support, in-person meetings, Zoom conferences, and online assistance navigating the tools and resources that are available to help Cleveland families searching for the “right fit” school for their children. With updates to the School Quality Guide (both in print and online), a new Family Resource Center, and a growing School Quality Ambassador program, the Transformation Alliance hopes to connect with and support more families through partnerships and referrals.

This will expand the organization’s services to meet the needs of families who need guidance in navigating the school choice process as well as those with more complicated issues and concerns.

“We want our Navigators to provide a continuation of support for everyone in the CMSD footprint, to be that go-to-resource,” said Stacy.  Our goal is to help families work through transportation concerns, language barriers, and IEP issues and collaborate with other organizations in the education landscape to ensure that every student and family feels confident in their educational opportunities.

Maxine Williams, a Cleveland parent who also works at the public library adjacent to CMSD’s Marion Sterling school, helped with the initial pilot program last year in the Central neighborhood. “We did such a good job,” she said, prompting families to stay in touch with her even after the program ended.  Williams enjoyed learning more about Cleveland schools alongside the families she served. “I didn’t know that you could go to any school or that schools had specialized programs,” she said. “The Navigator program took me out of the library and gave me a more in-depth connection with the community. I love being able to measure our success.”

While she has always known and helped students in the library, Williams rarely saw any tangible results from efforts like food drives, donations, etc. As a Navigator, though, she has been able to accompany families from beginning to end in their school choice journey, knowing that educational choices and opportunities will benefit those students for years to come.

Wyndi Moore, another Cleveland parent and Navigator who keeps in touch with several families she met during the pilot program, is looking forward to collaborating with Cleveland’s grassroots organizers. Many neighborhood groups have stepped in to meet the needs of their communities since COVID-19. Recently, the Navigator team went to visit Carl Cook, founder of Project Save, who has been hosting weekly resource “open house” events to provide Ward 5 residents with food delivery, food pantry, hygiene and personal care items, activities/bikes for youth, legal support and economic housing assistance as well as mental health services. We look forward to including school choice and advocacy information as a resource for families who attend the weekly Project Save events.

As the coming school year approaches, Wyndi recognizes that there will be many questions about how to meet children’s academic needs amid the uncertainty of social distance recommendations and remote learning challenges. Being involved in weekly events like those hosted by Project Save is one way Wyndi sees Cleveland Transformation Alliance being able to work with and for families who have questions and concerns about school choice and registration.

To learn more about the Navigator Program, Cleveland Transformation Alliance, and the variety of school choice resources available to Cleveland families, visit myCLEschool.org.

In 2016, Eli Stacy moved to Ohio as part of the Cleveland Foundation’s Public Service Fellowship Program. Born, raised and educated in Virginia, he planned to stay until the year-long learning experience was complete and then return home. 

Four years later, Stacy is a Cleveland homeowner and the newly appointed program coordinator at Cleveland Transformation Alliance.  “I love this place, it pulled me in,” Stacy says of his experience completing his Master’s degree in Public Administration from Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. He was simultaneously working and building relationships in a variety of Cleveland neighborhoods and the civic community. 

Most recently, Stacy served in the City of Cleveland finance department, a role that strengthened his leadership skills and reaffirmed his passion for being out in the community, working directly with residents and community partners. Prior roles as a grant program coordinator with Cuyahoga Metropolitan Authority’s (CMHA) Jobs Plus Program and a Homeownership and Financial Counselor with CHN Housing Partners gave him experience connecting with Cleveland families and developing programs for youth in underserved neighborhoods. 

“First, I’m here to listen,” he says of his plans to work with parents and students as an advocate for school choice, knowing that the effects of COVID-19 on public education creates additional obstacles for families. He recalled a situation when a student whose family was part of the Jobs Plus program was at risk of failing as she struggled with online learning deadlines. Once the school established lines of communication and clear expectations, she was able to get back on track. Sometimes challenges can be overcome just by asking families what they need.

Stacy sees this as part of his new role, being an advocate for parents and “ensuring that their voices are being heard” by community leaders and elected officials. He has already started reaching out to re-establish connections with his colleagues at CMHA and CHN to strengthen those partnerships on behalf of the Cleveland Transformation Alliance.

According to Stacy, consistent, ongoing connections and follow-up are a key indicator of positive outcomes for the communities that he has served in the past. “There are “good people who really care and want the best for their youth in every neighborhood,” says Stacy. He knows that a sense of hopelessness can also be a barrier to education access, something he hopes to counteract by ensuring that families can easily access all the support and resources available to them — particularly for students who receive IEP services.

After working indirectly with CMSD students and families through CHN and CMHA, Stacy recognizes the interconnectedness of housing, employment, and educational success, and he is eager to apply that practical experience to shape the programs and services offered by Cleveland Transformation Alliance.

Following the extension of Governor Mike DeWine’s order that all Ohio schools will be closed until at least May 1, 2020 to decrease the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, Cleveland Transformation Alliance has shifted its efforts to support Cleveland families in a variety of new ways.

More than just a disruption to learning, we recognize that closing schools means Cleveland students are disconnected from their normal routines, trusted child care providers, healthy meal programs and social support networks, adding to the uncertainty and stress of potential health concerns and work-related issues that families may be facing.

In light of this, we are collaborating with a variety of community partners and information sources to provide resources and information that may be useful to parents/students/families affected by school closures. This list will be updated regularly as more information becomes available. You can access the COVID-19 resource page here.

If we help ensure the basic needs of our students and their families are met, then we can begin to consider ways to continue learning at home. We are proud to support the committed public educators, both district and charter, who have pivoted quickly to connect with their students in innovative ways.

CMSD Superintendent Eric Gordon and Cleveland Schools Book Fund director Sharon Brown collaborated with Scholastic Books as soon as closures were announced to ensure that any Cleveland child who picked up lunches could also choose from a variety of free books.

Principals from our community partners at Breakthrough public schools offered the following suggestions to make things simple for families concerned about home-based education:

Fourth-grade Campus International School teacher Miles Bubbett took to Youtube to share a “global connectedness message” with his students, something we all understand a little more now that the whole world is facing COVID-19 together and in different ways.

Have you seen other examples of dedicated Cleveland educators supporting  and connecting with their students during the school shut down? Are there resources you’d like to see added to our Family Resource Page? Let us know!

We’re staying in touch (from a distance) and sharing lots of resources for students and families via Facebook and Instagram. You can also fill out our contact form to get in tou