FOR RELEASE
July 25, 2019

CONTACT
Tonya Harris at 202-393-2427
tharris@cgcs.org

Council Offers Leadership Program at Harvard Business School

 For Urban School Superintendents and Board Members 

First-of-its-Kind Professional Development Program

WASHINGTON, July 25 –Superintendents and board members in 18 urban school districts from across the country will travel to Harvard Business School in Boston to participate in a professional development program focused on strong and effective school board governance.

The Accelerating Board Capacity (ABC) Institute has been custom-designed for the Council of the Great City Schools by a team of Harvard University faculty members and will run July 28-31.

Participants will receive faculty instruction from professors from Harvard Business School, as well as the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

The program will include several classroom sessions each day using the Harvard Business School case study method, along with smaller-group sessions and discussions on issues such as the Role and Responsibilities of the School Board and Incorporating Family and Community Voice in Decision Making.

Invitations to apply to the program were sent out in February and 95 urban school superintendents and board members from across the country will attend.

The Council collaborated with Harvard Business School to create the first-of-its-kind professional development program designed to leave participants with tangible tools for improved governance in their respective school districts and lead to increased student achievement outcomes and improved relations between the school board and the superintendent.

“The ABC Institute will offer a rigorous learning experience and a first-class professional development opportunity for our member school districts,” said Michael Casserly, the Council executive director. “This is a rare opportunity to learn from an institution with a legacy of success, alongside other leaders with a shared mission of improving the nation’s urban school systems.”

Superintendents and school board members from the following school districts will attend the ABC Institute: Albuquerque Public Schools, Anchorage School District, Boston Public Schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, The School District of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Public Schools, San Diego Unified School District, Saint Louis Public Schools, Oregon’s Portland Public Schools,  California’s Fresno Unified School District, New York’s Rochester City School District, Nevada’s Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Florida’s Broward County Public Schools and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Ohio’s Cincinnati Public Schools and Columbus City Schools, and Texas’ Dallas Independent School District and Fort Worth Independent School District.

At the end of the program, participants will receive a certificate of completion from HBS and the Council.

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