Parents, grandparents, and guardians come experience a “taste” of what Parent Leadership is all about! Continue reading →

Research shows that relationships in the family, school, and community impact high school grades and graduation (Zaff et al., 2017). In 2017, 3,127 RCSD students ages 13 years and older participated in the annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey (out of an enrollment of 7,743 students). The good news is that most students reported having support in their families: 83% said that in their families there are clear rules about what the child can and cannot do, 79% said their family gives them help and support when they need it, and 77% said they know one or more adults other than their parents they can go to discuss important questions about their life. However, only 63% of students said they get a lot of encouragement at school and only 51% of students said that they feel like they matter to people in their community. Continue reading →

This month’s community spotlight is the A.C.T Lit Literary Circle held at the Avenue Black Box Theater. The A.C.T Lit Literary Circle is the brainchild of MCC professor Tokeya Graham. It was a two day session open to girls ages 8 – 16, featuring the award-winning, middle grades novel, Love Like Sky by local author Leslie Youngblood. Continue reading →

This is definitely one of the busiest times for ROC the Future with lots of happenings in the education realm, as well as in other sectors impacting Rochester’s children – housing, health, poverty, etc.

As we get more and more activated to do this work, it is really important that we get super informed about how Rochester arrived at our current condition, and the systems and actions that impact the current state of education and RCSD.  Until we have a really good understanding of all the possible forces and challenges impacting our community in general, and education more specifically, we will not know what possible actions we can take to transform it into one that really works for all of our children. Continue reading →

Employing a strategy of collective impact means more than collaboration. Collaboration happens when we meet together; collective impact is what we do when we return to our respective organizations. In a 2017 article published in the Democrat & Chronicle co-authored by Hank Rubin and Leonard Brock, they discuss how collective impact focuses on change inside partner organizations. It begins when we, as a community, agree to a set of shared outcomes, then individually, go back to our organizations and work with our staffs, boards, and volunteers to figure out what we – individually and organizationally – can best do to achieve those shared goals and then choose to make intentional changes to accomplish this. When each organization chooses to shift and align our work and priorities in this way, we accomplish collective impact. Continue reading →

Community engagement is a critical part of all that we do. Last month, Tanishia Johnson, Manager of Community and Family Empowerment, attended the Community Engagement Partners (CEP) network convening in San Antonio, Texas. Partners from across the country discussed the creative ways community engagement has strengthened schools, communities and families. Highlighting the unique social and political dynamics in cities across the network, attendees engaged in the planning of building coalitions to address cross-sector inequities, and considered how they are measuring and communicating about the impact of their work. Continue reading →

As a convener of the Community Schools Leadership Team, we are happy to share that RCSD has made great strides over the past 12 months.  Five of the Community Schools will be removed from the NYSED List of Receivership Schools as of July 1st, due to making “demonstrable improvement” over the past few years, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School #9 moving from Receivership into “Good Standing”! Continue reading →

StriveTogether is a national movement with a clear purpose: help every child succeed in school and in life from cradle to career, regardless of race, zip code or circumstance. ROC the Future is a member of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, and there are nearly 70 communities like us across the country in partnership with StriveTogether. Continue reading →

On March 30th, in honor of Women’s History Month, Tanishia Johnson, Community and Family Engagement Manager and Founder/CEO of Beyond This Moment Life Coaching and Business Consulting, hosted the annual Beyond This Moment Conference, 2019 Theme: Authentic Sisterhood…let the healing begin! Continue reading →

Each week, we will be lifting up community members and partners on social media who are doing their part to ensure that every child is ready, cradle to career. No matter how big or small, we are recognizing and celebrating their efforts! This month’s spotlight is Ja’lynn Marie. Continue reading →