The Power of Making Thinking Visible (Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison, 2020, 2011) will guide this initiative and serve as a lens to examine equity, social justice, and student engagement in the classroom.

The combination of these foundational ideas is intended to provide teachers the opportunity to: critically analyze and discuss teaching practice, engage students in deep thinking and learning, and examine evidence of student thinking in the work they produce.

This will support an evolving learning community where teachers reflect on practice, discuss critical questions, and document improvements in instructional practices in a supportive yet rigorous environment that transforms classrooms into communities of thinking, learning, and enhanced student engagement.

This program supports cross-collaboration between teachers and summer providers to share pedagogical practices with an emphasis on place-based learning. Teachers will co-construct and implement place-based learning experiences with an instructional leader at a summer program.

This is an opportunity to build connections and share pedagogical practices between the classroom and after school programs, as well as for teachers and after school program leaders to enhance their understanding of the whole child by supporting learning in multiple environments.

The purpose of this initiative was to enhance established values around behavior management, pedagogy, and school culture to promote education equity and improve student academic outcomes. This initiative considers the individual practitioner, their impact within the larger educational ecosystem, and organizational practices that comprise school culture.

The objectives of this initiative were to (1) employ pedagogical tools and theoretical frameworks that create peaceful, restorative, safe and inclusive classrooms, (2) Explore identity, hidden bias, stereotypes, privileges, and life experience to discover the impact these determiners have on curriculum and student engagement, (3) create opportunities for self-reflection through small group sharing, individual reflection, and serial testimony, and (4) align educational beliefs, practices, and policies across organizations within Parramore’s education ecosystem.

In response to requests from our partners at OCPS ACE K-8, PEID supported the development of a Teacher Zen Room. The recent creation of a student ‘calm room’ had been a noted success among teaching staff, with a number of individuals remarking on the need for a similar space for adults.

A space was identified by the school and funding provided support for the establishment of a “Zen Room” where teachers could visit to destress through a variety of options, including meditation, yoga, breathing, puzzles, or other positive coping strategies. The room has proven popular and continues to see regular use from staff before and after school as well as throughout the day.

The purpose of the Parent & Community Engagement and Empowerment initiative is to package a series of highly interactive workshops that provide a space for parents to engage and learn together. Set at Rosen, OCPS ACE, Jones High School and/or community centers, workshops will explore health and wellness, academic support for children, career exploration / development, and women’s empowerment.

These broad parent engagement workshops align with efforts to expand the role and membership of the PTSA, which is the formal entity for parents, teachers, and administrators to interface, build rapport and discuss issues.

The objectives of Play Pop-ups are to engage young children (2–5-year-olds) and their primary caregivers in developmentally appropriate play experiences that encourage healthy social and emotional skill development, and to develop positive and trusting relationships with parents and caregivers through community-based engagement.

By engaging with parents and caregivers over time through repeated pop-up events and developing authentic relationships, we can better communicate available resources and support referrals to networked partners.

Additionally, this work develops cultural competence among early childhood providers by engaging local ECE interns in the design and implementation of play pop-ups. Interns will gain valuable insight in applying developmental best practices to creative play but will also learn from community members as experts.

The purpose of the virtual education fair is to recruit educators by highlighting the different pathways to education and career options. The broad target audience includes members of the education ecosystem in Parramore (i.e., substitutes, paraprofessionals, tutors, and high-school students).

The Education Fair supports equity in teacher recruitment because it demystifies the pathways to a career in education and makes a strategic commitment to underrepresented groups by providing financial assistance in navigating the application process, which is sometimes an initial barrier to postsecondary enrollment. Moreover, this initiative supports efforts to diversify the teacher workforce and support the development of educators with a strong knowledge of community context.

The objectives of SyMap are: 1) to engage Parramore high school and undergraduate youth in an engaging learning experience during the summer that will develop knowledge of systems and opportunity, leadership skills, collaboration and teamwork, and knowledge of careers and pathways; 2) to map existing extracurricular youth learning opportunities in the Orlando region and understand barriers to participation from a youth perspective, and; 3) create a resource map that can be used by local youth and youth-serving organizations to pursue extracurricular learning opportunities. In 2021, a one-week summer program was held on the UCF Downtown Campus. SyMap leaders will continue to engage students in mapping efforts throughout fall 2021 and spring 2022.

The purpose of the Downtown Scholars Success Program (DSSP) is to increase access, success, and representation at UCF of underrepresented students graduating from traditionally underserved high schools in the downtown Orlando area.

Jumpstart is a national early education organization that is working toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. The work at the core of this mission is done by caring adults, called Corps members, who in this initiative are UCF students.

Corps members are trained to deliver a proven curriculum designed to foster academic achievement and confidence in young children with targeted focus on language and literacy skills. This initiative supports the AmeriCorp JumpStart program at OCPS Academic Center for Excellence.