We partnered with the South Bend community to collectively help address the growing educational needs at Navarre Middle School and its feeder schools - Wilson, Warren, Harrison, and Coquillard Elementary schools. These five schools are a “transformation zone” under Indiana law (20-31-9.5-9.5)- named the South Bend Empowerment Zone (SBEZ or Empowerment Zone). SBEZ is a way for Navarre and its feeder schools to dramatically improve the outcomes for their students, all within a structure that allows the district to learn from and with the Zone leadership and schools. Through this approach, schools will receive significant autonomy and support to create a customized educational experience for their students.
The main tenets of the South Bend Empowerment Zone are:
- School-Level Autonomy and Empowered Educators
- The Zone believes that educators know what students need to succeed in school. By empowering teachers and school leaders to make decisions, the Transformation Zone will allow them to make choices that best meet the needs of their specific students.
- Customized and Innovative School Experience
- The Zone establishes schools as the primary unit of change and enables schools to best meet student needs, accelerate academic performance, develop innovative programming, and ensure that students are academically prepared, civically engaged, and socially and emotionally supported.
- Capacity-Building Support for Schools
- The Zone supports schools through partners such as Education Resource Strategies and Instruction Partners in designing and implementing ambitious school plans that are designed for their specific context. Schools will also receive significant capacity-building support to evaluate their instructional models, choose rigorous curricula, and receive aligned professional development with their school-wide goals.
School Supports
Implement a School Redesign Process
Review School Resource Use
Prioritize High-Quality Talent
Educator Supports
Provide Additional Collaboration and Professional Development
Offer Instructional Support
Select High-Quality Curriculum
Student Supports
Focus on Social Emotional Learning
Develop Wraparound Services
Prioritize Family Engagement
Develop Interventions for Students off Grade-Level