Talent Development
PR Newswire | August 29, 2023
Teaching Strategies, the country's leading developer of early childhood education solutions, has unveiled a first-of-its-kind curriculum tailored specifically to California's expanding universal transitional kindergarten program (TK). The program aims to build a bridge from preschool to kindergarten for close to 3 million children under the age of 5.
The new curriculum, which was built in close partnership with California educators, builds on the company's widely-recognized Creative Curriculum® but is aligned to California's early learning guidelines. The Creative Curriculum® for Transitional Kindergarten: California is paired with observational assessments that measure how well children are mastering academic and social skills, professional development for educators, and tools to keep families engaged in their child's learning–all in one, easy-to-use digital platform.
"With 90% of brain development occurring before kindergarten, TK is a critical stepping stone for many children. California is leading the way to ensure all learners have an age and developmentally appropriate learning environment, and we're proud to be helping more schools deliver on that vision," said Breeyn Mack, a former preschool teacher and Senior Vice President of Education at Teaching Strategies. "Building on our 45 year legacy of translating play-based learning research into practice, we've designed a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions— including curriculum, assessment, family engagement, and professional development—to help California educators meet each child's unique needs and prepare them with the skills needed for kindergarten."
California began expanding its free, optional, universal TK program last year by extending its cutoff date for eligibility. The state will continue to extend the date range until all 4-year-old children are eligible statewide.
The Creative Curriculum® for Transitional Kindergarten: California prepares children for kindergarten by balancing direct instruction with project-based learning that is critical to whole-child development. It provides progressions of learning and development that span the entirety of early childhood in order to individualize learning for each child, and it focuses time each day on building foundational reading, mathematics, and STEM skills.
In addition, the curriculum includes guidance and support tools for teachers to access in real time, including a suite of videos that model for teachers how to teach activities in their classrooms. It also connects families to their child's learning seamlessly through automated playlists of activities directly tied to daily classroom instruction.
Oakland Unified School District is among the growing number of school districts that have invested in the new curriculum for the 2023-2024 school year. Educators in Oakland also provided valuable feedback on the curriculum as it was being created.
"Transitional kindergarten is this magical time for children, so selecting a curriculum was important for our team," said Dr. Bernadette Pilar Zermeño, a PreK/TK English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement specialist for the Oakland Unified School District. "We created a very detailed rubric for evaluating a TK curriculum, and we decided it should be whole-child focused, honor the needs of teachers, engage their families, and provide equitable and inclusive experiences for both children and families. After evaluating four different early childhood curriculums, we selected The Creative Curriculum®."
About Teaching Strategies
Driven by research that shows a child's first eight years form a critical foundation for success in school and in life, Teaching Strategies has been an advocate for the early education community for over 40 years. Today, Teaching Strategies connects teachers, children and families to inspired teaching and learning experiences, informative data, stronger family partnerships, and professional learning through the leading early learning platform and resources. Its products, including the most widely-used curriculum and assessment solutions The Creative Curriculum® and GOLD®, are found in over 250,000 classrooms and more than 80 countries around the world and reach over 4 million children each year.
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Corporate Education and Training
Send2Press News wire | July 11, 2023
Edupoint® Educational Systems announced today that Bethlehem Area School District (BASD) has selected the company’s industry-leading Synergy® Student Education Platform for its K 12 student data management needs. The district’s solution will include Synergy Student Information System, Synergy Online Registration, Synergy MTSS, and Synergy Special Education, and will be hosted in the Synergy AWS Cloud environment. BASD serves over 13,300 students across 22 schools in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
Bethlehem district leadership assembled a team to explore current industry offerings and evaluate their ability to offer improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Over a period of six months, 67 participants representing a wide variety of roles at all levels of the organization – including secretaries, teachers, principals, assistant principals, and applications specialists, in addition to the district technology team – contributed feedback on the solutions under consideration.
After extensive evaluation, including hosting week-long software demonstrations with three finalists, the team selected Synergy based on a number of key factors, including the following:
• Integrated student information, special education, and MTSS management
• Streamlining of special education and MTSS processes
• Robust query, reporting, and decision support tools
• Timely, reliable data • Federal and state reporting capabilities
• An established and growing presence in Pennsylvania
The district also sought a vendor with a long-term commitment to building and supporting its solutions in-house – a criterion that only Edupoint was able to meet.
“We didn’t want multiple separate systems,” said Marie Bachman, Chief Technology Officer at BASD. “We wanted to give our teachers an improved user experience, greater access to students’ special education information, and a better system for MTSS – all of which will enhance their ability to support students. Teachers are excited about these modules, which work together and are built right into the interface that they will already be using for everyday tasks.”
With Synergy, Bethlehem Area School District is getting a student data management system that will aid in eliminating unnecessary data-entry and integration busywork so stakeholders can focus their time on higher priorities, including supporting students and improving learning outcomes,” said Rob Wilson, Edupoint’s President and Chief Innovation Officer. “The seamless integration built into Synergy Education Platform will make a significant contribution, as well, to the district’s efforts to improve data governance. We are pleased to welcome BASD aboard as an Edupoint partner.
About Edupoint Educational Systems
For over 35 years, the leadership of Edupoint Educational Systems has provided well-designed, technologically advanced student data management systems that empower K-12 stakeholders to improve student achievement. Synergy Education Platform by Edupoint is an industry-leading student data management ecosystem built to fit the way educators already work. Synergy is unique among K-12 student data management solutions in providing an array of role-based mobile apps designed to give all stakeholders access to the tools they need when and where they need them. More than 5.5 million students use Synergy in 22 states.
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Talent Development
PRnewswire | July 12, 2023
School of Rock, the leader in performance-based music education with over 335 schools across 15 global markets, is looking to expand its presence in Orlando, Fla.
"With Florida ranked third in the U.S. for small businesses, it has become a vibrant hub for entrepreneurs, attracting American and international visionaries alike," said Rob Price, CEO of School of Rock. "Recognizing the tremendous potential this state holds for our music education franchise, we are eager to bring the transformative power of School of Rock to Orlando by nurturing talent, fostering creativity, and empowering individuals to pursue their musical passions. We aim to contribute to Florida's vibrant cultural landscape and inspire communities across the Sunshine State."
School of Rock provides students of all ages an exciting and engaging music education experience, which includes bass lessons, guitar lessons, singing lessons, drum lessons, and piano lessons. Drawing from all styles of rock and roll, School of Rock students learn theory and techniques via songs from legendary artists such as Aretha Franklin, Lenny Kravitz and Led Zeppelin. Thanks to the school's patented performance-based approach, students around the world have gained superior musical proficiency, with some moving on to record deals and larger platforms such as American Idol, The Voice and Broadway.
With over two decades of experience, the world's largest music education franchise provides entrepreneurs with the opportunity to quickly plug into a global brand with a proven business model, a trailblazing educational approach, and a franchisee-focused culture. Through the power of music, prospective franchise investors have the ability to positively impact the lives of their students and their community as a whole.
"As owners and operators of multiple School of Rock locations for 15 years, we continue to witness firsthand the ongoing significance of active involvement in an organization like this," said Burny Pelsmajer, owner of multiple School of Rock locations across Florida. "Countless students have passed through our walls, who have benefited not only from arts education in general but have grown into capable, creative, socially well-adjusted young adults because of the School of Rock culture and teaching approach. We're not making musicians. We're creating butterflies out of caterpillars."
The initial investment for a School of Rock franchise is approximately $395,800 – $537,400 including a $49,900 franchise fee. Ideal candidates, or groups of investors, will have a net worth of $350,000, of which $150,000 is liquid. Additionally, U.S. military veterans receive a special discount on their initial franchise fee.
About School of Rock
School of Rock helps aspiring musicians master skills, unleash creativity, and develop tools they need to thrive in life. Founded as a single school in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1998, School of Rock has become a rapidly growing international franchise with over 500 schools open and in development across 15 global markets. Since 2009, School of Rock has grown its student count from 4,000 to over 60,000. School of Rock offers a wide variety of music lessons, including guitar lessons, singing lessons and piano lessons. The company also sells musical instruments and music gear through its GearSelect program. School of Rock is proud to support Music Will (formerly Little Kids Rock), the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), and the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide (SPTS). School of Rock was awarded US Patent 10,891,872 in 2021 for its innovative music education method. School of Rock also has garnered the following industry awards: 2023 Global Franchise Grand Champion; 2023, 2022 and 2021 Global Franchise's Awards Best Children's Service and Education Franchise; 2023 Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 Top Children's Music Enrichment Brand; 2021 Franchise Innovation Award for Most Innovative Use of Customer-Facing Digital Tools; Franchise Business Review's 2023 Top 200 Franchises and Culture 200 list; 2020 Entrepreneur Magazine's Top 200 Franchise and the #1 Child Enrichment Franchise; and 2018 Forbes # 2 Best Franchise Medium-Level Investment Award and the #1 Music Franchise in America.
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