LEARN about recent education changes

CONNECT and get active with our young people

COLLABORATE with fellow community members

JOIN the network that’s moving the power of community voice

Orleans Public Education Network’s 5th Annual Convening brings together parents, students, teachers and engaged citizens to create a force of community educators that New Orleans schools deserve. Through panel discussions and hard data on what works and why, OPEN seeks to expand residents’ awareness of education reform, engage them in the issues, and amplify their voices in the conversation.

In addition to the opening festivities, you can also catch panel discussions on:

- Juvenile Justice and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
- Common Core
- Early Childhood
- School Governance
- Jump Start and High School Diploma Changes

Join OPEN for a day of fun and learning as New Orleans unites to support our schools. Click here to RSVP today!

What Are Community Educators?

Members of the community who are committed to ensuring public resources are used to support the holistic development of the city’s children. Their engagement with other adults provides space for reflective practice and their engagement with young people is to collaborate with youth in supporting their development.

Key Attributes:
A solution-oriented frame of reference
What is required to be changed in the system?
What can we do in the village?

What Are Community Educator Action Groups?

• Increase community awareness of key issues in public education
• See their narrative, experience and skills as valuable to the rest of the community
• Surface community agency/power to influence the issues that most impact their lives adn the lives of youth in our community
• Strengthen community-based support systems for youth

Process:
• Host a 101 meeting to develop understanding the landscape and history of public education.
• Frame through facilitated dialogue (led by a member of the group) what were your experiences in public education, what worked for you, what’s working and what doesn’t, and how we can make a difference?
• Commit to 2-3 meetings on a few topics to determine interest area or begin discussion on an issue you are interested in already (what does the research say, what’s the current state of the problem, and what can we do about it)
• Identify what are the issues we can impact for children in our community
• Identify system-level changes (coordinated schedules and power mapping)
• Develop and implement strategy, supported by your group and OPEN’s resources