Freaky Friday for UCSB’s Gevirtz School and Harding University
On Friday February 18th, Dean Jane Close Conoley of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School and Principal Sally Kingston of the Harding University Partnership School will spend the day in the other’s office. This “job switch” will help both school leaders gain perspective as they continue to build and strengthen the unprecedented Harding University School partnership with UC Santa Barbara. The stellar teaching staff at Harding is assisted by graduate level teacher candidates from UCSB, providing greater support for students at every grade level with the latest research-based practices. Faculty researchers and UCSB undergraduate tutors partner with teachers to deliver the latest evidence-based instruction. The Gevirtz School also offers a Positive Behavior Support Team of faculty and students from the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology.
As part of the switch, Principal Kingston will meet with many Gevirtz School faculty members one-on-one in addition to holding a lunch with the school community. Her goal is to discover what professors think is their vision of a university lab school that maximizes learning for all students. “Learning from the inside-out will undoubtedly help us understand our respective organizations better,” says Principal Sally Kingston. “For a true partnership, we need to know and use our strengths to a create learning system that offers our Hawks and Gauchos the best education possible!”
Dean Conoley, on the other hand, will directly learn of the daily workings of the University School, from greeting parents and students as the day begins to walking through active classrooms, from attending a reading intervention meeting to meeting with the Harding Early Years Director. “It is common wisdom that walking in someone else’s shoes is a very good way to learn,” says Dean Jane Close Conoley. “I intend to use my day at Harding University School to learn from the teachers and students. This learning will assist us as we continue to develop the partnership aimed at excellence and joy for every member of the Harding University School community.”