Describe: The artifact is a New Program Plan that will be implemented in a middle school. The New program will be an Adult ESL Class and also video showing students visiting the African Burial Ground in New York City. The first artifact was a group project and as a group we worked well. Shared decision was one of the beginning decision making strategy that was used after which task were divided equally. I think because decisions were shared and everyone was assigned a task that he/she could work on no problems arose. As a group technology was a tremendous help in completing this project, as must was done via google docs. The second artifact was an individual project, which highlights the community relationships that as a school can build with different organizations. It also shows the connections between this organization and the alignment of curriculum.

Analyze: This artifact relates to the ELCC standard 4 that is around collaborating with families and other community members.

         a. 4.1 Collaboration with families and other community members- The neighborhood where this school is located serves the needs of a diverse population of students, which is a clear link to the diversity of the neighborhood whose first language is not English. The program proposed, therefore, is a series of ESL classes for adults connected to the school or community, with ancillary legal services for those immigrants who may need them.  While parents and adult family members of MHSTA students will make up one target group, half of the seats in the ESL program will be reserved for community members unaffiliated with the school. To teach the ESL classes, we will partner with Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice.  Youth Ministries is a non-denominational social services agency that has been working to revitalize South Bronx communities for twenty years.  Some of the programs they offer include arts, community activism, education, youth leadership training, and wellness programs, as well as ESL classes. These classes are integral for both the parents of our students and the community as a whole. Many of the adults enrolled in the ESL classes may also have immigration issues or other legal issues that may affect their children's education. Thus, incorporate access to legal services into the program.  Volunteers of Legal Service connect NYC lawyers to those in the city in need of pro bono services, and currently operate through about a half dozen NYC schools through its Children Project. Volunteers of Legal Services will be invited to meet with the ESL class at least once each cycle of classes to explain the services they offer and to provide contact information. 

b. 4.2 Respond to Community Interests and Needs- Data obtained shows that the neighborhood surrounding the school is very diverse. For example, the neighborhood is primarily comprised of Dominican, Puerto Rican, and African families. Surveys were conducted around languages spoken at home including English Throughout the neighborhood, many signs, advertisements, and logos are written entirely in Spanish. Additionally, the level of education attained by members of the community varies greatly.

 c. 4.3 Mobilize Community Resources- As mention outreach will be done and the use of community resources such as Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. In addition, as the other fact shows that building partnership with community resources such as the African Burial Ground can make teaching and learning more real.

Appraise: I strongly believe that many parents feel as if they are not part of their child's education and as a result cannot be part of their learning. Schools need to build these partnerships with them because many of these parents do and are interested in their children's education. As a future principal there are many measures that I will use to reach out to parents because we know that the early parents get involve the more support we can give them. In addition, making connections to different community organizations once aligned with the curriculum can foster deeper understandings and can provide other opportunities for students.

Transform: As a future leader, one of the things that I need to improve on is building and maintain the relationships made with parents. I think sometimes in the busyness of all that is happening those relationships can get lost. In addition, communication is very vital therefore having systems in place to reach all parents is important.