Franklin School District Granted $250,000 to put Portrait into Practice 
Franklin School District is excited to announce that Barr Foundation is generously investing in the community with a $250,000, twelve-month grant to continue its Portrait of a Franklin Graduate process. A portrait of a graduate is a collective vision of what all high school students will know and be able to do upon graduation. Barr Foundation is committed to advancing greater success for all students by nurturing the development and expansion of high-quality, personalized high school models that are grounded in positive youth development theory. The Barr Foundation Education program supports schools, educators and communities throughout New England and the Franklin School District is grateful for their support.
In December 2019, the Barr Foundation awarded Franklin School District $130,000 to begin work on developing a Portrait of a Franklin Graduate. While the pandemic stalled some of the work, the team was able to connect with nearly 400 Franklin community members to solicit input about their hopes for learners after graduation, and their expectations for what students know and can do before graduating. From there, a Portrait of a Franklin Graduate was created by a working team and adopted by the school board in June 2021.
The team has named the next twelve months “A Year of Joyful Play.” In this time teachers, students, parents, and community members will work collaboratively to re-imagine the learning experience in Franklin with the Portrait of a Franklin Graduate as a guide. By the end of the year, Franklin School District hopes to have accomplished the following:
1. Establish a Community Advisory that will have structures and culture in place to support schools beyond the grant period
2. Establish a Student Working team that will allow learners to actively participate in the continuous improvement of Franklin High School
3. Provide meaningful professional development opportunities for pre-K teachers throughout the year that will improve student outcomes
We hope to accomplish this through:
● Staff and community members co-developing community-based learning experiences ● Teachers experimenting with new ways of teaching, learning, and assessing student progress toward the Six Portrait Commitments
● Virtual and in-person site visits to other schools
● Community design sessions
The project will continue to be managed by Jule Finley, Curriculum Coordinator for SAU 18, Molly Horn, Franklin High School Science Teacher and Carisa Corrow, Educating for Good. We are also proud to announce that Sarah Fox, who grew up in Franklin, and Jenny Lynn Wellington, educator and former board member of Pittsfield Listens will be joining the team. For more information about the project, please visit www.sau18.org.
Contacts
Dan LeGallo, Superintendent SAU 18, dlegallo@gm.sau18.org
Jule Finley, Curriculum Coordinator SAU 18, jcfinley@gm.sau18.org
Carrie Charette, Franklin High School Principal, ccharette@gm.sau18.org
Carisa Corrow, Educating for Good, carisacorrow@educatingforgood.com