Southdown Wins Inviting Schools Award
The International Alliance for Invitational Education has recognized Southdown Primary School with its 2010 Inviting Schools Award, culminating a long process of reflection, planning, workshops, training of staff, parents and students and the development of a school portfolio showing why the school was deserving of the honor.
“This is a wonderful honor and speaks to the dedication of our school to infusing the principles of ‘invitation theory,’ optimism, trust, care, respect and intentionality into practice and helping us to take our school to a new level of service to our community and becoming an even more effective and intentionally inviting school,” Principal Michelle Marino said.
According to the IAIE, “Invitational Education is a fresh and innovative approach to developing, maintaining, and enhancing optimal learning environments which encourages social and emotional learning, and strengthens culturally responsive education. It assumes that people are able, valuable and responsible.”
Southdown’s journey on the road to the award was two years long. Every aspect of the school environment was assessed to determine if the principles of invitational education were strongly in place. The portfolio submitted to the IAIE committee provided a thorough overview of Southdown’s program and why it was worthy of being recognized.
A site visit was also part of the process as well as a survey of faculty and staff, students and parents. “We’re very proud that we’re one of a very few schools in the U.S. that has been recognized with this award,” Mrs. Marino said.
The principal will present Southdown’s portfolio at the 2010 IAIE world conference in Columbus, Ohio this fall. She is also planning to share the school’s award winning portfolio with Huntington School Board members “and take them through our journey to becoming an Inviting School, one recognized by the International Alliance for Invitational Education,” Mrs. Marino said.
According to a statement on the group’s website, “On a summer afternoon in 1982 a group of 12 educators and related helping professionals from throughout the United States and Canada met on the campus of Lehigh University with Drs. Betty Siegel and William Purkey. Together, this group founded the Alliance for Invitational Education as a not-for-profit organization. From these fourteen charter members, the alliance membership has grown to over six hundred professionals representing fifteen countries.”
All graphics, photographs, and text appearing on the Huntington Public Schools home page and subsequent official web pages are protected by copyright. Redistribution or commercial use is prohibited without express written permission. Comments or Questions? email the Public Information Office