Summer Design Program

Principals and teachers are best equipped to solve their schools’ most pressing challenges. To that end, The Fund’s Summer Design Program (SDP) partners with expert local and national organizations to deliver high-impact professional development that helps principals and their teams lead change in their schools. Since 2013, SDP has helped more than 200 school teams across Chicago leverage time, talent and technology in new ways to create stronger learning environments for the students they serve. The program is flexible: Specific supports (or “tracks”) change yearly to accommodate what data and educators tell us they need to do the hard work of educating students. In 2020-21, we are serving up to 143 principal-led teams and are offering three SDP tracks, delivered by three expert partners: Tegy | Up to 108 principal-led teams and 13 network teams Tegy Inc. is a national school design firm that specializes in effective school scheduling practices. Tegy teaches school teams how to leverage their most precious asset: time. In recognition of the scheduling challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Fund is currently partnering with CPS’ Office of Network Support (ONS) to scale Tegy’s resources to all district-managed elementary schools. In addition, Tegy will directly coach around 100 schools to adapt their remote, hybrid or in-person schedules to better meet their students’ needs. Tegy will also train network support staff on scheduling best practices and disseminate universal tools, models and resources. Fulcrum Education Solutions | 18 principal-led teams Fulcrum is a Chicago-based leadership development organization. This year, Fulcrum is focused on helping school teams adapt their instructional routines for remote or hybrid scenarios, with a special focus on delivering impactful instructional feedback and redesigning distributed leadership systems to meet staff and student needs. National SAM Innovation Project (NSIP) | 17 principal-led teams NSIP is a national organization dedicated to helping principals understand and leverage their time to advance teaching and learning in their schools. This year, NSIP is focused on giving principals new tools to track their time, set goals, establish roles for their team members and constantly improve. Note: Although SDP is typically a one-year opportunity, NSIP and Fulcrum are providing a second year of support to 17 and 18 school teams, respectively, continuing from the 2019-20 year, in acknowledgment of the increased burden on principals due to COVID-19.