Available digital or onsite, customized workshops provide deep study of specific governance with a BCS facilitator and training specialist. To best customize the facilitation and materials, BCS staff will set up a planning call with your leadership team.

Roles and Responsibilities: Board and Management

Do you have several new members of your governance and/or management team? Does your leadership team struggle to focus on the major governance tasks within the limited time of your meetings? Is there tension between the governance and management because of miscommunication or misunderstandings? This dynamic workshop covers the many ethical responsibilities of a governance team. It incorporates facilitated discussions on the challenges of community engagement, deliberation and governance vs. management responsibilities.

Effective Communication as a Visible Leader

As local leaders, the media and community will more scrutinize communication from public comments to social media posts. This workshop explains best practices for navigating both digital and traditional channels of communication, offering learning through scenario-based facilitated discussions.

Strategic Planning and Alignment

Does your board lack a clear understanding of the strategic plan for the school? Does the board have a collective sense of purpose aligned with the school’s initiatives? This introductory workshop guides the leadership team to collectively review and analyze components of the strategic plan and guiding statements of mission, vision, core values and goals. Trustees will better understand what makes a clear, compelling goal statement and how board goals support but differ from school goals. The workshop ends with an outline of the process the leadership team can use to collectively set trustee goals for their governance.

Building a Better Board Culture

Collective governance is challenging — even more so in an environment where individuals view their role from different lenses. But effective boards must embrace healthy conflict, set common expectations, and learn how to communicate clearly to govern effectively. How can boards adjust when new members or new leadership seem to change the existing dynamic? This workshop is built on the premise that diversity is a strength, and the most effective trustees understand how to build rapport with their colleagues, advocate for their positions effectively and find common ground to act.

Equity and Inclusion Training Series

Equity and Inclusion: Embracing Equity in Pennsylvania Schools (Part 1)

This workshop sets the foundation for understanding and incorporating equity in charter school practice by focusing on the following questions: What is equity? and Why is equity important? This workshop also will provide common language regarding equity terms and provide context to systemic inequities existing in national, state and local school practices. This is the first workshop in the equity and inclusion training series.

Education and Inclusion: Understanding and Dismantling Barriers to Equity (Part 2)

This workshop explores how education stakeholders see and treat students and how such treatment can inhibit or advance students’ opportunities to learn. The successful incorporation of equity-focused policies and practices requires a deeper understanding and discussion on the internal perceptions and beliefs of trustees regarding students and their families. The internal work of trustees requires an in-depth examination of the following topics: privilege, intersectionality, bias, inclusion, cultural proficiency and culturally responsive leadership. This is the second workshop in the equity and inclusion training series.