Invitation to Nonprofits for 20th Anniversary Gala Celebration

ANNIVERSARY
GALA
Celebrating impact.
Transforming futures.
PARTNER OPPORTUNITY
www.PartnersInSchools.org

Be part of the solution!
I would like to invite you to join us for a very special occasion. In 2013, Partners in School Innovation
will celebrate twenty years of transforming teaching and learning in public schools so that every child,
regardless of background, thrives.
Given our complementary goals in education, I would be honored if you would attend our 20th Anniversary
Gala, “Celebrating Impact—Transforming Futures” on Thursday, May 9, 2013. I would also like to invite you
to help spread the word about this tremendous event.
We are so excited to be celebrating the work of teachers and leaders from all over the Bay Area who have
made a huge impact on the lives of underserved students. We are proud to share that last year, we
achieved remarkable gains in both building adult capacity to teach and lead in our partner schools, and in
partnering for breakthrough achievement for young students living poverty. In the following pages are some
of the highlights of our impact.
Please share this information with others you feel should join us, and come be part of the solution to
educational inequity! Stand together with other change agents across business, philanthropy, education
and community in the work of eliminating the achievement gap.
The gala will be held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, and we anticipate 250 people,
including local government, education thought leaders, corporate citizens, and prominent investors in
our work to attend. The night will include a cocktail reception, an elegant sit-down dinner, silent auction
and engaging program featuring a prominent leader on the national education stage.
We are delighted that Dr. Rudy Crew, former Chancellor of NYC Public Schools and Chief Education Officer
for the State of Oregon, will be our keynote speaker and Eric McDonnell of the United Way will be our
emcee. A very exciting program is coming together!
A special partner non-profit rate is available. To accept this invitation, please go to our website to register
or email Alejandra Villalobos at avillalobos@partnersinschools.org for more information.
On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff, it would be a pleasure to see you on May 9th!
Sincerely,
Derek S. Mitchell, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
www.PartnersInSchools.org

Our mission is to transform teaching and learning in the lowest-performing public schools
so that every student, regardless of background, thrives.
About Us
Partners in School Innovation was founded in 1993 by Julien Phillips, a former Peace Corps volunteer and
McKinsey & Co. partner, and Kim Grose, a Rhodes Scholar and social justice advocate, to create systemic
improvements in low-performing public schools. Since our inception, our dedicated staff has partnered
with teachers and leaders in over 13 public school districts and 70 public schools to accelerate student
achievement. We have recently expanded services from California to Illinois, and now, for the 2012-2013
school year, have opened our doors in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids, Michigan, with work in Mississippi
on the horizon.
What We Do
Our work in districts, schools and classrooms is guided by a vision of urban public schools that works to
eliminate the achievement gap and creates exciting places to teach, learn and grow. We work alongside
school and district colleagues to:
1) Build a strong core instructional program in literacy and English Language Arts that ensures that all
students learn at high levels
2) Develop the systems and structures that foster teachers' professional learning, thus enabling all
teachers to deliver excellent instruction
3) Strengthen results-oriented leadership so that leaders can carry out the daily actions necessary to
successfully lead school and district improvement efforts
Results
Our goals for the 2012-2013 school year include improved student achievement outcomes (particularly
for African American, Latino and English Learner students in low-income communities), increased school
transformation capacity and increased district capacity. Today, almost twenty years after opening our
doors, Partners has become a national model for work to eliminate the achievement gap.
• Our partner schools reduced the percentage of students scoring Far Below Basic or Below Basic
by 4.5 percentage points, more than twice the reduction across the state and more than 50%
greater than the 2.6 percentage-point reduction observed in the matched cohort of similar schools
in California.
• The average Academic Performance Index (API) growth experienced by our partner schools was
32 points compared to the average API growth of 10 points across all grades statewide. On average,
our partner schools more than tripled statewide API growth.
www.PartnersInSchools.org

www.PartnersInSchools.org