Year One Report for Strategic Collaboration (new window) – PDF
Learn more about our Strategic Plan priorities.
NCOE offers a variety of ways for staff and the community to come together to collaboratively achieve our goals to support an educated, equitable and thriving community of learners. The groups outlined below allow us to advance our collaborative work to establish meaningful relationships to collaboratively address common challenges and leverage resources with and among schools, districts, and NCOE programs.
NCOE staff interested in participating in the Strategic Collaboration Priority Committee please contact Julie McClure.
NCOE Collaboration Opportunities – full descriptions (new window) – PDF
NCOE Collaboration Opportunities – contacts (new window) – PDF
TOPIC-SPECIFIC INTEREST GROUPS & EVENTS
There are several cross-departmental interest groups that meet regularly to share best practices, learn from one another and discuss and develop collaborative opportunities. In addition to these groups, several additional collaborative online forums can be found on Yammer.
The Evaluation and Research Unit (ERU) meets quarterly to discuss evaluation and research topics such as, statistical software packages, data visualization, and research focused conferences. Contact Elizabeth Schroeder, eschroeder@napacoe.org.
Explore NCOE
The Explore NCOE program provides opportunities for staff to learn more about the different aspects of NCOE. Topics will include the varied work, projects and programs NCOE leads and supports as well as sharing internal expertise. Contact Julie McClure, jmcclure@napacoe.org.
Fiscal
Fiscal Training Tuesdays meet virtually on a weekly basis to discuss timely and relevant topics related to NCOE fiscal operations, such as time reporting, end-of year close out procedures, and setting up service agreements. Contact Kelly Bucy, kbucy@napacoe.org.
Health & Safety
This committee meets bi-monthly to discuss topics related to physical and emotional safety. Topics covered include emergency preparedness, hazard mitigation, policies and other topics that touch on employee, student, and community health and safety. Contact Johana Navarro, jnavarro@napacoe.org.
The Social Media special interest group meet to discuss best practices in the management and promotion of NCOE-related social media accounts. This group is focused on those who manage NCOE-related social media accounts (including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) Contact Seana Wagner, swagner@napacoe.org.
Technology
NCOE, through its Training & Technology Support Services department, facilitates regular opportunities to collaborate and learn around technology topics. To find out about trainings and collaborative learning sessions. Contact Rebecka Anderson, randerson@napacoe.org.
Yammer Collaboration Communities
The NCOE internal social media channel Yammer (located via Office 365) includes a number of collaboration communities on a variety of topics. Current communities include Adobe Acrobat, Online Meetings and My New Favorite Thing. Contact Seana Wagner, swagner@napacoe.org.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION LEARNING COMMUNITY
NCOE is committed to its core value of equity and has several groups that meet regularly on this work. The group hosts quarterly meetings where any member of the organization can join to learn and share with each other. Additionally, there are four working committees focused on specific goal areas.
The purpose of NCOE’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Learning Community is to address systemic racism and its outcomes to ensure an equitable, inclusive and safe workplace that celebrates children, families, and staff of NCOE. Contact Sara Sitch, ssitch@napacoe.org.
DEI Ambassadors Program
The Ambassadors Program engages all staff in Courageous Conversations on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion to foster learning and growth and to build a culture of equity in a safe space. These Ambassadors, volunteers drawn from NCOE managers, received training on cultural equity to prepare them to co-facilitate these thoughtful, small group conversations. Contact Connie Silva, csilva@napacoe.org.
- Training, Resources and Accountability: Create resources/strategies to assist departments in learning about and implementing practices that support diversity, inclusion, and equity. Establish a process that holds us all accountable to acting on our values. Contact Susan Stewart, slstewart@napacoe.org.
- Student and Community Opportunities: Provide opportunities for students and community members to be educated in issues of equity, cultural diversity and understanding. Contact Barbara Thorsen, bthorsen@napacoe.org.
- Assessment, Evaluation and Sustainability: Create an improvement plan that includes data driven assessment of our gaps and provides recommendations for the ongoing process(es) that ensures that change continues over time. Contact Ginny Ariaz, gariaz@napacoe.org.
- NCOE Recruitment and Hiring: Address having staff, including leadership, that are reflective and representative of the communities we serve. Contact Michelle Wanlass, mwanlass@napacoe.org.
STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEES
NCOE has several committees that meet monthly to work cross-departmentally to achieve the organization’s strategic goals, as outlined in the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan. Contact Julie McClure, jmcclure@napacoe.org.
Develop and implement a responsive, professional learning and coaching structure to support the diverse needs of Napa’s education community. Contact Seana Wagner, swagner@napacoe.org.
Collaboration
Establish meaningful relationships to collaboratively address common challenges and leverage resources with and among schools, districts, and NCOE programs. Contact Julie McClure, jmcclure@napacoe.org.
Provide and/or coordinate an inclusive set of mental health and wellness services for staff, students, and families in a proactive, culturally relevant, and linguistically appropriate manner. Contact Connie Silva, csilva@napacoe.org.
Continuous Improvement
Implement an improvement approach that utilizes data to improve outcomes for students and families. Contact Lucy Edwards, ledwards@napacoe.org.
COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE & ISSUE AREA GROUPS/FORUMS
NCOE hosts several communities of practice and issue area forums that bring together the educational community of Napa County and beyond to learn and collaborate around specific areas of practice or issues.
The group of educators, community and business leaders convene regularly to collaborate and advance its goal of supporting career readiness across Napa County. Contact Gillie Miller, gmiller@napacoe.org.
Early Childhood Community of Practice
A community of practice for teachers and administrators to effectively support young children through inclusive and developmentally appropriate practices. This groups current focus is on supporting high quality Universal Prekindergarten across Napa County. Contact Kelsey Petithomme, kpettithomme@napacoe.org.
Health & Safety Meetings and Forums
NCOE convenes regular meetings with Napa County Public Health as well as other county organizations to address community-wide health and safety issues impacting schools. Contact Seana Wagner, swagner@napacoe.org.
Mental Health Collaborative of Napa County
The Mental Health Collaborative is focused on increasing mental health services and behavioral supports at all Napa County school districts. This group is also working on increasing countywide collaboration and sustainability. Contact Julie McClure, jmcclure@napacoe.org.
This Professional Learning Network (PLN) brings together administrators from all Napa County public school districts to increase understanding of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and connect by discussing successes and challenges that impact all districts across the county. Contact Lucy Edwards, ledwards@napacoe.org.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Community of Practice
The SEL Community of Practice meets monthly to share resources and best practices on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) across all Napa County schools and provide professional development to increase and deepen integrated SEL work countywide. This group also offers a speaker series and coaching to deepen SEL work in spotlight schools. Contact Jill Barnes, jbarnes@napacoe.org.
Youth Substance Abuse Prevention – Catalyst Coalition
NCOE facilitates this monthly meeting of dedicated community members representing the county of Napa in an effort to reduce and prevent youth substance use. Contact Celeste Gonzalez, cgonzalez@napacoe.org.