News Archive

Nonprofit Breakfast Briefs

October: Balancing the Roles of Executive Director and Board of Directors

Learn how to manage the important relationship between an Executive Director and Board of Directors in this UMass Dartmouth Nonprofit Breakfast Brief with Barbara Beach Gomes of BGBeach Associates. Barbara Beach Gomes has over 30 years experience working with nonprofit community organizations on board development, management issues and capacity building utilizing leadership and legacy building strategies. Ms. Gomes also teaches online courses on Nonprofit Organizational Management for DeVry University.

• Wednesday, October 21
• Registration and Coffee: 8:30 a.m. Workshop: 9:00 a.m. (sharp) to 10:30 a.m.
• Please register by October 16 ($20)

Nonprofit Breakfast Briefs

November: Nonprofit Fundraising

Need to raise money for your organization? Learn development strategies from nonprofit experts at this all-day workshop on November 14.

• Grant terminology and souces of grant funding
• How to prepare a development strategy
• How to develop a budget
• How to build objectives
• Strategies for writing grant proposals

This workshop is intended for anyone who is interested in obtaining grants in the education, public or private sector. We especially invite nonprofit leaders and personnel, nonprofit teams, members of nonprofit executive and advisory boards, and educational leaders to attend.

• Saturday, November 14
• 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• $125
• More details: flyer and registration form (pdfs)

CUSP has a new blog

Now there's another way to get all the news from CUSP! You can keep up with frequent updates about all of our programs, courses and other activities at cusp.blogs.umassd.edu.

Please don't hesitate to make your voice heard on our blog. We welcome all comments and questions. Reply to any post by clicking on the Comments or No Comments link at the bottom of each post.

School Leaders Network After Hours event October 22

Dr. Douglas Reeves to keynote

October 22 at the Ocean Explorium, connect with colleagues and attend an informative and motivating presentation by Dr. Douglas Reeves, a leading experts in improving student achievement in K-12 schools and education systems, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Download an archived flyer (pdf) for more information.

This event is now filled. We hope you will consider attending a future School Leaders Network Event.

Download a 2009 School Leaders Network calendar (pdf)

Acclaimed education leader Lorraine Monroe keynotes School Leaders Network event

Lorraine Monroe, former principal of Frederick Douglass Academy in central Harlem and author of The Monroe Doctrine, keynoted the School Leaders Network Annual Conference at the ATMC on March 11. Dr. Monroe is the founder and executive director of the Lorraine Monroe Leadership Academy in New York City where she trains administrators and teachers to build high performing schools. In Fall River, she offered practical advice and hard-earned wisdom to a crowd of more than 125 SouthCoast school administrators and teacher leaders. Read the University's press release for more information.

TEACH! program featured on NBC Nightly News

CUSP's TEACH program was featured on the NBC Nightly News on February 27 (see clip above). Producer Jay Blackman picked up the stories about TEACH that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe and decided to feature TEACH! in the "What Works" segment of the NBC Nightly News. Reporter Rehema Ellis and a film crew visited two teachers from the second cohort, Kristen Cote and Erin O'Connell, in their classrooms in Fall River, gathering footage of the teachers in action as well as interviews with Karen O'Connor and Durfee High School principal Ralph Olsen.

Learn about CUSP and the Ocean Explorium

Watch the video above to learn more about how CUSP and the Ocean Explorium work together in the local community.

Massachusetts education policy makers visit CUSP

February 3, 2009—Paul Reville, the Massachusetts Secretary for Education, and Patricia Haddad, the Chair of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Education, visited CUSP on Tuesday morning and addressed a crowd of more than 80 people. The lawmakers each outlined the successes and challenges facing education in the state and then jointly answered questions from superintendents, principals, CEOs, and others in the audience.

Renowned urban school leader Lorraine Monroe to keynote School Leaders Network Spring Conference

The School Leaders Network Conference on March 11 will be keynoted by Lorraine Monroe, the founder/Executive Director of the School Leadership Academy and acclaimed author of The Monroe Doctrine and Nothing's Impossible: Leadership Lessons From Inside And Outside The Classroom. Click here to read the University's press release about this event.

Please call 774-929-3002 to register.

SouthCoast Education Compact releases College Planning Guide 2008-2009

The SouthCoast Education Compact developed this guide to be a useful tool that brings together in one place a variety of resources on the college admissions and financial aid process. Students can review important information on continuing their education that is easy to read and helps to outline the steps that need to be taken to prepare for college and a career.

Download the guide (pdf)

NSF awards CUSP with a $749,596 grant for STEM scholarships

This National Science Foundation grant has enabled CUSP to start a Noyce Scholarship Program at UMass Dartmouth. This program will offer substantial scholarships to math, science and engineering majors who become middle and high school teachers in high-need school districts such as Fall River and New Bedford. More information about this exciting new program, including how to apply, can be found here.

Mentoring in Action in 2009

This exciting and interactive course gives participants the opportunity to practice practical skills with new teachers. In 2009, we'll be offering a full semester class (3 graduate credits, 67.4 PDPs), as well as an abridged version with 3 workshops.

Both classes are designed for district based teachers, content coaches, and adminstrators who want to learn research-based practical strategies for supporting and retaining beginning teachers.

Please call 774-929-3002 to register or for more information.

Grant Writing Workshop at CUSP

Presented by the SouthCoast Education Compact and School Leaders Network

Need to raise money? This lively, in-depth workshop will teach participants the basics of fundraising and resource development through grants writing. This workshop is intended for anyone who is interested in obtaining grants in the educational, private or public sector.

Friday, November 14, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at CUSP. The registration fee is $75.

Download the Registration Form & Flyer (pdfs) for more information.

Research for Better Teaching to offer Studying Skillful Teaching course at CUSP in January

RBT's foundational program for building teachers' capacity is coming to CUSP! The course is based on the belief that nothing is more complex, challenging or important than assuring high levels of learning for each and every student. And no single factor has a greater impact on student learning than skillful teaching. Participants will learn how to collect and analyze data and how to respond to data by drawing on research-based instructional strategies.

Click here (pdf) for the class schedule and registration form. Please register by December 15 to ensure a spot in this popular class.

Massachusetts Commissioner of Education kicks off School Leaders Network 2008-2009 series of events

September 18, New Bedford—Dr. Mitchell Chester, the state Commissioner of Education, was the keynote speaker at this year's first School Leaders Network event at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. A large crowd of teachers and school officials were in attendance. Dr. Chester commended the School Leaders Network, saying "I think it’s a great idea, to have an opportunity to network with people who are dedicated and committed to seeing the education enterprise move forward." Click here to view more photos from the event.

MOU between UMass Dartmouth and the New Bedford Ocean Explorium to impact K-12 education in the SouthCoast

September 4, New Bedford—Representatives from UMass Dartmouth and the New Bedford Ocean Explorium signed an MOU reflecting an official partnerships between the two institutions. This is exciting news for SouthCoast K-12 teachers, some of whom have already enjoyed the professional development opportunities offered by the Ocean Explorium's Science on a Sphere technology through CUSP's Connecting Oceans Academy. For more information about the MOU, click here for the UMass Dartmouth press release.

TEACH! SouthCoast Director authors new book

TEACH! SouthCoast Program Director Carol Radford is the author of the newly published The First Year Matters: Being Mentored.....in Action! This important work provides new teachers with a practical guide to use throughout their mentoring experience.

The First Year Matters is available at Amazon.com (Follow the link or search for ISBN 0205585558)

First-ever TEACH! SouthCoast cohort celebrates completion of the program

June 26—Seventeen new math and science teachers are ready to work in high-need schools in New Bedford and Fall River, thanks to the innovative TEACH! SouthCoast program at CUSP. Having just completed an intensive one-year set of courses and practica, this group of newly licensed teachers gathered at CUSP with their families and the program's leadership team to celebrate their efforts.

More photos can be found in the Graduation Gallery

Poetry book inspired by CUSP Writing Retreats

CUSP friend Cathie Desjardins reports that her just-released book of poetry, With Child: Poems, is largely the result of her time at CUSP Writing Retreats. Desjardins says, "Like many other teachers, I was an instant convert the first time I attended, won over by the collegiality of educators sharing their stories, helping each other focus the lens through which they saw the world."

The book is available at Amazon.com (Follow the link or search for ISBN 9780 978994693)

Click here for Cathie's full story about how this book came about

Jennifer Abrams addresses School Leaders' Network

November 14, 2007—In a seminar titled "Generational Savvy: Recruiting, Retaining and Supporting Teachers and Administrators of All Generations," renowned educational consultant Jennifer Abrams spoke about the generational differences in today's schools. Abrams offered the audience of school administrators advice about recruiting, retaining, and supporting teachers and administrators of all generations.

CUSP receives $3.5 million from the US Department of Education

October 22, 2007—CUSP has received two U.S. Department of Education grants totaling $3.5 million to attract, retain and support K-12 teachers in high need subject areas as identified by partner districts Fall River, New Bedford and Wareham. More

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School Leaders Network Workshop Series kicks off with educator and author Andy Hargreaves

September 13, 2007—Andy Hargreaves, the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, led a seminar and dinner at CUSP in Fairhaven. Hargreaves spoke about the challenges faced by school leaders, and described a framework for sustainable leadership, in a talk titled "Courageous Leadership for School Success."