REAL Experience
At 36, Jill Conrad brings over 10 years of experience helping schools improve all across the country and state. Education is Jill’s passion and life’s work. She understands the need to balance the wisdom of business strategies with educational ones. Now is the time to have someone with education expertise on the board so we can work together to get it right. Click here to learn more about Jill and her experience.

Vote for Jill Conrad on November 1st and let her put her experience to work for you!

REAL Accountability
It is time we asked ourselves, what is the real end outcome of a good education? Is it test scores, or something greater? We need to focus not just on tests, but the best from our students, teachers, principals, and others. We need to stop treating the problem of education as if it were a mechanical one, when in reality, it is a human one. It’s time to re-insert the human part of education and inspire a culture of responsibility in each school and community so that every child learns.

Real accountability means making sure that students, teachers, parents, and schools all have the tools they need to take responsibility for reaching high goals:

• clear goals that inspire true learning
• quality assessments that diagnose learning needs on a daily basis
• competent and flexible teachers who draw from a coherent curriculum, but can also adjust instruction in order to meet each students’ specific learning needs
• principals whose #1 responsibility is to build and sustain support for quality learning in every classroom
• a positive school culture where ongoing communication and relationships between students and teachers, teachers and teachers, and teachers and the principal are supported
• commitment to building meaningful communication and partnerships with parents and families
• strong community partnerships and support surrounding every school
• accurate measures of school quality that do not distort information for parents and the community, but instead provide meaningful information that help all improve in their roles.

This is a school that puts learning first and shares the responsibility for success! It’s time to focus on the real goal of education—learning that lasts a lifetime!

REAL Engagement
Denver schools need real engagement at every level. It starts with the students. Students need to be engaged in their own learning. We need to make room for strategies that inspire this, igniting a passion for learning in every child. We need to expand our vision of learning to be rigorous, multi-disciplinary, and powerful. This means:

• bringing relevance to the curriculum by helping students make real-world connections
• challenging students to apply what they are learning to creatively solve problems
• providing more opportunities for students to work in teams, communicate with adults, take on leadership roles, and explore academic, career & civic options
• engaging students in the setting of their own high expectations so they take responsibility for meeting them.

Parental and community engagement is absolutely essential. We’ve known this for many years. We need to stop approaching this as an after-thought and put it on the front-burner. That means:

• providing a place at the table for families and community members every step of the way
• building expectations for learning together
• developing mutual understanding and shared responsibility for the success of every child
• helping schools and the district become more responsive to the needs of families
• being a leader—as a district—in helping families overcome the challenges of poverty and other disadvantages
• building on and honoring the leadership of engaged parents, families, and other community members to strengthen all schools and communities
• expanding opportunities for and coordination of community involvement in our schools.

It’s time to remove the fences that stand between schools and communities and build this shared commitment to the success of every child. We need a new model for education where the school is the focus of the community—and the community is the focus of the school. That is a REAL COMMUNITY where every child has a REAL OPPORTUNITY to succeed. Help Denver keep this promise to every child.

VOTE FOR JILL CONRAD FOR DENVER SCHOOL BOARD AT-LARGE ON NOVEMBER 1ST!

Click here to see more about Jill's plans for Denver