Breakout Sessions: Dallas

Breakout Session A: 10:25 – 11:15 am

Building Leadership Capacity Within Stakeholder Groups

What is the tenet of responsible leadership? Are your beliefs and culture aligned to growing leaders? It’s critical to create and seize opportunities to build leaders from within stakeholder groups and empower those leaders to develop others. Let’s talk about our structures and systems that create these opportunities.

PRESENTER: Delia McLerran, Head of Schools | Young Women’s Leadership Academy Network, San Antonio


Creating Coalitions: Launching Student Leaders by Embracing Your Local Community

Problem-solving skills are essential for developing female leaders. This session explores a model of creative problem-solving designed at Salem Academy. In partnership with Love Out Loud, a Winston-Salem non-profit organization, Salem Academy immersed ninth and tenth grade students in the community for a three week January Term experience. Students selected real problems in the community, researched them, and served with local non-profits that address these problems. They synthesized what they learned and presented their findings to the school community and local leaders. Come learn about the successes and challenges of implementing this type of experiential learning in your school community.

PRESENTERS: Betsy Boyd, Director of Studies; Sara Spong, Director of College Counseling; and Lauren Rogers, Dean of Students | Salem Academy and Liz Miller, Partnership Director | Love Out Loud


Daring Schools: How Two Schools Found the Courage to Lead

Two schools find common ground and connection as they redefine courage and resilience by implementing the work and research of Dr. Brené Brown. These schools approached the work from two different perspectives. Academy of Our Lady of Peace in San Diego, California, utilized Brené Brown’s Brave Leadership as a foundation in developing a set of skills across the Executive Leadership team. St. Agnes Academy from Houston, Texas, in response to the proliferation of social and mental health issues, launched the work of The Daring Way on multiple levels of the institution with the focus being at the student level.

PRESENTERS: Lauren Lek, Head of School, and Jessica Hooper, Assistant Head of School | Academy of Our Lady of Peace, and Sarah Luna, Coordinator of The Center for Wellness and Student Support, and Debbie Sieck, Wellness Counselor | St. Agnes Academy


Fostering Socio-Emotional Learning and Growth in Girls at the Elementary Level

Girls are placed under immense societal pressures to “do it all” – be nurturing, yet independent; produce perfect work, yet not obsess over the details; follow directions, yet think outside the box; to lead, yet avoid conflict. As educators, we work daily to combat the intense feelings girls navigate when trying to reach these unattainable and unhealthy standards. Our program, “Respect and Responsibility”, focuses on making space for developing respectful and effective problem solving and leadership skills. This session will provide attendees with an array of practical strategies based on current research to incorporate social-emotional learning and growth in their classrooms.

PRESENTERS: Kelly Stein, Room Teacher, Class II; Betsy Warren, Room Teacher, Class II; and Janelle Barth, Room Teacher, Class II | The Brearley School


From Good Intentions to Implementation: The Messy Road Towards Diversity Literacy in a K-8 Private Girls’ School

Countless studies confirm that diversity is good for the brain, school culture and climate, and global citizenship. The exposure to difference and the rejection of stereotypical ideas promotes and sharpens critical thinking skills and enhances our SEL toolkits. With all this data, diversity and equity sounds like an obvious institutional priority, but the road to diversity literacy is a messy and uncomfortable path. This panel will focus on four primary areas of the four-year diversity and equity journey of a small (majority white) girls’ school: 1) Initiation; 2) Faculty and student; 3) Culture shift; and 4) Moving “forward.”

PRESENTERS: Lorna Torrado, Diversity Director, SEL Coordinator, The National SEED Project Staff, and Frances Ramberg, Teaching & Learning Coordinator, Placement Director, Alumnae Liaison | The Girls’ School of Austin


Growing Dreamers: How Two Schools Built Professional Growth Programs for Faculty that Hold Innovation as Central Components

As schools work to catapult learning environments into spaces for risk taking, innovation, and preparation for an ever-changing future, it is essential to equip our faculty with the skills and competencies to transform their classrooms into spaces that encourage these behaviors. In this session, you will hear from administrators at two girls’ schools who built faculty Professional Growth Programs that honor and encourage innovation and place growth at the center of evaluation. Participants will see what worked, what didn’t, and how the programs have changed over time. Walk away with two distinct models as research for your own school.

PRESENTERS: Ann Phillips, Middle School Principal | Ursuline Academy of Wilmington, DE, and Elizabeth Smith, Dean of Academics, and Corby Baxter, Professional Learning Coordinator | Ursuline Academy of Dallas


I Can, I Am: Empowering Students with Learning Differences to Own Their Pathways

Girls’ schools provide young women the opportunity to chart their own pathways as they navigate through the Lower, Middle, and Upper School experiences into the collegiate setting. For students qualifying for accommodations under ADA, this journey incorporates a need to understand and manage additional knowledge, information, and experiences. Through mentoring and partnerships with Divisional Learning Support teams, College Counseling, parents, and faculty, students become responsible for understanding their own needs, ensure they can access curriculum and learning, and use their initiative to drive their unique journeys.

PRESENTERS: Shelley Cave, Director, The Dr. William B. Dean Academic Learning Support Program; Stephanie Worcester, Middle School Learning Specialist; Nicole Lalanne, Upper School Learning Specialist; Liz Christensen, Learning Support Coordinator; Leslie Gardiner, Lower School Math Specialist; Gretchen Chrane, Lower School Reading Specialist; Ashley Ferguson, Upper School Counselor; Rachel Innerarity, Middle School Counselor; Susie Hawthorne, Lower School Counselor; Sandy Stroo, English Language Support Teacher | The Hockaday School


Influencers of Environment and Culture in Education: What Does this Mean to GenZ Entering the Workspace?

On track to be the most diverse generation in US history by 2020, Gen Z is about to make its presence known in the workplace in a major way. With jobs undergoing change and with the workforce shrinking, competition for talent will be fierce. Companies need to think—and prepare— differently to win in the talent market. Employers should consider redesigning these jobs in a way that can both attract and engage. Educators need to find new and innovative ways to cultivate confident young women for a Workspace that embraces what they value most. And, Designers are challenged to create environments that are social and emotional promoters of confidence. Yes, it is true, Gen Z refuses to fit into neat little boxes. This interactive session will take a parallel approach of “give” and “take” from a panel of design leaders and conference attendees as we look at the role of GenZ as influencers of environment and culture in Education.

PRESENTERS: Sarah Dexheimer, Architect for Educational Design; Tara Grenier, Principal, Interior Designer; and Kristine Millar, Principal, Creative Services | Orcutt | Winslow


Learn Well, Live Well, Lead Well: An Educational Change Model

Excellence in education requires schools to develop opportunities for students to develop the competencies to “Live, Learn, and Lead Well” today and tomorrow. We accept that challenge by redefining how we prepare our students to thrive in an interconnected world. Grounded in our mission and priorities, we developed an educational philosophy that responds to our students and the world around us. We’ll share our process, from the philosophical to an integrated change model, with all of the bumps and bruises along the way. We’ll include strategies for articulating “why”, “how”, and “what” behind envisioning and guiding a school towards change.

PRESENTERS: Melissa Brown, Director of Diversity, Wellbeing, and Global Education, and Rachel Herlein, Academic Dean | Holton-Arms Schoo


Power Lab: Serving Adults in Service of All Our Girls

Using a Liberatory Design Thinking process, the Girls Leadership team has partnered with revolutionaries in girl-serving education: the Young Women’s Leadership Schools in New York and the Girls Athletic Leadership School in Denver, Colorado, to listen, learn, design, and iterate training and curriculum that is driven by the needs of girls. In this session, you’ll get to experience a sneak peak into our training experience and hear from the professionals closest to these partnerships about the process of bringing culturally responsive, trauma-informed social-emotional learning curriculum to their students. This is the story of Power Lab.

PRESENTERS: Catherine Burns, National Training Director; Jordan Elizabeth, New York Training Manager; and Kim O’Malley, Colorado Training & Program Manager | Girls Leadership; Jenn Green, Deputy Chief of Schools | Girls Athletic Leadership Schools; and Christina McNamee, Assistant Director | The Young Women’s Leadership School of the Bronx


Teaching, Loving, and Believing in Black Girls

Being a Black girl is joyful, magical, and yet, sometimes complicated and difficult. Research has shown that Black girls are viewed by their teachers as more aggressive and less innocent, and are more likely to be punished than their White counterparts. This session will offer a brief overview of the research surrounding Black girls in classroom settings as well as a few strategies that can be implemented in the classroom to center Black girls’ voices. We will also discuss ways that teachers can work to counteract their biases in regard to Black girls, and will look at a few student reflections about what they wish their teachers knew and understood about being a Black girl. This session is great for teachers of grades K-12.

PRESENTERS: Akailah Jenkins McIntyre, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Roland Park Country School, and Shari Berga, Director of Diversity & Inclusion | Our Lady of Good Counsel


Using Technology to Transform Instruction and Learning

How can you leverage technology in your class to engage your students and personalize their learning? How do you develop curriculum that uses technology to differentiate in a meaningful way? From flipping/blending your classroom instruction to creating engaging and rigorous interactive activities that differentiate for all, participants will gain an insight into transforming their classroom learning through the use of technology.

PRESENTER: Kimberly Collins, Middle School Teacher | Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders


Who Taught You How to Grade and Write Aligned Assessments?

Want students who are engaged and invested in their own learning and success? Let’s stop grading behaviors and begin to give meaningful feedback in the form of grades based on aligned assessments. Grades need to give students hope and parents need to know what exactly their student’s grades mean. Assessments should be used to build students up, not to tear them down. Come see how to begin grading reform in your school and address concerns you may have. Research will be used to validate grading reform and implementation tools will be given to start this positive change in your school.

PRESENTERS: Kara Swindell, Teacher/Department Chair; Casey Wilkins, Teacher/Department Chair; Julie Wyatt, Principal; and Kim Turner, Teacher/Department Chair | Talkington School for Young Women Leaders


Breakout Session B: 11:30 am – 12:20 pm

Be Body Positive: Dynamic Strategies for Promoting Healthy Body Image in Girls

This interactive workshop shares how the research-based Be Body Positive Model improves girls’ self-image and self-care behaviors. The Body Positive offers a dynamic, body-oriented social emotional curriculum that promotes resilience against body dissatisfaction and eating problems. Negative body image is linked to poor self-care, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, self-harming behaviors, substance abuse, weight cycling, and relationship violence. Body Positive school leaders, along with the creator of the model, will teach practical steps to help girls resist eating disorders, accept and celebrate their unique bodies, and start positive embodiment campaigns on campus. Research was conducted at Stanford and Cornell Universities.

PRESENTERS: Connie Sobczak, Founder/Executive Director | The Body Positive; Jenna Borrelli, Director of School Counseling/Wellness Department Head, and Michal G., Class of 2020 | Castilleja School, and Athena Nair, Body Positive Student Facilitator | Tufts University


Empowering Girls to Take the Reins

ind out how YWLA-Midland is using student choice in advisory sessions to help girls become responsible for their educational success and enrich their learning opportunities. Learn what administrators and teachers are doing to help students recognize their strengths and opportunities for growth through weekly grade checks, conferences, Student Learning Contracts, and intervention. Use of 1-to-1 technology, GoogleForms, GoogleSheets, and QR codes make the process efficient and streamline

PRESENTERS: Laura Doughty, Assistant Principal, and Jennifer Seybert, Principal | Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Midland


Empowering Young Women to Lead and Serve

Exemplary leaders Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. In this interactive session, we will embark on the leadership challenge and discover how to leverage the 5 practices of exemplary leadership in a girls’ school. This presentation will share how Incarnate Word Academy’s Young Leaders Program puts the work of Santa Clara professors, James Kouzes and Barry Posner, into practice within their leadership curriculum. Attendees will work in groups to unpack each of these leadership principles, brainstorming ways to implement this framework into their own school settings.

PRESENTER: Regina Galassi, Academic Dean | Incarnate Word Academy


The Future is Female: Marketing Unique Leadership Opportunities and Outcomes in the College Admissions Process

This session will address the ways that girls’ schools provide opportunities for leadership, service, civic engagement, and social impact. More specifically, the discussion will focus on how these unique opportunities are communicated with colleges and universities through the admissions process, and what role college counseling offices play in information sharing and marketing. Special programs at The Hockaday School and The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders will be presented as well as current practices for effective and efficient dissemination of this information. Audience members will have the opportunity to share best practices and participate in Q&A.

PRESENTERS: Kim Pondrom, Associate Director of College Counseling; Elizabeth Jones, Director of College Counseling; Micah Lyles, Senior Associate Director of College Counseling; and Charlie Runyan, Associate Director of College Counseling | The Hockaday School, and Eric Heineman, College Advisor | Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders


Her Voice at the Table: Wellness, Writing, and the Citizen Rhetor

This panel asks the following questions: How can writing encourage the wellness of girl writers through the development of their voices? What does a writing curriculum look like when we encourage and require students to engage in topics of interest to them and take ownership of their writing process, therefore building their self-confidence through articulating their goals and their growth? Building in part on Teresa Vilardi and Mary Chang’s work Writing-Based Teaching (2009), this session shares practical, research-based ways to place students’ development of their writer identity at the center of their learning and well-being.

PRESENTERS: Kate Schenck, English Department Chair, and Megan Griffin, English Faculty | Ursuline Academy of Dallas


Leaders with Heart: SEL Skills and Female Leadership

A growing wealth of research indicates that the best and most effective leaders are those who exhibit compassion. This session will consider some best practices in developing compassionate leaders. Participants will engage in small-group hypothetical scenarios, structured mindfulness, and a panel discussion with three teachers who use various SEL strategies in their own classrooms.

PRESENTERS: Brianne Welser, Social Studies Teacher, and Sarah Walker, English/Journalism Teacher | Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School; and Mary DeBroeck, Theology Teacher | Academy of the Holy Cross


Partnerships for Proactive Programming

In today’s era of inclusivity and personalization, how do we shift admissions decisions to be more student-centric? How can schools proactively respond to the diverse needs of students before a student has enrolled? With a persistent partnership between Admissions, Curriculum, and Counseling, Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women created agile programming focused on meeting the individual needs of current applicants. Come discuss and learn why asking “how do we meet the needs of this girl?” as one of five questions will strengthen overall enrollment, enhance retention, and generate strong programs that positively impact the whole student body.

PRESENTERS: Rose Cooper, Director of Enrollment, and Donna Horn, Dean of Academics | Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women


Preparing Educators to Teach in All-Girls Schools

When most teachers come to work in our Young Women’s Leadership Schools, they have not had direct experience teaching in all-girls settings. Our comprehensive new teacher on-boarding program serves to arm them with relevant training for the specialized role of teaching girls in grades 6-12. This workshop will highlight some of the components of the on-boarding program, such as an introduction to research-based effective practices in girls’ education and a preliminary exploration into girls’ education research. The program allows teachers to enter the classroom with an understanding of our educational model and a base-level of expertise in girls’ education to apply to their work with students.

PRESENTERS: Sarah Boldin, Director of Leadership and New School Development; Laura Rebell Gross, Managing Director, YWLN; and Drew Higginbotham, Director of Research and Innovation | Student Leadership Network


Recognizing Race

Recognizing race and the role it plays in our schools is an important element of education that cannot be ignored. Understanding the dynamics of this complicated, irrational concept and the way it impacts our learning environments can be a daunting task. The Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth is taking a tiered approach to tackling this issue within our learning environment to create stronger, braver students and educators. This panel will discuss the importance of recognizing race in our curriculum, classrooms, hallways and lunch tables, and home environments. We will share our experiences with navigating and facilitating these conversations within entire grade levels, with our faculty and staff, and in our individual classrooms.

PRESENTERS: Amber Bailey, Teacher; Tamara Albury, Principal; Gaynell Bellizan, Teacher; and Maria Ortiz Garcia, Teacher | Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth


S.O.S (S).: Saving Ourselves (and Our Sisters) – Self-care for Women of Color in Independent Schools

“Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.” – Lucille Clifton. Conversations about supporting students of color are necessary and should be ongoing. However, knowing that 85% of the staff working in schools are women, we would argue that to effectively support students of color we must first ask, “How are we supporting women faculty and staff of color?” In this session, we will discuss research highlighting how stress in women of color can manifest in visible and invisible ways. Additionally, we will explore the complex identity structures and investigate the “Balancing Act Phenomena” of women of color working in independent schools. Participants will walk away with practical ways to positively impact the wellness of women of color in independent schools, as this is a crucial step in increasing the wellness of students of color.

PRESENTERS: Kalea Selmon, Director of Diversity and Inclusion | Maryvale Preparatory School, and Lana M. Asuncion-Bates, Ed.D., NCSP, Director of Equity and Inclusion | McDonogh School


Strategic Planning 1.0 and 2.0

Explore two different, yet very successful approaches to the Strategic Planning process. Hear one school’s story about their approach to Strategic Planning over a ten year span. Understand the who, what, when, where, and why of both versions.

PRESENTERS: Patricia Swenson, Head of School, and Tony Houle, Head of Admissions and Strategic Imperatives | Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart


Students Mentoring Students in STEM

We know girls’ interest in computer science wanes in middle school. Here we demonstrate how we prevent this and create leaders along the way. Our middle school and technology department partnered to create our first Middle School Internship Program. We capitalized on our strong Upper School STEM program to invest in a senior with a passion for innovation and a desire to mentor 5th-grade girls. In this session, our senior shares the program as you engage in a hands-on activity designed to entice and inspire a 5th-grade cohort to become girls who code and women who lead.

PRESENTERS: Claire H., STEM Intern, Member of Class of 2020; Doran McBride, Chief Information Officer and Director of Technology; and Jennifer Vermillion, Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning | St. Catherine’s School


Tenets of Student Excellence in Science: The Hockaday Science Department

Hockaday Science provides students with grounding in scientific philosophy, experimentation, and the joy of finding things out for themselves. The Hockaday Science faculty developed nine “Tenets of Student Excellence in Science” that encapsulate the habits of minds we hope to cultivate in our students. Concerned that traditional assessments often fail to measure a student’s mindset and aiming to bolster self-confidence in our girls, we are using the Tenets as a more authentic way to provide feedback on student learning. Our work is ongoing, but student confidence and focus on learning is increasing.

PRESENTERS: Jen Fore, Upper School Science Teacher; Marshall Barlett, Science Department Chair; Barb Fishel, Dean of Studies, Science Teacher; Beverly Lawson, Ph.D., Science Faculty/Lyda Hill ’60 Distinguished Teacher; Katie Croft, Upper School Science Teacher; and Brandi Finazzo, Upper School Science Teacher | The Hockaday School


Breakout Session C: 2:15 – 3:05 pm

Disrupting Gendered Mindsets

This workshop will explore the many messages girls and women receive that may limit the imagined possibilities for them. Utilizing Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach framework as a social justice lens, our goal is to explore both the subtle and blatant messages that girls and women receive and to provide participants with both language and tools to notice, name and shift these gendered mindsets. To close, we will discuss how The Ethel Walker School is developing a new program that will reimagine girls’ education in a way that seeks to disrupt and dismantle these gendered mindsets.

PRESENTERS: Kim Pereira, Interim Director of the Capabilities Approach Program/Grants and Foundations Officer, and Elisa Del Valle Cardona, Director of Social Justice and Inclusion | The Ethel Walker School


Growing Competent Leaders Through Empowerment Self-Defense Training

Today’s leaders need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively address the continuum of sexual harassment and violence in their personal and professional lives. The Hockaday School has implemented a comprehensive, empowerment based training program for students and administration where participants learn how to assert and maintain appropriate situational boundaries. Participating in realistic simulations, students practice effective verbal and physical responses based upon proven research. Participants report a significant improvement in their ability to express and maintain boundaries and many have used the skills effectively to stop harassment and even avoid or survive dangerous physical attacks.

PRESENTERS: Meg Hinkley, Upper School PE and Wellness Teacher, Self Defense Instructor; Rebekah Calhoun, Senior Dean, Upper School Wellness; and Kirsten Lindsey, Upper School Science Faculty | The Hockaday School


How to Find Your Superpower: Bring Joy to Leadership

Do you know your Superpower? Are you using it to bring joy to your life? Explore how to bring what you do best to your job every day, how to practice personal wellness as a campus leader, and how to structure your day/week/year to make sure you always have time to live your purpose. There will be time to share best practices of wellness and time-management.

PRESENTER: Kristina Waugh, Principal | Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders


Instructional Coaches Need Coaching, Too!

According to coaching expert Steve Barkley (2018), “coaches are a resource that can help impact student success.” While training instructional coaches (ICs) is important, it is perhaps more important for ICs to receive coaching themselves. Coaching ICs demonstrates a growth mindset, especially when following Jim Knight’s principles of a partnership (2007). Having been an IC for over 6 years now, I affirm that my own coaching has gotten me to where I am now – an all-girls elementary school. Serving in this unique setting pushes me to seek further coaching for my professional growth.

PRESENTER: Lionel Contreras, Instructional Coach | Young Women’s Leadership Academy Primary (San Antonio)


Letting Girls Lead: Supporting Vision and Voice in a Humanities Research Classroom

The upper-level humanities seminar, co-taught by a history and an English teacher, functions as a research lab and think tank, exploring these essential questions: How can students guide their own learning? How can we create an environment for rigorous learning but without high stakes or fear of failure? How can we embed confidence, authenticity, and resilience into our curriculum. This workshop, led by the co-teachers alongside two current Miss Hall’s students, examines best practices that allow girls to craft the vision for their own passion-driven projects, overcome the unexpected challenges of in-depth research, and put their voices into the world.

PRESENTERS: Rebecca Cook-Dubin, English Department Chair; Michael Alexander, History Teacher; Ayla W., Student, Class of 2020; and Zhongyin (Maggie) Z., Student Class of 2020 | Miss Hall’s School


Middle School Makers: Developing Skills in Collaboration, Design, and Problem-solving Through a Mixed-grade Level Engineering Project

For two consecutive years, 5th through 8th grade science teachers at Hockaday have set aside two weeks to engage students in a mixed-grade collaborative engineering project. The Hockaday Middle School Makers Challenge provides students the opportunity to learn fundamental science concepts, practice construction and three-dimensional thinking skills, collaborate with different grade levels, and engage in creative design. Join us as we explain how and why we thought mixing middle schoolers and power tools was a good idea. We will provide examples of student projects, and you will get the chance to collaborate on a mini-version of this year’s proposed project.

PRESENTERS: Patti Black, Middle School Science Teacher; Peggy Cagle, Middle School Science Teacher and Coordinator; and Lisa Dwinal, Middle School Science Teacher | The Hockaday School


The Playbook: A Framework for Sustainable Equity Work in Schools

Administrators understand that affinity groups offer an important platform for voices often relegated to the margins. Black Student Unions, Hispanic-Latinx Club, and Gender & Sexuality Awareness clubs exist on your campus, but how does the school create structures to gather all students (and other stakeholders!) and transition from discussion into action that makes for a more equitable experience at school? This session will offer a brief overview of the work of Gloria Ladson-Billings’s culturally relevant pedagogy and Django Paris’s culturally sustaining pedagogy, and delve into the ways in which two schools have built upon the work of teaching and loving girls of color to create more equitable communities for all students. We will discuss practical ways to translate values into action within the classroom and at the school leadership table.

PRESENTER: Talia Busby Titus, Director of Global Programs & Diversity | The Bryn Mawr School


Project-Based Learning & 21st Century Leaders

Our world is evolving everyday, but schools are not changing to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace. Project-Based Learning offers students, especially young women, the opportunity to develop important skills like personal and social responsibility, planning, critical thinking, creativity, communication, and technological adeptness. In this workshop, participants will explore the WHY behind PBL and examine models of quality PBL projects across disciplines. Lastly, participants will brainstorm ways to PBL-ify a unit in their own classrooms.

PRESENTER: Yana Garbarg, Upper School English & Digital Media Teache | The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria


Telling Your Story: How to Stand Out in the Crowd

In our world of information overload, distinguishing one learning institution from another becomes increasingly difficult for families, especially when considering the ever-expanding landscape of school options. Yet, the value of a girls’ school education has never felt more essential. In this workshop, participants will discover how to tell their unique stories that demonstrate the advantages of an all-girls education and will explore ways to share these stories with prospective families. Additionally, participants will gain ideas on how to use the vast array of NCGS materials to ensure their stories stand apart.

PRESENTER:  Shanna Prewitt-Hines, Director of Admission | The Girls’ School of Austi


Tomorrow’s Global Leaders: Support of Bilingualism and Biliteracy Through Culturally Immersive Dramatic Play

At Solar Preparatory School for Girls we understand the value bilingualism and biliteracy have for girls. Not only does learning another language develop stronger cognitive abilities and create an equitable learning opportunity for linguistically diverse students, but it also prepares girls to become global citizens and leaders. Our Dual Language program has implemented a language learning lab that creates strategic opportunities for socio-cultural linguistic skills in an immersive dramatic play environment. Our DL lab reimagines bilingual and bicultural education through hands-on immersive experiences and community involvement that actively engages stakeholders to promote diverse learning opportunities.

PRESENTERS: Mónica Elvir, Teacher, and Cynthia Baeza, Dual Language Lead Teacher | Solar Preparatory School for Girls


When Students Become the Teachers: Taking SEL into Action

Advisory lessons for 6th to 12th grade students have addressed topics of social justice, social emotional learning, and mental health for the past five years. Meet students whose understanding of these lessons prompted them to take action to address a school or community need. In one example, high school students created Safe Space to show teachers how to create a bridge of communication in their classrooms, and they provide PD sessions addressing students’ mental health, effects of micro aggressions, issues related to immigration, and bullying from both students and teachers. Another student, influenced by her own experience as a refugee, worked to create a coloring book to help other young immigrants adapt to their new environments. Come hear how you can create the space and time for students to use what they have learned to address real-world issues.

PRESENTERS: Karen C., Student; Hser Eh D., Student; Wendy G., Student; and Diana O’Connor, Teacher Librarian | Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School/ Young Women’s Preparatory Network