Educating young children is a universal challenge, and schools educating young children in under-resourced communities across Chicago face even greater adversity. These challenges are compounded when school leaders don’t have easy access to the latest best practices in early education – or the support to guide their teachers. Yet, when armed with the right knowledge and tools, school leaders can be game-changers for their young children and the early grade teachers in their buildings. The Building Early Learning Leaders (BELL) professional development program ensures school leadership teams not only have the knowledge and tools to promote young children’s development but are also surrounded by a community of support and action.
In each BELL session, VOCEL provides a space for school leaders to learn, review, and grow in early childhood developmentally appropriate practices with one another as a cohort. Quarterly sessions are coupled with monthly coaching customized to your needs to progress monitor school team goals, with a focus on creating playful school environments to support excellence in early childhood.
BELL members receive:
- Group professional development, with accompanying ISBE professional development hours
- On-the-ground implementation support via coaching (at your school or virtual)
- Progress monitoring for the 2024-25 school year
- Access to online modules and ready-to-use resources
- Invitations to learning and social events with panel discussions, guest speakers, and networking
- A network of CPS school leaders committed to early learning excellence
- Opportunity to extend invitation to group professional development, school-specific coaching, and/or social events to 1-2 fellow leaders at your school
To learn more about BELL, visit VOCEL’s website linked here.
