This is always a very hectic time of year in our schools! Many face the administration of standardized testing as well as all the normal demands of concluding a school year. But for those of us who are 4th-year Cornerstone schools, this is a time that brings another dimension to our efforts, the prospect of becoming Cornerstone Foundation Schools. We embrace that challenge as we anticipate the direction of our schools next year.

I was buoyed this week in thinking about a 4th-year school's capacity for this new challenge when I had the opportunity to hear Margery Ginsberg and Raymond Wlodkowski, authors of Motivation: The Key to Success in Teaching and Learning. During this session, Dr. Ginsberg talked about five central concerns that she feels influence the one issue that matters most in highly motivating school renewal---the classroom. As I listened, I realized each of the concerns she listed has been addressed in the schools through the Cornerstone work, and these concerns provide an outline for the work of Foundation Schools:

As I review this list, I know that we can use this as a map for our work with new schools. In the last four years we have been developing leadership capacity within our respective schools. As Cornerstone schools, we have developed a shared literacy language, which for us began with our book study of Mosaic of Thought and now includes the Cornerstone Literacy Framework. This shared language has also been instrumental in the development of large and small learning groups in which teachers focus on literacy instruction. The DRA, MPIR and writing samples of the random sampling of students have provided data for us to measure student growth and to discuss student learning and instructional practices. The support and commitment of parents, community, and central office have been and continues to be an integral part of this work. I believe that the literacy work in our schools is a "signature." People want to visit and to know about the Cornerstone literacy work.

As we begin to work with new schools in our districts, I believe the teachers in our schools will continue to grow as they help others in their journey. Our teachers can assist new schools through book studies to develop this shared language, through observations of their classrooms, through collaboration and networking, and through discussions of data and instruction. Our teachers can provide the moral support these new schools need because they have done the work, seen the growth in their students, and recognized the value of this work.

As principals it is our responsibility to work with the leadership in the new schools and to continue to develop the expertise within our own schools by continuing and deepening the work that is already embedded. The success of this Foundation work will depend on the leadership capacity that has been developed within the Cornerstone schools. Working with other schools will require not only principals who can lead but teachers who are willing to be literacy leaders.

This journey with Cornerstone has not always been an easy one, but it has been a joyful one; and although one part of this journey ends, another begins. As I know you do, I look forward to beginning this new journey.

CSI: Horry County
Making It a School Wide Initiative:
Comprehension Strategies Institute on June 14-18

	Barbara Ammons Principal, Waccamaw Elementary School Horry County, SC
	Donna Hooks Principal, South Conway Elementary School Horry County, SC

South Conway and Waccamaw Elementary Schools"How exactly do we do Cornerstone?" This was the question we heard from teachers at South Conway and Waccamaw Elementary Schools as we found ourselves beginning our first year in the Cornerstone initiative. As principals, we knew it was our responsibility to work with the teachers not to "do Cornerstone" but to better understand how children learn. We knew for sure we could not do it alone. We needed the collective ideas and knowledge of the "experts" in our buildings- those practitioners who were working hard every day to ensure that all children were learning at deep levels.

We were fortunate to have three exceptional coaches in each building whom the staff respected and trusted. They were creating learning opportunities in their own classrooms where children were encouraged to read, write, think critically, reason, analyze and evaluate, and communicate effectively. Further, the coaches were not only master teachers; they were also natural leaders. We trusted their expertise and relationships with their colleagues to help us know what was really going on in our schools and to help lead us through the rough spots. Since our schools are only a few miles apart, our coaches were also able to share ideas and frustrations with one another. In January, we presented to our school board as a unified team- not two separate schools.

We also knew from the beginning that we did not want a "Cornerstone Club" to develop with just the coaches and us as members. We began early to enlarge the leadership team to include teachers who were quickly grasping the Cornerstone principles and strategies and who were modeling them in their classrooms. We encouraged them to share and test their ideas about best practices. During weekly common planning sessions, teachers began to talk about what was working and what was not working. Quite naturally, leaders began to emerge and the leadership team continued to increase in number and excitement.

We worked hard to create a climate of high expectations and accountability for student learning. Our teachers constantly monitored student progress and shared those results with us and with their colleagues. They shared ideas with one another that worked and others that were a complete disaster. They felt the urgency for improving instruction at every grade level and believed in collective accountability for student achievement. Quite lively discussion arose during our Mosaic of Thought book talks as teachers worked hard to understand reading comprehension strategies and to daily raise expectations for their students and for themselves.

It is now March and some teachers are still asking, "How exactly do we do Cornerstone?" More, however, are asking for a week during the summer to study reading comprehension strategies more intensely and to have time to watch their colleagues model effective comprehension classroom instruction. As principals, we are listening to their needs and trying hard to make it happen. We know as instructional leaders it is our responsibility to find a way and not make excuses. Plans are well underway for a week in June called CSI -Comprehension Strategies Institute. It will be led and taught by the teachers from South Conway and Waccamaw Elementary Schools- professionals who daily raise the bar for our students and for themselves.

Our week will include stage setting by Ellin and Becky, along with Edna's reminder of our moral purpose. The centerpiece, however, will be the work of coaches and teachers, leadership teams our two new Horry County Cornerstone Schools, and district staff developers. Each day our coaches and focus teachers for the year will give an overview of the strategy, setting a theoretical context. Then teachers will observe a model lesson with students while coaches provide commentary, helping them to know what they are seeing, using techniques from the Cornerstone Summer Institute, the regional meeting, and our own schools throughout the year. While students are being dismissed each day, observers will have an opportunity to generate questions about the strategy and anything they saw during the lesson, as preparation for a longer conversation with the teacher who taught that lesson. Each teacher attending the Comprehension Strategies Institute will get copies of all the lessons taught during the week and the books for each lesson.

And where will we, the two Cornerstone principals, be during this week? We'll be working shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues, the other instructional leaders of our school, listening to teachers and being particularly attentive as leadership implications emerge, and striving hard to learn from them--the real experts.