Once a month representatives from each Questar III building come together to share ideas and familiarize one another with events and issues in their buildings. This group is called the School Improvement Agency Team and it involves an exchange of information between educators to improve the organization as a whole.
Since 1994, the New York State Education Department approved Shared Decision Making plan has included this Agency Team as a way to create building level leadership. Each building has its own School Improvement Team that meets once a month. A representative from each of those teams makes up the organizational-wide School Improvement Agency Team.
According to Ed Fallon, school psychologist at Questar III’s Rensselaer Academy and chair of the School Improvement Agency Team, the group keeps each other updated on everything from new academic initiatives, to fundraising ideas, training programs and more.
Naturally, Fallon said he benefits from hearing what the students and staff at the other special education buildings are doing. They can share ideas, and try them out at their own buildings. However, there is also a benefit to learning about what’s happening in administration or what colleagues in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are accomplishing.
“We might find out more about CTE opportunities that we may not have known existed,” said Fallon. “The team meetings give us an idea of what our students can aspire to in high school and in adult education.”
The work of the School Improvement Agency Team is closely aligned with Questar III’s strategic plan, Shared Success. Specifically, it helps to accomplish the goals of the first initiative. By learning from one another, the team is helping Questar III to “become a learning organization.” Staff is continuously learning and growing professionally and organizationally.
Fallon said that because there are so many programs, services and locations within the organization, it’s easy to feel insulated on day-to-day activities. “It’s important to become aware of all segments of our organization and their activities,” he said. “It gives us a sense of our organization as a whole and what it accomplishes.”
The team includes: Ed Fallon (chair), Rensselaer Academy; Vanessa Morin, George Washington School; Ben Funk, Catskill Academy; Erin Madigan, Sackett Educational Center; Danny Ramirez, Rensselaer Educational Center; Lynn Seftner, Columbia-Greene Educational Center; Emily Bluhm and Jeannette Hallock, in-district special education; Chris Foster, Adult Education; and Andrew DeFeo, administration.
