LEAF, Inc. Board of Directors

Goals

• Professional Development - Provide professional development to school leaders and district leadership teams by offering opportunities that are responsive to changes in expectations, timely, relevant, and affordable.
• Communication - Expand the knowledge of superintendents, assistant superintendents and district leadership team members about LEAF's professional development offerings by effectively marketing opportunities to superintendents, assistant superintendents, and district leadership team members.
• Technology - Use technology to operate more effectively as an organization and provide greater professional development opportunities to superintendents, assistant superintendents, and district leadership team members.

• Governance - The LEAF Board of Directors will continually review the organizational structure of the Foundation to ensure that they are operating effectively and providing the highest quality programs and services to school leaders.
• Fiscal Wellness - The LEAF Board of Directors will develop a LEAF fiscal wellness plan to ensure fiscal health and sustainability. 

Board Members

Kevin McGowan, President, LEAF, Inc. / Superintendent, Brighton CSD

David O'Rourke, Vice President / District Superintendent, Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES

Lynn Allen, Treasurer / Assistant Superintendent, Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES

Jason Andrews, Superintendent, Windsor CSD

Dale Breault, District Superintendent, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES

Luvelle Brown, Superintendent, Ithaca City Schools

Barbara Case, Superintendent, Spencer Van-Etten CSD

Rebecca Dunckel-King, Lowville Academy & CSD

Jerry Griffin, Superintendent, Potsdam CSD

Phyllis Harrington, Superintendent, Oceanside UFSD

Lisa Krueger, Assistant Superintendent, Orchard Park CSD

Ronald Masera, Superintendent, Center Moriches UFSD

Laura Seinfeld, Dean, Long Island University College of Education, Information & Technology

Mark Stratton, Superintendent, Corinth CSD

Charles Dedrick, Ex Officio Member / Executive Director, NYSCOSS

LEAF, Inc. Subscription Service for Professional Learning

2023-2024 Future Superintendents Academy Brochure

Winter Institute

2023 Winter Institute
Road to Awesome:  Empower, Lead, Change the Game 
March 5-7, 2023
Albany Capital Center
Albany, NY

Thank you for joining us for at the 2023 Winter Institute. We hope your journey on the Road to Awesome  . . . well, was AWESOME! Enjoy this wrap-up image gallery from the event.

Watch for articles from sessions in our Councilgram newsletters. Special thanks once again to our 2023 Winter Institute Title Sponsor Utica National Insurance Group.  

Fall and Winter Call for Proposal

We invite you to engage attendees in conversations by delivering a one-hour session to help education leaders build a school culture that supports learning, collaboration, and innovation. Our Education Session Call for Proposal closes on June 16, 2023 for both the 2023 Fall Leadership Summit and the 2024 Winter Institute! Sessions should be focused on one these six content areas:

• Leadership and Learning for All
• Effective Strategic Change:  Re-designing Learning
• Building School Environments for All that Support Your District's Culture
• Creating Systems for Safe, financially Stable, and Operationally Successful Schools
• Incorporating Wellness for Students, Staff, Self and Families
• Effective Advocacy at the Regional, State, and National Level

The Call for Proposal online site closes on June 16, 2023 and sessions will be considered for both the events.

Save the Date for Future Events 

• 2024 Winter Institute  
  March 3 - 5, 2024
  Albany Capital Center
  Albany, NY

• 2025 Winter Institute
  March 2 - 4, 2025
  Albany Capital Center
  Albany, NY 

Blueprint Strategic Planning Service

Practical, Focused, Collaborative, Meaningful. A simplified process that will help your organization get to where you want to be.

The Blueprint for Excellence© Strategic Planning Service is a straightforward strategic planning process that includes all members of the school community and reflects their shared perspectives. Throughout the process, community feedback and data are reviewed in order to guide all aspects of work in the organization with a focus on increasing student learning and improving stakeholder engagement.

We focus on helping school leaders identify opportunities for growth and then develop practical and specific strategies to continuously improve. This is a step-by-step process facilitated with and for the superintendent. Each step in the process is developed, prepared or facilitated on behalf of the district. The Superintendent works as a partner to provide input and direction but then all materials are created for the district and provided for distribution. Instead of being a burden, this process will help the work of the district to become streamlined and focused.

2021-22 Blueprint Strategic Planning Service Fees

A typical Blueprint Strategic Planning Service process can be completed in a month or over a longer period of time, depending on district need. All on-site (2.5 days) and off-site work (2.5 days), expenses, materials and administrative fees are a total of $15,565. This includes the consultant being available for up to 5 hours for remote consultation/coaching with the district). Additional time may be purchased. The Blueprint for Excellence© Strategic Planning Service is BOCES aidable.

About the Program Directors

Dr. Kevin McGowan is the Superintendent of Brighton CSD, a suburban district located in Monroe County, NY. Dr. McGowan joined the district in 2009 following his superintendency in  Warsaw CSD. He has also served as an elementary principal, high school assistant principal and elementary teacher. Throughout his work in each position, Dr. McGowan has focused on high quality systems that provide consistency, accountability and a focus on meeting the needs of all learners. 

Dr. McGowan is an adjunct professor at both the University of Rochester, Warner School of Education and SUNY Oswego in the Superintendent's Development Program. He is the President of the Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation and a Past-President of the New York State Council of School Superintendents. 
 
Dr. Jason Andrews is the Superintendent of the Windsor Central Schools, a position he has held since 2005 and was named the NYS Superintendent of the Year in 2019. He has served as a high school teacher, coach, co-curricular advisor and middle school principal. As superintendent, he has focused on systemic implementation of Professional Learning Communities as the vehicle to ensure student learning and a culture of continuous improvement.

Dr. Andrews is an adjunct professor at both SUNY Oswego in the Superintendent's Development Program, and at the Graduate School of Education at Binghamton University. He serves as the Vice President of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, on the Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation's Board of Directors, the National Center for Educational Research and Technology National Board and is a charter member of the Institute for Innovation.

Questions? Email blueprint@nyscoss.org for more information.

Fall Leadership Summit

2023 Fall Leadership Summit

October 1 - 3, 2023 
Saratoga Hilton & Saratoga Springs City Center
Saratoga Springs, NY

Register for the Fall event "The Audacity to Lead for ALL"where we want to live up to the promise of "All Means All," happening October 1-3, 2023 in Saratoga Springs, NY. 

Join Opening Keynote speaker Dr. Manny Scott, speaker, author, servant-leader and one of the original Freedom Writers, as we focus on ways in which schools can incorporate ideas and new systems into their curriculum and culture and hear his session "The Power of One."

Dr. Scott shares his story and several eye-opening insights of how, through hard work and with the help of others, he went from being an “unreachable” and “unteachable” student to becoming a successful student, husband, father, entrepreneur, and public servant. His message inspires people to become change agents —“Page Turners”— who help others write new, more fulfilling chapters in their lives.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn how to reach your students and make school districts more effective for ALL kids. Registration now open.

Fall and Winter Call for Proposal

We invite you to engage attendees in conversations by delivering a one-hour session to help education leaders build a school culture that supports learning, collaboration, and innovation. Our Education Session Call for Proposal closes on June 16, 2023 for both the 2023 Fall Leadership Summit and the 2024 Winter Institute! Sessions should be focused on one these six content areas:

• Leadership and Learning for All
• Effective Strategic Change:  Re-designing Learning
• Building School Environments for All that Support Your District's Culture
• Creating Systems for Safe, financially Stable, and Operationally Successful Schools
• Incorporating Wellness for Students, Staff, Self and Families
• Effective Advocacy at the Regional, State, and National Level

Save the Date for Future Events

• 2024 Fall Leadership Summit
  September 22 - 24, 2024 
  Saratoga Hilton & Saratoga Springs City Center
  Saratoga Springs, NY
  
  
• 2025 Fall Leadership Summit
  September 28 - 30, 2025 
  Saratoga Hilton & Saratoga Springs City Center
  Saratoga Springs, NY