Clifford School Honored with Countywide Recognition
Clifford School Honored with Countywide Recognition
Returning to school following distance learning shined a light on many inequities and issues faced by students across the nation–and Redwood City School District teachers knew that this must be addressed swiftly and creatively. Clifford School, a National Urban Alliance Demonstration School, is now being recognized for its herculean efforts to close opportunity gaps among students through collaboration.
Clifford School is among a small list of Kent Award winners this spring for its implementation of and partnership with the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (NUA). The annual Kent Award highlights innovative, inspiring, and outstanding programs in San Mateo County Schools.
“Thanks to the expertise of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education and their partnership with our teachers, our students are owning their learning--they are engaged and excited to learn. It’s thrilling to walk into a Clifford classroom,” shared Superintendent Dr. John Baker as the school’s leadership team, teachers, and parents accepted the Kent Award.
School Board members and NUA representatives also joined in the celebration as the San Mateo County School Boards Association (CSBA) honored the Clifford community.
Work with the NUA has been ongoing for Clifford School faculty and staff, as well as students, in an effort to foster self-efficacy by building conviction, capacity, and confidence. The “Pedagogy of Confidence” model embraces student strengths and builds upon them to lift up students while focusing on development of social emotional needs.
Clifford NUA Demonstration School teachers took part in intensive mentoring, professional development, and debriefing opportunities to prepare to launch this model. They returned to campus ready with NUA strategies.
Engagement increased across the board by providing intentional opportunities to build relationships with content and with peers, activating student strengths, ensuring enrichment opportunities for all students, and promoting higher order thinking. Teachers observed a heightened joy of learning with these strength-based strategies in place.
The Clifford NUA Demonstration School is recognized by the The San Mateo County School Boards Association with a 2023 Kent Award in the area of Effective Education Collaborative. Named after past San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools, J. Russell Kent, the award program was initiated in the 1980-81 school year.