November 3, 2021

Virgil Sheppard – President and CEO, Hope Partnership for Education

Hope Partnership for Education is a co-sponsored ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

With a cloudless blue sky overhead, September 8th was a picture-perfect first day of school at Hope. Teachers were overjoyed to welcome students back to in-person learning, and students seemed genuinely happy and excited to see their teachers and friends after a long period of virtual learning.

A “blue carpet,” balloons, and jolly “Welcome Back” sign greeted students as they entered the building, where they also found “Welcome Home” balloons suspended from the lobby ceiling.

The sounds of laughter, whooping, and cheers in the gym signaled that it was back to school time at Hope Partnership. As we have returned to in-person learning, a huge component for the year will be amplifying student voice and socio-emotional learning. One tool we will be utilizing to support both areas will be the Holistic Student Assessment (HSA). This learning tool will provide data directly from the student’s voice to better support socio-emotional learning for the school year.