Overview
With a long history of delivering high quality education, the City University of New York is the flagship public university in New York City. In addition to developing and delivering innovative teacher training programs, CUNY has provided nationally recognized services to NYC public schools for more than 30 years. The CUNY School Support Organization (SSO) is a natural extension of the University's commitment to the city's public schools through its collaborative programs and teacher education programs.
The goal of the CUNY SSO is to provide outstanding support to a group of schools that share a commitment to preparing middle and high school students for success in college—meaning that a rigorous high school program and subsequent enrollment in college should be the goal for all students. At CUNY, the college-bound focus begins as early as middle school and extends through the college application and admissions process.
The CUNY SSO is a gateway to University-based resources and expertise. This broad access to CUNY services provides an integrated solution to increasing the number of students who are eligible for admission to selective programs, colleges, and universities.
The focus on increasing the number of students who are prepared for college has paid off—for both schools in the CUNY School Support Organization and their students. As a result of the work done in our network schools, the CUNY School Support Organization is the #1 Rated School Support Organization based on the DOE’s measures of school accountability and principal satisfaction.
How We Support Schools
The CUNY School Support Organization:
- offers individualized and responsive service to meet the diverse needs of each school:
- day-to-day operational support
- data support, reporting and monitoring
is a small network of middle and high schools
connects schools to a wide range of CUNY resources, including partnerships, professional development opportunities, faculty consultants, research centers, and student events
creates unique network-wide initiatives designed to meet the needs identified by school leaders:
- online curriculum mapping—all schools have access to a Web-based service that enables teachers to collaborate on curriculum development and assessment.
- Network Councils—teachers can participate in collaborative working groups focused on key instructional areas: writing instruction, special education services, and math instruction. CUNY consultants reinforce lessons learned by visiting teachers in their classrooms and working with teacher teams to best meet student needs.
is supported by a Dedicated Service Team at the ISC. This is an innovative pilot program designed to align and maximize support services to participating PSO schools based on their individual PSO models. The Dedicated Service Team at the ISC will provide participating PSO schools with the range of expertise available through the ISCs with high level customized service and school accountability. Under this pilot program, all schools in a PSO network affiliated with Replications, CUNY, Fordham and AED will be served by a single dedicated ISC team, consisting of budget, human resources, payroll and applications support. Other ISC services such as Special Education and Youth Development will work in close partnership with the members of the Dedicated Service Team and the PSO staff to maximize support for schools.
CUNY School Support Organization Key Staff
A School Support Coordinator is the primary point of contact for a group of seven to ten schools, providing onsite support and coaching at least twice a month. Focus areas—defined by the school leader—may include:
- Leadership support and coaching.
- Professional development for groups of teachers on topics as diverse as classroom management, effective lesson-planning, curriculum mapping, and using data to plan instruction.
- Interpretation of Progress Report scores, and presentation to school teams.
- Preparation for School Quality Reviews and Principal Performance Reviews.
- One-on-one coaching of individual teachers.
- Classroom observation and feedback to teachers and administrators.
The Operations Specialist provides direct support to in the following areas: human resources, budgets and purchasing, student recruitment and enrollment, pupil accounting, student data and accountability, school safety, and compliance issues. The Operations Specialist has direct access to schools’ ATS, Galaxy, HSST, ARIS, and other systems.
The Research and Data Manager synthesizes school data designed to promote a deep understanding of student performance in each school. In addition, the Research and Data Manager analyzes individual schools’ data using ARIS, ATS, and HSST systems to insure that all principals and school staff understand important aspects of the DOE accountability measures.
The University Resource Manager develops partnerships between network schools and the faculty, programs and centers throughout the University. Areas of expertise throughout CUNY include curriculum development, instructional practices, special education, youth development, ESL support, organizational development, school leadership, counseling, college and career readiness and more.
CUNY Resources & Programs
The faculty, programs, and centers throughout CUNY’s 23 campuses have a wealth of expertise and experience working with public school students, teachers, and leaders. Additionally, the University’s colleges have provided opportunities for public school students to take advantage of college-sponsored learning through College Now and its Middle Grades Initiative/GEAR UP Project. New and well-established schools have also benefited from the physical and professional resources of the colleges made available through affiliated schools and early college relationships.
All schools in the CUNY SSO network will be able to access the full range of University-based services on an as-needed basis. A few specific examples of CUNY partnerships include:
College Now
Middle Grades Initiative
Early College Initiative
At Home in College
New York City Math Project
New York City Writing Project
American Social History Project
CUNY Language Immersion Program
CUNY Counseling and Youth Development Faculty
Office of Admissions Services
Creative Arts Team
Best Fit
The CUNY School Support Organization works with middle and high schools throughout the city. We welcome schools with a variety of programs, models and encourage new schools and those looking to develop innovative services to join the network. We work with schools that are looking to deepen pre-existing relationships with CUNY colleges, as well as those seek to develop new relationships.
Schools choosing the CUNY School Support Organization share a commitment to preparing middle and high school students for success in college — meaning that no matter what the ability level of students as they enter, programs and supports should be made available to help students move toward a college-ready standard. Schools should also be committed to increasing the numbers of students who are eligible for admission to selective colleges and universities.
Feedback from Principals
CUNY is the #1 Ranked School Support Organization based on the DOE’s measures of school accountability and principal satisfaction
- 41% of Progress Report Scores improved by one or more letter grades from 2006-07 to 2007-08
- 90% of Principals received a rating of “Exceeds” or “Substantially Exceeds” on their 2007-08 Principal Performance Review
- 38% of Principals received CSA bonuses for 2007-08
“CUNY’s support in the areas of professional development, business management and refining my personal leadership allows me to focus directly—and positively—on improving the instruction of the children in my school.” Principal, CUNY SSO
“CUNY answers my questions even before I think of them.” Principal, CUNY SSO
“CUNY knows my school well; their support is attuned exactly to the needs we have. For them, one size DOESN’T fit all.” Principal, CUNY SSO
"CUNY's network provides a valuable resource of varied principal experience, thoroughly competent budget, hiring and compliance support, and thoughtful instructional leadership." Principal, CUNY SSO
Price
The cost of CUNY School Support Center’s services varies by school size. Please refer to the table for a price based on the schools’ projected enrollment for 2007–08.
| School Size |
Price |
| 100–1,000 |
$36,502 |
| 1,001–1,700 |
$38,502 |
| 1,701–2,500+ |
$42,394 |
For More Information
Please contact:
Cass Conrad, Executive Director, CUNY School Support Organization, 646-344-7267, cass.conrad@mail.cuny.edu, or visit our website.
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