School District of New Berlin Celebrates Regional Partnerships

The School District of New Berlin welcomed more than 300 staff and guests Dec. 7, to its fifth annual “Partners in Education” breakfast where it celebrated the importance and impact of collaborative and mutually beneficial partnerships that are aligned to regional needs to help build a strong talent pipeline.

Superintendent Joe Garza reinforced the role of K12 in the state’s economic development efforts and highlighted the district’s commitment to ensuring that all students graduate as informed consumers of postsecondary education and training. He highlighted recent statistics from the Class of 2017 showing success in college-level coursework (88 percent), career-related coursework (72 percent), engagement in work-based learning (35 percent) and attainment of an industry credential (12 percent).

“This event represents the collective efforts of our staff, industry and post-secondary partners, community members, and elected officials to ensure all students have sufficient opportunities to be exposed to, and prepared for, a variety of postsecondary pursuits in support of their current and future goals,” Garza said.

Attendees heard first-hand from students and staff how mutually beneficial relationships have positively affected teaching and learning opportunities throughout the district including programs designed to support students interested in construction, graphic production, advanced manufacturing, engineering, healthcare, computer science, enterprise technology, applied data science, entrepreneurship, education and more.

The University of Wisconsin System, Wisconsin Technical College System, and the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities were acknowledged for their support in expanding the district’s More In Four College In High School programming. The district also recognized regional partnerships that further support the district’s efforts made possible by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship, the Commons, Advancing AI Wisconsin, Pathways Wisconsin and the M7 Regional Talent Partnership.

Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, Milwaukee 7’s Executive Director Pat O’Brien and Assistant Deputy Secretary Christopher Hagerup of the Department of Workforce Development provided an update on the work at the state, regional, and county levels and commended the impact of the district’s College and Career Readiness efforts in alignment with shared objectives.

Additionally, the SDNB highlighted efforts that led to its recent STEM Forward Stemmy Award in recognition for excellence in STEM education, and announced the 2017 recipients of its "Friends of Education" awards. Award winners have had an especially significant impact on the district's work over the past year. This year’s recipients were:

• Froedtert & the Medical College for presenting at career days, hosting students at their location to inform their Academic and Career Plans, sponsoring community events, and developing a summer health care academy to allow SDNB students to take a deep dive into future health care careers before they invest in their post-secondary education.
• The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for its support to develop the district's entrepreneurial skills accelerator, which is eligible for college credit for prior learning, supporting secondary to post-secondary alignment in support of key talent pipeline efforts, and hosting academic tours to help students understand how to prepare for careers of interest.
• The Commons for supporting the launch of the district’s Advanced Innovation & Design Program (entrepreneurial skills accelerator) and convening key stakeholders in southeastern Wisconsin to encourage them to think and work differently to support regional needs.

Also at the breakfast, the district announced that Pindel Global Precision would provide a leadership gift of $5,000 with up to an additional $10,000 in matching funds to support the district’s efforts to increase student access to fabrication and advanced manufacturing equipment. Bright Star Care also announced its pledge to provide a $5,000 donation to support the district’s on-site certified nursing assistant program.

Following the breakfast, more than 100 guests participated in a variety of targeted breakout sessions to provide input and guidance on district programming to inform continuous improvement efforts.

“We hope this event demonstrates not only the collective commitment of many to support the needs of the region in a manner that serves the best interests of our students, but also the impact that their involvement has had and will continue to have on our efforts,” Garza added.