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History:
In 1991, under the
leadership of Dr. Robert
Parks, a plan was designed to
reconfigure the educational
landscape by "linking" a group
of schools in the Deerfield
Beach area together. This
established a collaborative
effort to provide better
educational opportunities for
students. By the time the
Innovation Zone concept was
brought before the School
Board to be adopted as policy,
it had already begun changing
the face of education in
Broward.
The
Zones consist of a cluster of
schools that includes a high
school, middle school(s),
elementary schools and
centers. The Zones break down
"barriers" and divide the
District into 23
representative, responsive and
manageable geographic areas
while maintaining the
importance and influence a big
district demands.
In
molding the Innovation Zone
concept, the main priority was
that all facets of the
educational environment be
addressed. Schools were
organized in a feeder pattern
or community-centered concept
to promote a smooth, constant
base of support.
The
idea is by being part of an
Innovation Zone, individual
schools benefit through
coordination, collaboration
and shared decision making
with other area schools.
Schools are now part of a team
effort and share resources to
maximize opportunities and
improve the education of
students.
Students,
parents and the community
benefit in a number of ways
through Innovation Zones.
Zones create a bottom-up
decision making process as
well as provide more ways for
parents to become involved in
the process. In addition, the
Zones have streamlined
operations and created
attentive administrations and
localized chains of command.
By using Innovation Zones to
decentralize the school system
rather than breaking it into
smaller districts, we remain
powerful enough to meet the
needs of all our
students. |
