I am looking for a lot of people who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done.

Henry Ford

Tiger Teams

Background

Avenues Tiger Teams borrow from a proud NASA tradition of organizational innovation. Traditionally, a tiger team is a group of experts assigned to investigate and solve difficult problems. In modern usage, a tiger team can also be a self-organized group of people who are close to a problem and passionate to fix it. In both cases, tiger teams are given wide latitude within the organization to stretch operating rules and bypass bureaucracy in order to solve mission-critical problems. In the words of J.R. Dempsey, aerospace pioneer and coiner of the term, tiger team members tend to be “undomesticated and uninhibited technical specialists, selected for their experience, energy, and imagination.”

Purpose

Nurture and protect an agile, innovative, and proactive culture by empowering Avenues employees, parents, and students to form tiger teams to research problems, develop innovative solutions, and present results and recommendations directly to leadership.

Teams

Log in with your Avenues.org account to view or create teams.

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MISSION

TEAM

Currently, there are no developmentally appropriate play spaces for gross motor development at our SZ campus, and we have found this is a common problem. Through research and the ideas of the ELC staff, we will provide a document to the design team outlining the needs in our play spaces.

Cameron Speer Abby Trewavas Xuefei Zheng

We have seen that there is a lack of connection to AWE for our youngest learners. Our team is creating a teacher resource to help students track and demonstrate their understanding and skill development of AWE Jr.

Angela Xu Ryan Baxter Heather Golem Sihui Qian Yulin Zhang Xinyun Zhang Glodalis Espinosa-Santana

Faculty and staff have raised concerns about diversity and racial awareness and its impact on our campus culture and curriculum. We will explore race within our community in order to strengthen culture at the Avenues São Paulo campus.

Juliana Salles (Lead), Anne Baldisseri (Lead), Renata Lima, Renata Ziegert, Guilherme Mello, Sylvia Guimaraes

Develop and implement a global recruitment strategy for upper division math teachers.

Diego Merino (Lead), Jessica Carey, Carmel Schettino, Maggie Wollner, Mike Maccarone, JP Connolly, Neha Kale

In order to create consistency across learning spaces around personal smartphone usage, and to give teachers a regulatory framework for managing these personal devices in the classroom, the Upper Division would like a formal policy on student smartphone usage during the academic day.

TBD - will establish once the school year starts.

MISSION

TEAM

Our Tiger Team is designed to address the number of dress code violations on campus. We are creating a strict enforcement policy with clear consequences when a violation has occurred. Teachers will also be educated on the guidelines and enforcement policies.

Kaili Keller (Lead) Brady Smith Kendra Wilson Melissa Kubin Jessica Curley

Within the Lower Division, teachers use a variety of strategies, structures and lessons to support social-emotional learning of their students. While these are effective in different classrooms and at different grade levels, there is not a clear continuum of SEL practices for the LD.

Lead: Rachel Reinhard, Megan Weber and Julia Carey Junhua Zhong, Anabel Goa, Shelah Mulhere, Regina Hardatt, Rachel Lang

Create a guiding philosophy for student behavioral expectations and a strategy to address misconduct, along with corresponding protocols, reporting measures, interventions and consequences.

Evan Glazer (Lead), Andy Torris, Tim Carr, Ham Clark

We plan to gather information about English word study practices in grades 3-5. Based on our research, we will outline a scope and sequence curriculum, learning targets, assessment tools and resources so that the curriculum can be written and later implemented by grades 3-5 English teachers.

Julie Achenbaum (Lead), Nicole Yerk, Carolyn Ban, Anna Serrao, Stacy Rezos, Steve Wallace.

Develop an integrated view of high-quality assessment, report card and qualitative data that is relevant to teachers/admin/parents/students. The goals of these views are to understand student performance, existing efforts to stretch student success, and make plans to improve outcomes.

Daniel Greenblatt (co-lead), Evan Glazer (co-lead), Julia Higdon, Daniel Saniski, Jen Davenport, Andy Williams, Dyanne Kaufman, Laly Porras

In collaboration with the Museu do Amanhã in Rio develop project seeds of tomorrow based on a unifying concept of Future Literacy. Increase faculty understanding of a new concept of Future Literacy aiding transference and implementation of underserved AWE based concepts.

Andrew Williams (Lead), Mike Maccarone, Zoltan Sarda, Ryan Sawtell, Rebecca Strauss, Alexandre Fernandes, Bruna Baffa

We are creating an executable, 3 year rollout plan for a creative computation program in grades 6-10, with the goal of intermediate level on the AWE scale for all students, and a robust elective plan for advanced and expert level course or project work in 11-12.

Kelly Brandon (Lead), Katy Garnier, Steve Carpenter, Yumi Nakanishi, Jacob Goren

We will devise best practices for email etiquette among colleagues to limit the number of messages that are being distributed on a daily basis. We will also develop methods for staff members to manage their inboxes to reduce stress and lead to better work-life balance.

Alissa Dufour (Lead) Jennifer Inniss Jesse Schulman Austin Mixsell Ariella Diamond Jen Davenport

As Avenues opens up new campuses we are cognizant of creating a positive and connected culture within individual schools as well as across campuses. Thus, developing a comprehensive strategy regarding language use can help transform a potential cultural vulnerability into a source of advantage.

Andrew Williams (Lead) Cristine Conforti, Raina Gilchrist, Karina Sanghikian, Kristin Damberger, Angela Yu.

Explore learning collaborations between Sao Paulo and New York where students are working with and learning from each other remotely.

Evan Glazer (co-Lead), Andy Williams (co-Lead), Molly Rose Avila, Mike Maccarone, Zoltan Sarda, Dan Hughes, Joe D'Annibale

Pilot the use of online projects and differentiated interviews in UD admissions so as to identify predictors of success at Avenues, internationalize admissions, and increase yield.

Austin Volz (Lead), Leo Kalikow, Julia Higdon, Keven Lee

A cross-disciplinary team of experts will be dispatched to Avenues São Paulo during opening week to conduct user research from an experience-design (XD) perspective, and to then memorialize their observations and lessons learned for the benefit São Paulo and future Avenues campuses.

William Lidwell (Lead), Jenny Aleman, Susan Beans, Fernando Naigeborin, David Palumbo, Paulo Pita, Jared Thorn

MISSION

TEAM

A common framework is needed for a way in which to provide students opportunities to explore and understand Avenues values with regard to character and ethics in Lower/Primary Divisions. We seek to implement effective social/emotional learning in a way that aligns with Avenues’ values.

Merrill Murphy (Lead), Eric Ogden, Anne Baldisseri, Julia Carey, Megan Weber, Daniela Pannuti

Develop Learning Outcomes Scales for Avenues Community Engagement & Inclusion

Evan Glazer, AnaMaria Correa (Lead) Zoltan Sarda Kevin Murungi Regina Hardatt Emma Creeden Mark Gutkowski

Develop and market online STEAM projects for ESL students in China wanting advanced English instruction in preparation for study at a US university. Enroll student(s) to pilot the program during the 2018-19 school year.

Angela Xu (Marketing Lead), Steve Dracht (Curriculum and Instruction Lead)

Our goal is to create and support the implementation of a framework to provide faculty with the clarity associated with their role accountabilities that goes beyond core teaching expectations.

Andrew Williams (Lead), Tiffany Trotter, Juliana Salles, Steve Carpenter Ham Clark, John Ciallelo

Our aim is to develop an Avenues-wide goal-setting philosophy, accompanied by guidance and tools for all colleagues, that engages individuals, incites learning, rapidly develops skills and improves results.

Amy Helbig (Lead), Becca Howlett, Juliana Salles, David Rhoads, Diego Merino, Anne Baldisseri, Mike Maccarone

We are creating an AWE scale for Creative Computation to create a pathway for consistent and comprehensive instruction for all students. We believe that computational thinking and computer programming are essential skills necessary for all our students to fullfil the Avenues’ mission.

Kelly Brandon (Lead) Katy Garnier Steve Carpenter Yumi Nakanishi Jacob Goren Erin Finn-Welch

Kindergarten is a year of transition from the ELC into the Lower Division. To ensure a smooth transition for the children and their families, we want to look more deeply at our expectations for each grade and the supports in place for students and teachers.

Rachel Newbauer (Lead) Melissa Kubin Melissa Pagano Ya ju Tsai Anabel Goa Emily Dipalma

Middle Grade Program Design: Create a well defined instructional pathway for mathematics at Avenues.

Andrew Williams (Lead), Cem Inaltong, Carmel Schettino

Professional Learning: Articulate a comprehensive strategy and underlying philosophy for professional learning at Avenues.

Andrew Williams (Lead), Julia Chun, Ingrid Lamia, Maggie Wollner, Mike Macarrone, Cem Inaltong, Jonathan Wang, Zoltan Sarda, Anne Baldisseri

Common educational requirements in grades 1-9 and the large footprint of a full Avenues campus are challenges to opening new campuses. The Mastery Academy in Shenzhen aims to pilot a unique curricular model while building government relationships to pave the way for Avenues' first China campus.

Austin Volz (Lead), Pedro Jofre Lora, Li-Dai Lu, Grace Jackson, Tim Carr

We aim at creating a new set of Chinese speaking assessment for Upper Division that is aligned to Avenues Language Scale. The set of speaking assessments aims to be feasible and efficient to administer, accurate to reflect students' proficiency skills and age appropriate to the UD students.

Haiwen Lu (Lead), yongling Lu, Yi-Ching Hsieh

We're adjusting our current math assessments in the Lower Division to be longitudinal by design, and to cover the right content. Our goal is to show student growth over multiple years, and be able to monitor whether students are on track for in the Middle Grades math program and beyond.

Jeanne Bouvier, Julia Higdon, Tom Patten, Chihiro Yoshida

We need a way to involve faculty in conducting research, provide more organizational support for faculty and R&D research, and provide a way to create and sustain a culture of innovation and research at Avenues NYC and Sao Paulo.

Julia Higdon (Lead), Işıl Çelimli, Abby Brody, & David Palumbo

This team will review our current expectations for handwriting instruction focusing on Pre-K through 3rd. After confirming best practices, we will create a scope and sequence for handwriting expectations, with clear guidelines for teachers as well as develop resources for parents.

Ali Lesch (Lead), Gina Guerrero, Jenna Krueger, Amy Frattarola, Gabi Carr, Regina Hardatt

The Lower Division is looking for a way to consolidate the disparate elements of our PD program into a more cohesive and effective model that will promote both teacher and student engagement and enable us to "continually invest in ways to become better at what we do."

Ingrid Lamia (Lead) Jeanne Bouvier Dyanne Kauffman Eric Ogden

MISSION

TEAM

The parent survey gives us a opportunity to rescue families who are not happy before they withdraw, and to partner with our many enthusiastic supporters. The goal is to propose processes, tools, and support for school leaders to use data to proactively and effectively reach out to parents.

Julia Higdon (Lead), Tim Hudson, Melissa Kubin, Eric Ogden, Drew Cortese, Mark Gutkowski

To pilot the Global Academic Dean role in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school year across two or more Avenues campuses.

Michael Maccarone, Cem Inaltong, Jonathan Wang, Ty Tingley

"Right Angle's" mission is to find and pilot the intervention program that is the "reading recovery" of math. Based on our data, students who struggle in 1st in math, continue to struggle come 4th. They will research programs and recommend one.

Jeanne Bouvier (Lead), Eric Ogden, Dyanne Kaufman, Amy Frattarola, Dan Hughes, Megan Weber, and Tom Patten

Evaluate internal intranet-like sharing and collaboration tools to simplify communications, build community and collaborate across Avenues faculty and families.

Ed Huang (Lead), Faith Rosen, Tara Clark, Ellen Greenberg, Laly Porras

• Create an education plan that genuinely captures Avenues approach, persuades officials of our innovation, and demonstrates a deep knowledge of Shanghai Education • Complete all documents in the education plan application checklist （培养目标、教学计划、教学大纲、课程体系、中国文化课程、教材引进渠

Austin Volz (Lead), Haiwen Lu, Jenny Guo, Matt Scott, Li-Dai Lu

One of the root causes believed to underlie many scheduling problems is lack of clear and validated A-Z process. Accordingly, this team is drawing on lessons learned from past years to design a step-by-step A-Z scheduling algorithm to mitigate these problems going forward.

William Lidwell (Lead), Dirk DeLo, Liz Lee, Matt Scott

Define fluency of an Avenues graduate and create language plan for N-12

Abby Brody (Lead), Angela Xu, Yibo Lu, Julie Yankowitz

Conference Redesign. This Tiger Team will research successful parent conference models (including student-led conferences) and propose a pilot for grades 3-5 at Avenues, with hopes of expanding the scope of the redesign in future years. WHY: To bring students into the learning process and allow for

Joseph D'Annibale (lead), Ingrid Lamia, Jamie Lilly, Yingwen Chen, Jacob Goren

3rd-5th will participate in SPARK (passion research project) for 1 month. WHY: Parents are split 50/50 with HW, too much/ too little. It is difficult to please all parties. HW in K-5 has no effect on achievement Mission appropriate SUCCESS post survey of students, teachers and parents show value

Abby Brody (Lead), Ryan Baxter, Rhoda Aquino, Anna Valle, Chloe Guo, Julie Achenbaum

Click 'Create Team' above to create a new Tiger Team.

Ed Novak (Lead)

MISSION

TEAM

Create a better process for tracking attendance

Chequanna Kelley (Lead) Stephann Dubois Jeremy Bhatia JoAnn Luquis Lisa Melore

Develop a scope and sequence for Integrating computer science into the LS curriculum for the 2016-2017 school year.

Kristen Paino (Lead), Ben Lesch, Raina Crawford, Jeanne Bouvier, Stephany Arcentales, Joe D'Annibale, Jake Goren, Pablo Provencio, Anne Marie Scully

Looking at recent data we are not seeing the improvement we would like in English spelling through our word study program. This fall we launched 3 word study programs in first grade classrooms and will compare student growth

Dyanne Kaufman (Lead), Melissa Kubin, Salvi Muzio, Amy Frattaraola, Hillie Anderson, and Dan Wallace

I'd like to form a tiger team to explore possible performances venues within walking distance of Avenues. Ideally, the space would be a theater that can seat 200-300 people for concerts, plays, productions, etc.

Neil Ginsberg (Lead) Brendan Dolan, Megan Cramer, Gustavo Schartz

Middle School Global Issues Curriculum

Tim Steffen (Lead), Todd Holcomb, Erin Finn-Welch, Emma Creeden, Tiffany Reedy

There is a need to establish a structure of consequences and corrective action for issues that arise, whether behavioral, social, or academic. To date, faculty and staff have been frustrated by the perceived, or real, lack of course of action when students fail to adhere to established standards and

Erin Finn-Welch (Lead), Pete Moravetz (Lead), Abbi Simpson, Tiffany Reedy, Bernard Geoxavier, Katie Arpin, Emma Creeden

Create an exemplar text for the World Course at the Beijing campus. This WC text will follow the global sequencing, but be locally adapted for use in Beijing. It assumes common global assessments and frequent student-to-student collaboration across borders.

Michael Levy (Lead). Ophelia Ma, Austin Volz

Program to support the transition from traditional math pedagogies to Exeter-style for MS students and new US students.

Eduardo Guzman (Lead), Sarah Davies, Li-Dai Lu, Agnieszka Goral, Julie Bevad, Sally Kent

Project-Based Course Design

Todd Shy (Lead), Mike Levy

Develop the scope and sequence of intended Upper School WC curriculum. We will be examining how WC can be more multidisciplinary and how we can implement WC across global campuses and within the new schedule. This includes looking at the degree our program overlaps with other disciplines.

Stephanie Shore; Isil Celimli; Ryan Martin; Ivan Cestero

ERP/SIS Platform- Conduct a needs assessment which will allow us to determine how we should evolve our core systems to fully support our global network

Min Kim (Lead) Blake Bush Laly Porras Susan Beans

What's Next Research 2.0

Dirk DeLo (Lead), Julia Higdon, Will Lidwell, Isil Celimli

LS report card redesign.

Abby Brody (Lead), Leslegih Gennace, Kathy Huamani, Melissa Kubin, Ingrid Lamia, Rachel Newbauer, Eric Ogden, Angela Xu

Increase stair use through interaction design—continued from 2014-15

Harrison Silver, Kelly Brandon (Lead), Ellis Wells, Daniel Pryor, Sydney Judge, Agnieszka Goral, Christopher Cleaver, Hannah Ellis-Gibbs, Lucas Folz

Tiger Mini-semester: Evaluate second language output and LS student engagement in week on/week off immersion model (3-year study)

Abby Brody (Lead), Rhonda Davis, Ingrid Lamia, Lana Parker, Angela Xu

Design “Schedule 2.0” for 2016-17

Andrew Williams (Lead), Libby Hixson, Judy Fox, Steven Carpenter, Liz Lee, Dirk DeLo, Lauren Befell, Amy Young

MISSION

TEAM

Upgrade first floor experience for visitors—admissions interviews

AJ Mesiti, Raymond Bordwell, Carol Gretter, Kate Howard, Kate Howard, Andy Clayman, Sam Smith

Fix MS schedule for 2014-15 and design “New Schedule of Thought” for 2015-16

Dirk DeLo, Libby Hixson, Liz Lee, Mike Maccarone, Andrew Williams (Lead)

Artist-in-Residence program

Gil Morgenstern, Andy Clayman

Improve the NYC building visiting/using experience

AJ Mesiti, Raymond Bordwell, Kate Howard, William Lidwell

Develop high-fidelity bottom-up staffing model for new campuses

Lauren Bedell (Lead), John Ciallelo, Julie Fahey, Ben Newton, Matthew Teachout, Andrew Williams

Upgrade the elevator experience—performance, reliability, usability, emotional reaction

AJ Mesiti, William Lidwell, Steve Hanon, Sam Smith, Mike Maccarone, Cem Inaltong

Develop strategies to improve building acoustics

Mike Maccarone, Sarah Davies, Andrew Blum, Alma von Graffenreid, Oliver Cohen

Increase stair use through interaction design

Harrison Silver, Kelly Brandon (Lead), Ellis Wells, Daniel Pryor, Sydney Judge, Agnieszka Goral, Christopher Cleaver, Hannah Ellis-Gibbs, Lucas Folz

Math Tutorials: Close skill gaps in math skills for students with deficits; Increase challenge/difficulty for advanced students

Cem Inaltong, Mike Maccarone, Yongling Lu, Amy Young, Mike Levy, Ty Tingley

Project Octopus: Improve decision making through better data collection and system integration

Julia Higdon (Lead), Dirk DeLo, Jeff Clark, Andrew Williams, Tyler Tingley

Evaluate new associates' performance and align them to well-defined classroom responsibilities

Vanya Anaya, Gabby Carr, Inez Gonzalez, Dan Wallace, Janie Ruiz Yang, Wei Zhang

Leverage existing benchmarks model created in Spanish to create K-4 benchmarks

Joesph D\'Annibale, Anabel Goa, Kathy Huamani, Roberto Lazo, Johanna Mendez, Julie Yankowitz

Improve dual-language literacy in upper elementary grades

Eric Ogden, Jamie Lilly, Dyanne Kaufman, Julie Yankowitz

Improve second-language integration in new schedule design

Sarah Bayne, Roberto Lazo, Yongling Lu

Redesign 5th term within the New Schedule of Thought

Amy Young, Stephanie Shore, Mike Maccarone, Jonathan Wang, Todd Shy (Lead)

Develop WORLD Vision for New Schedule of Thought

Todd Shy (Lead), Jonathan Wang, Tiffany Trotter, Adam Jernigan, Jordan Kravitz, Ryan Martin, Tiffany Reedy, Roberto Lazo, Yongling Lu

Develop STEAM Vision for New Schedule of Thought

Cem Inaltong (Lead), Mike Maccarone, Kate Howard, Sally Kent, Bridget Ferrick, Li-Dai Lu and Sarah Davies

Design an advisory experience that is aligned with college admissions goals

Amy Young (Lead), Saybel Nunez, Kim Allen, Tiffany Trotter, Sarah Davies

Develop recommendations to integrate interdisciplinary projects in new schedule

Todd Shy, Austin Volz, Steven Carpenter, Mike Levy

MISSION

TEAM

Design ELC alternate day program

Alicia Stoller, Meredith Murphy

Plan/Prototype schedule for 2014-15

Yongling Lu, Cem Inaltong, Mike Maccarone

ELC Fellowship Program: Increase teacher consistency and stability in ELC for youngest children

Alicia Stoller, Meredith Murphy

AIM Program: Increase chaperones to maintain order and performance in LS

Rachel Newbauer, Stephanie Leung, Ingrid Lamia, Abby Brody, Eric Ogden

Academic Coach: Increase individual attention/supervision for underperforming students

Amy Young, Sarah Davies, Tiffany Trotter, Saybel Nunez

Improve CS meeting efficiency

Amy Young, Alia Methven, Kate Howard, Laly Porras, Todd Shy

Improve faculty evaluation system to better fit with Avenues culture/curriculum

Jonathan Wang, Roberto Lazo, Tiffany Trotter

Create Avenues organization design 1.0

Steven Hanon, David Rhoads

Roundtable Discussions: Improve communication between HQ and school leadership

Lauren Bedell, Ty Tingley, Liane Pei, Marcia Tingley, Libby Hixson, Nancy Shulman

Create a New Tiger Team

  1. Identify a problem and assemble a small team to solve it (6 or fewer members if possible).
  2. Create a design brief for your team. Click here to download a design brief template.
  3. Meet with the decision maker to whom you would like to ultimately present. This person will help you fill out the RAPID role assignments. Click here to download an article about RAPID.
  4. Register your tiger team using the form below. A member of the Tiger Works will follow up with you to assess what support, if any, you require. Once registered, your team will appear in the active team list above.
  5. Produce the team’s deliverables (and celebrate the effort!).

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