April news & updates
April 6, 2021| Issue 4
Welcome to our new newsletter. Our look has changed, but we are still delivering the same great content and sharing the success of Rochester's kids!
Virtual Meetings
Convener Meeting – Fri, April 9th 
School Readiness – Weds, April 14th 
High School Graduation – Fri, April 16th     
Youth Leadership Coalition – Sun, April 18th  
Convener Meet Up – Weds, April 21st
Early Grade Literacy – Thurs, April 22nd 
PECAN Parent Meeting – Thurs, May 20th  
Our New Home
ROC the Future has officially moved! We're excited to begin settling into our new home—albeit, many of us are still working remotely—and we thank Children’s Institute for their warm welcome. We would also like to extend a sincere thank you to The Children's Agenda for hosting us since 2013. We look forward to our continued partnership as we and all Conveners around the table reaffirm our commitment to making a positive impact for kids.

With each passing moment, a new challenge exists on the horizon for education. But we know that our partners are ready to take action to ensure the success of every child. Our students deserve the best possible chance at life, and together we can disrupt systems that have long failed our children. With Children's Institute as our new anchor, we look forward to the data driven approaches that will lead our efforts to combat learning loss and the social-emotional impact of the pandemic. Together, we will focus on changing systems in a way that benefits all scholars in Rochester.

Please find our new mailing address below:

ROC the Future
c/o Children's Institute
274 N. Goodman Street, Suite D103
Rochester, NY 14607
Get Involved
Adventure Course Design Opportunity
Beechwood teens & neighbors! KABOOM! is helping us to create a community-designed space for youth aged 13+ at Grand Ave Park by building an Adventure Course - a unique, obstacle course playspace. Join us for one of our Design Days coming up to help us design it!

ADULTS! Join here for a collaborative design session on Tuesday, April 6th, from 6:00 – 7:30 pm

TEENS! Join here for our fun, virtual design session on Wednesday, April 7th, from 5:30 - 7:00 PM

Can’t join the session? Fill out our survey to share your ideas.
Learning Loss Reduction Tool Kit
What can you do to help mitigate learning loss? Join our effort to help every student succeed despite setbacks from the pandemic. Learn more about the compounding effects of learning loss in this infographic and our community wide effort to ensure that we are on a path towards educational recovery.

ROC the Future will participate in a “rapid prioritization process” with Causewave, to help identify the critical areas we need to focus on to address learning loss – our “Wildly Important Goal” (WIG), and the steps needed to achieve it. The process will kick-off this month, with a set of recommendations developed by the end of May.
Continuous Progress:
Rochester City School District Graduation Rates on the Rise
“In telling the story of RCSD, it’s important to highlight that there are multiple schools that are performing very well and are performing as well as or even better than some suburban schools in our area,” said Dr. Stephanie Townsend, Director of Research and Analytics for ROC the Future. “It’s important for people to understand that it’s not an anomaly, and it’s not just one school that’s exceptional.”
Sesame Street in Communities Virtual Summit
Join WXXI Education and partners for a special virtual Community Summit on Sesame Street in Communities on Wednesday, April 14 at 7 p.m. ET. This hour long virtual community summit will provide parents, caregivers, early childhood educators, and community members an opportunity to learn about the Sesame Street in Communities resources and hear from a panel of local experts on a variety of family topics (health and wellness, social-emotional strategies, routines, and more!).
2021 StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network Convening
Changemakers from across the country will come together at the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network Convening in San Antonio, Texas, from October 6-8. As a member of the ROC the Future community, you’re invited to this one-of-a-kind event.
Spotlight: Andrew Townson School #39
Grade level reading has been a priority for ROC the Future since our inception. Today, we are shining a light on Andrew Townson School #39 for their March to the Bookshelf reading challenge. School #39 is committed to fostering a love of reading for each scholar in school and in life. These photos are from their kick off celebration.
PECAN Parent Reflection
Spirit-Cultivating by Mary Beth Elko
For two Saturdays in March, I was gifted the opportunity to participate in a discussion with Rochester’s own Dr. Bettina Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom. Invited by Kilolo Moyo-White, I engaged in a Parent Leadership Training & Professional Development opportunity hosted by PECAN. The two days spent being led by, listening to, and learning from Dr. Bettina Love was both empowering and humbling. It was a blessing and an honor to be invited.
Community Happenings
#StopAsianHate
Hate has no place in this world. In 2020, we signed the Black Agenda Group's declaration, Racism is a Public Health Crisis, and published a racial equity statement. We stand in solidarity with members of the Asian and Asian American communities and condemn the rising violence and anti-Asian rhetoric that has surged in recent months.

We invite you to join the Levine Center to End Hate for their series to learn about the history of racism and xenophobia aimed at Asian and Asian Americans in our country, and ways we can work together to support our Asian and Asian American neighbors.
ROC the Future | www.rocthefuture.org