All Means All

Transforming School Culture: From C to A in Serving All Students When Tony Castillo joined All Means All as Principal of YES Prep Public Schools Fifth Ward in AMA’s first cohort, he embarked on a journey to revolutionize his school's commitment to ensuring all students thrive academically and socially. 🚀 The result? In just three years, Tony's school soared from a C to an A in the Texas domain for serving and growing students from all subpopulations. 🚀 "Our students persist, they don't leave as quickly because they feel safe, they have a sense of belonging, and they feel encouraged that the adults there believe, no matter their background, that they can be successful." - Tony Castillo Now a Head of Schools at YES Prep and a coach for AMA, Tony continues to champion these transformative practices. We had the chance to sit down with Tony and capture some of his story. Click here to learn from Tony's success: 👉 https://lnkd.in/gEg47fSw Create a school where every student thrives. #EducationEquity #SchoolLeadership #AllMeansAll #YesPrep

As we reflect on Disability Pride Month this July, let's challenge ourselves to move beyond surface-level celebrations and towards meaningful action. At All Means All, we believe in amplifying diverse disabled voices and creating spaces that truly value and include disabled people in all their complexity. As Yolanda Vargas beautifully puts it: "Disability pride is a beautiful jewel crafted from unlearning ableism and embracing the good with the bad, recognizing the humanity that all people possess just by existing." In her thought-provoking piece "A Community Reflection on Disability Pride Month," Vargas calls for a more authentic, community-driven approach to disability pride. She emphasizes the need for disabled people to lead these conversations, highlighting the complexity of disabled experiences and identities. Vargas critiques superficial corporate celebrations and stresses the importance of intersectionality, addressing internal community conflicts, and pushing for substantive societal change rather than mere representation. This Disability Pride Month, we invite you to join us in asking: How can we create educational spaces that genuinely value and include all learners, embracing their full humanity and potential? To read Vargas's full article and deepen your understanding, click here: https://lnkd.in/gwVFEqYB Let's work together to build a more inclusive and equitable education system for all. #DisabilityPrideMonth #InclusiveEducation #AllMeansAll

Welcome to the team, Cornelius Dukes Exciting News!  We're thrilled to welcome Cornelius Dukes to the All Means All team as our new Senior Director of Partnerships, People + Impact. Cornelius (also known as Dukes) is a lifelong educator known for driving student achievement and enhancing school climate through innovative programs and strategies, grounded in his passion for restorative practices, authentic community-building, and supporting students with exceptionalities. Prior to joining All Means All, Cornelius served most recently as a turnaround school leader, where he was responsible for designing and implementing strategies focused on continuous academic and school improvement. Under his leadership, the school improved student proficiency by 40%, becoming one of the top-growing schools in the network.He is also the founder of MPower, a community for Black male educators in public schools across the country. We're thrilled to have Cornelius's expertise and passion for educational equity supporting our incredible partners, finding new partners on the journey, and helping share their stories and impact. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to stay updated on Cornelius and the rest of the All Means All team. Welcome, Cornelius! #WelcomeToTheTeam #EquityInEducation #AllMeansAll #PartnershipsPeopleImpact

Welcome to the team, Jessica Brown ! Exciting news! We're thrilled to welcome Jessica Brown as our new Director of Operations at All Means All. Jessica is a seasoned operations leader known for driving organizational excellence. With extensive experience across educational settings, she aligns initiatives to vision and values, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Jessica's expertise has significantly contributed to growth and impact at the organizations she's served. Committed to advancing equity, Jessica will play a key role in supporting our leaders, team, systems and processes as we grow to continue impacting more leaders in their journey to build more inclusive and equitable schools and systems. We're thrilled to have Jessica's talents on the All Means All team. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to stay updated on Jessica and the rest of the team as we continue working towards a world where all children have access to equitable schools in which they can authentically belong and thrive. #WelcomeToTheTeam #EquityInEducation #AllMeansAll #OperationalExcellence

Our students' identities do not exist in compartmentalized siloes, so neither should our support for them. At All Means All, this is exactly why we focus our support on helping school and system leaders build holistic and integrated school cultures, instruction and supports so that EVERY student has a neighborhood school where they are seen for their assets, authentically belong and have a viable path to achieving their most rigorous post-secondary dreams. https://lnkd.in/ekGKcfMB

Important conversation not to miss! At All Means All, we work every day at the intersection of anti-racism and anti-ableism to support school leaders in the pursuit of building truly equitable schools. Don't miss this chance to learn from our friends and colleagues at NewSchools, SELF - Special Education Leader Fellowship and The Hunt Institute - we're looking forward to it.

“However, compliance with IDEA is not sufficient if children are not attaining the knowledge and skills necessary to fully realize the ideals of IDEA: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency,” Wright-Gallo said. https://lnkd.in/ebQyBQMf

Interesting to note in Yelp's most recent update that not only are they improving transparency and information on accessibility for restaurants and other locations, they are improving the accessibility of their own website and working to put pressure on/facilitate information for business to improve their accessibility. When we design with the range of needs in mind, we do better for all. https://lnkd.in/gFBixjyD

“People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are entitled to full inclusion, and to the dignity and purpose that comes with deciding where to work and how to spend their days.” https://lnkd.in/gBNuujXj

Sharing this opportunity to access these Functions of Behavior cards as a pilot from our friends at The Ability Challenge !