National Affiliates

Fresh benefits and discounts to help you succeed.

Friday, March 28th

12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
National Affiliate NA Central Open

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
National Affiliate Pre-Conference Meeting
Making Schools Exceptional: Facilitating Continuous Improvement in Education
Presenters: Suzanne Keely, American Society for Quality, and Maurice Ghysels, Mountain View-Whisman SD, Mountain View, CA
Using one innovative school district as a model, you will learn how your district can implement a district-wide continuous improvement approach for your organization. Through a highly interactive session, you will learn how to leverage school board leadership in aligning district, school, and classroom goals. This session will make you re-think your current model.

4:00 PM - 4:45 PM
National Affiliate Annual Ice Breaker
Ice Cream Social
We provide the ice cream, the toppings, and the space...you provide the creativity. Network with National Affiliate colleagues and enjoy your creation.

Saturday, March 29th

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
National Affiliate NA Central Open

8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Rural and Small District Workshop
Let the Tension Begin...
NCLB Requirements Versus the Need to Prepare for the 21st Century
Speaker: David Wallace, Sequoyah Group
School districts moved into the new millennium optimistic about the promise of 21st century learning for their students. Today the promise remains elusive for most districts. Why? NCLB requirements place demands on rural and small school districts that strain their human and organizational resources. What are the tensions? Where are the places for breakthrough? Come to this interactive session to gather ideas and resources to address NCLB expectations while moving forward to integrate 21st century leadership, curriculum, instruction, professional development, and assessment in your district.

1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Large District Workshop
The Solution Approach to Problem Solving
Speaker: David Wallace, Sequoyah Group
Constant attention to pressing daily issues and problems can divert school leaders from the pathway of continuous school improvement and turn them down a deadend road of simple answers. Large school districts face complex management and program implementation challenges. Today's school improvement issues cross organizational and human boundaries underscoring the need for a more systematic approach to long term improvement. This interactive session focuses on achieving quality results by offering concrete strategies and tools to large district leaders to use for systemic, continuous improvement in their schools. Attendees will examine ways to address problems through a solutions-based approach to problem-solving.

Sunday, March 30th

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
National Affiliate NA Central Open

8:45 AM - 10:00 AM
Roundtables
This is a great opportunity to hear what other districts have accomplished, ask questions of colleagues who have learned through experience, and identify ways that you can incorporate their success into your programs.

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Special Session
The Grant Conundrum: A Story Worth Telling!
Presenter: Donna Fernandez, SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter
School districts all over the country scour the web and newsletters looking for grants to pay for valuable new or existing programs. Some districts are very successful, while other districts never quite reach the finish line. What are the successful strategies that help a district prosper on their quest for grants? Hear valuable suggestions and strategies.

12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
National Affiliate Special Event
National Affiliate Benefits Fair
Come one come all; meet the people behind the National Affiliate benefits. As a National Affiliate you have access to essential resources and services that provide innovative leadership ideas, reveal new and timely funding opportunities, offer sample school board policies, show the latest trends in school board governance, and connect school board members throughout the country to share their ideas and experiences. Please join us at the National Affiliate Benefits Fair and hear from the creators of these valuable tools.

Note: The NA Benefits Fair will be held in Valencia Ballroom D, in conjuction with the Walk of Excellence.

Monday, March 31th

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
National Affiliate NA Central Open

8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Roundtables

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
National Affiliate Morning Workshop
National Affiliate School Law Lab for School Leadership Teams
Presenter: Tom Hutton, NSBA staff attorney, and Tom Wheeler II, Locke Reynolds, LLP
In this interactive session, join other National Affiliate colleagues as we explore the challenges school districts face as a result of recent court decisions. During this session, participating school districts will be asked to discuss some of the decisions they have made over the last year that have caused anguish or resulted in legal challenges. Participants will come away with vital knowledge about legal issues relating to their districts.

2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
National Affiliate Afternoon Workshop
What you can do to raise your voice so congress can hear you.
Presenter: Mike Resnick, NSBA Associate Executive Director, Advocacy and Issues Management
Presenter: Kathleen Branch, Manager, Grassroots Programs
This session, designed exclusively for National Affiliate school districts, will demonstrate what school districts can do to increase their participation in national issues. The National Affiliate program includes school districts that represent 50% of all students in the United States. If we raise our voices in unison, we can cause positive changes to occur. This session will show how you can make a difference. There will also be an update on critical activities taking place on Capitol Hill and at the White House.

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Roundtables

Tuesday, April 1

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
National Affiliate NA Central Open

Want to save 20% on Conference registration now — and benefit all year long? Become a National Affiliate.

Through the National Affiliate program, districts support NSBA's lobbying and advocacy work with Congress, federal agencies, and the courts. In return, your district's partnership with NSBA and its Federation of state school boards associations entitles you to all these benefits:

• Advocacy assistance. Targeted legislative alerts equip your school board members to participate in national legislative grassroots campaigns.
• Vital information. Including the National Affiliate Update newsletter American School Board Journal, School Board News, grant funding alerts, policy assistance, and more.
• Meeting opportunities (with savings). The NSBA Annual Conference and the T+L Conference, Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Annual Conference, and CUBE Issues Forum.
• Members-only online resources. Policies, funding, email groups, and much more.
• Year-round networking opportunities. With your enthusiastic, involved colleagues from other National Affiliate districts.

To learn how your district can sign up, call (866) 699-NSBA.