On February 27, more than 150 educators and leaders from across New York City convened at the NYC Public Schools Affinity Partners Symposium to learn more about the state’s rollout of NY Inspires, the plan to transform graduation requirements to support equitable outcomes for all students, and in particular, the Portrait of a Graduate competencies. 

NYC Outward Bound Schools co-hosted the event alongside Affinity Partners New Visions for Public Schools, NY Performance Consortium Standards, Internationals Network, The Urban Assembly and CUNY Early College. 

The day kicked off with remarks from NYC Council Education Chair Eric Dinowitz and NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.

“As our young people are entering into a world of unknowns, we have to make sure they are nimble, collaborative and truly innovative,” said Samuels. “Truly empathetic individuals that understand the world as a global place — that is mission critical.” 

Keynote speakers Dr. Lester Young, Chancellor of the NYS Board of Regents, Judith Chin, Vice Chancellor of the NYS Board of Regents, and Angelique Johnson-Dingle, Deputy Commissioner of P-12 Instructional Support, shared details around the Portrait of a Graduate rollout, and their hopes that the plan connects students’ academic experiences and social-emotional growth in an inextricable way.

“Students need safety, connection and stability to engage in rigorous learning,” said Young. “No significant learning occurs without significant relationships.”

“NYC Outward Bound Schools has been doing this with fidelity for decades, namely through our Crew and project-based learning work,” said Aurora Kushner, Vice President of School Programming and Impact. “Through our coaching and professional development support for schools, we are incredibly well-suited to support educators and leaders as they work toward Portrait of a Graduate competencies.”

In the spirit of sharing expertise with educators, NYC Outward Bound Schools ran two of the event’s breakout sessions for attendees — Connecting SEL and Academics in Service of the Portrait of a Graduate (co-run by Aurora Kushner, David Adams, CEO of The Urban Assembly, and Emily Paige, Principal of Urban Assembly Unison School, and Building Competency-Driven Project-Based Learning (run by Ingrid Wong, Director of Instructional and Leadership Coaching).

“Portrait of a Graduate is intended to help us achieve greater equity for all students,” said Ingrid Wong. “To achieve equity, we don’t change the goal for certain students, we change the instructional engine for all of them. When we de-center the Regents as the goal, we gain an opportunity to center our students in the learning process and help them apply higher levels of thinking and a more expansive set of competencies.” 

The day ended with a fireside chat with Affinity Superintendents Dr. Noah Angeles, Dr. Alan Cheng and Fred Walsh, moderated by Dr. Meisha Porter, Visiting Senior Fellow at the Center for Educational Innovation. 

“It was heartening to hear the superintendents trust the educators who are working closest with students to lead the way,” said Laurie Adams, CEO of NYC Outward Bound Schools. “I was truly inspired by the deep partnership work that is helping to shape a more equitable future for our students.”