Suggested Activities for Sister Schools

There are an infinite number of ways for a Chicago school and a school abroad to establish a Sister Schools Abroad partnership.  Each sister city committee will have an Education Sub-committee Chair who will assist in identifying sister schools abroad.  The Education Sub-committee Chair will rely on assistance and suggestions from its fellow committee members; consul office in Chicago; the Foreign Affairs office in its sister cities; the International Program Coordinator (IPC) and the Education Programs Coordinators, the latter two being staff members in the office of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program.

The Education Sub-committee Chair will contact the Education Program Coordinators when an interested school abroad and the appropriate school contact person has been identified.  The Education Program Coordinator will forward the School Profile Form to the interested school abroad to be completed and returned to the Chicago Sister Cities Office.

Once the completed form has been received in Chicago, the Education Program Coordinator will contact the CPS Liaison to the Sister Cities Abroad Program, informing him/her that a school abroad has expressed an interest in partnering with a Chicago Public School.  The School Profile Form of the school abroad will be forwarded to the CPS Liaison to begin the process of identifying a similar school in Chicago (demographics, level of instruction, content area of interest, etc.).  In addition, the CPS Liaison will be available to answer any initial questions the interested Chicago Public School may have regarding the program.

Please note that the Sister Schools Abroad Program is open to any school within the city limits of Chicago, (i.e. public, parochial or independent.  If the school abroad has expressed an interest in partnering with a parochial or independent school, then the Education Program Coordinator will not contact the CPS Liaison, but will contact this other schools on his/her own.  When possible, interested schools abroad should be located in the city proper of the Chicago Sister City.

Once a teacher in a Chicago school has been identified and has agreed to participate (and the principal agrees), a School Profile Form is completed by the Chicago School.  The Education Program Coordinator of the Chicago Liaison will forward the completed Chicago School Profile Form to the school abroad.

Once your school profile form is received you will be contacted within 4 weeks by the Education Program Coordinator to arrange a meeting to discuss the program and the process involved in selecting an appropriate partner school for you.

It will be the responsibility of each participating Chicago school to identify a contact person to communicate with the Education Sub-committee Chair (usually this is the teacher that has agreed to participate in the program).

If the two schools agree to the partnership, a non-binding Sister Schools Agreement will be forwarded for both school principals to sign.  The signed Sister Schools Agreement is returned to the Education Program Coordinator and each principal will receive a framed copy for his/her school.

Participating schools in Chicago are not limited to one Sister School Abroad relationship.  In the case where a Chicago school has multiple Sister School Abroad relationships, there may be several different contact people at the Chicago school as well as several Education Sub-committee Chairs involved with each school.

Example:
1. Chicago school X has a Sister School relationship with one school in Osaka, Japan.  This school will have one Chicago school contact person to communicate with the Osaka Education Sub-committee Chair

2. Chicago school X has a Sister School relationship with a school in Osaka, Japan, a Sister School relationship with a school in Accra, Ghana and a Sister School relationship with a school in Athens, Greece.  This school will have three different Chicago school contact persons and three different Education Sub-committee Chairs.

3. Chicago school X has three Sister School relationships with schools in Milan, Italy.  This school may have only one Chicago school contact person for all three different Sister School relationships, but there would only be one Education Sub-committee Chair involved.

4. Chicago school X has a Sister School relationship with a school in Paris and Athens.  Two different teachers are participating in the program (one for each relationship).  But, the school has identified One Chicago schools contact person for both Sister School relationships.  Both Paris and Athens Education Sub-committee Chairs communicate with this one designated Chicago school contact person.  The Chicago school contact person will be the liaison between the two participating teachers and the two different Education Sub-committee Chairs.

Once the school relationship is established, the two teachers participating in the Sister Schools Abroad Program may take their relationship in any direction.  There is no limit to their program design.  The Education Sub-committee Chair will be a tremendous asset to the Chicago school contact person as the two of them can brainstorm about possible activities.
Keep in mind that many schools, due to financial constraints, may never have the opportunity to have a physical teacher or student exchange.  But it is suggested that school exchanges between students and/or teachers take place after a strong foundation has been established between the two participating teachers.

A suggested time line may be:

Year One:
The two teachers dialogue with each other via email, letters, phone conversations, video conferencing, etc.  They should establish a plan of interest in their relationship.

Year Two: 
The two teachers introduce their students to each other.  The teachers begin to collaborate on projects/lessons that involve both groups of students.  The students begin to communicate through e-pal relationships, letters, videoconferences, etc.

Year Three:
Possibility of teacher exchanges.  Collaboration between the schools continues.

Year Four:
Possibility of student exchanges.  Collaboration between the schools continues.

Throughout the entire process, the Education Sub-committee Chair will facilitate the relationship and be a sounding board for the teachers. In addition, the Education Sub-committee Chair may offer suggestions to keep the relationship alive and thriving!