A CASE STUDY FOR LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP: URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

BUILDING CAPACITY FOR SUSTAINABLE INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE

ABOUT URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Urban Community School (UCS), founded in Cleveland in 1968, strives to break social and economic barriers to success for Cleveland’s near west side children by providing an individualized, innovative, and challenging education. The school has served as an anchor of the community, serving a diverse student population from ages 6 weeks to 8th grade. Learn more about UCS by visiting their website: https://urbancommunityschool.org/. 

THE OPPORTUNITY

In March 2021, Urban Community School (UCS) approached Hendy Avenue Consulting with an ambitious goal: identify strategies that would attract and retain excellent teachers while also building pathways for teaching assistants to grow into teacher roles. Through diagnostic work – analyzing UCS data, benchmarking neighboring schools, and engaging leaders and teachers in conversation – Hendy and UCS leaders recognized an even more fundamental opportunity. Before building talent systems focused around instructional excellence, UCS needed to more explicitly define what excellent instruction looked like in their context, build the leadership capacity to coach toward it, and create the systems to support and sustain it.

UCS leaders leaned into this reframe. Rather than implement a set of talent initiatives that might reward less defined expectations, UCS chose to invest in building the instructional foundation first. This decision – and their openness to letting the work evolve based on what they were learning – marked the beginning of a four-year partnership with Hendy that has fundamentally impacted the instructional core of the school.

THE HENDY VALUE PROPOSITION: PARTNERSHIP THAT BUILDS CAPACITY

Schools and school systems partner with Hendy Avenue when they have ambitious instructional goals and want to build the internal capacity to achieve and sustain them. Hendy’s approach is distinctive in several ways:

We start with what’s true. Hendy doesn’t deliver predetermined solutions. Instead, we partner with leaders to understand current reality, name what’s working and what needs to shift, and design strategies that fit the school’s specific context, culture, and capacity.

We build toward independence, not dependence. Every engagement includes an explicit strategy for transferring ownership. Hendy decides what to do “for,” “with,” and “through” client leaders based on current capacity, always with the goal of ensuring school sustainability of change with fewer support directly coming from Hendy over time.

We see the whole organization. While Hendy often starts a relationship with  a specific project, we develop deep knowledge of the school’s systems, culture, and people. This allows us to spot connections, anticipate challenges, and support adjacent needs as they emerge.

We commit to the long game. Sustainable instructional improvement takes time. Hendy stays with schools through implementation challenges, leadership transitions, and the inevitable ups and downs of organizational change.

We balance push and support. Hendy brings high expectations alongside genuine partnership. We celebrate victories, share struggles, and maintain relationships where honest feedback and hard conversations happen with care and trust.

The UCS partnership demonstrates each of these principles in action.

THE PARTNERSHIP ARC: FROM “HENDY LEADS” TO “UCS SUSTAINS”

Over four years, the partnership moved through distinct phases, with Hendy intentionally shifting from a more direct role in carrying out the work to supporting UCS leaders as they took ownership, ultimately positioning them to sustain systems independently.

Phase 1: Building the Foundation (2021-2022)

In spring 2022, Hendy conducted a comprehensive diagnostic visit to understand UCS’s current instructional practices and to support the UCS team to identify priorities. With UCS leaders, the full Hendy team spent two days on campus observing classrooms, meeting with teachers and staff, and examining existing systems. This diagnostic revealed that while UCS leaders and staff had strong relationships and a commitment to students, there was room to align on common instructional language, shared schedules, and structures for observation and feedback.

Rather than just name the gaps, Hendy helped UCS leaders envision what was possible. They facilitated visits to high-performing schools in New York City with similar student demographics, allowing UCS leaders to see excellent instruction in action, and to envision what’s possible for kids. Then Hendy facilitated summer planning retreats where the team established clear instructional priorities and began building the systems to support them.

During this foundation-building phase, Hendy did significant direct work with UCS leaders: creating professional development materials, co-observing classrooms with leaders, and building frameworks and tools. This intensive support gave UCS leaders concrete examples of what excellent systems looked like and how to implement them.

Phase 2: Gradual Release (2022-2024)

As UCS added leadership capacity – hiring additional directors, creating a Chief Academic Officer role, and expanding the instructional team – Hendy began the intentional work of building up the capacity of UCS to lead more of the work directly. The focus shifted to working “through directors,” coaching leaders to implement and adapt the systems Hendy had modeled.

When UCS decided to adopt a new ELA curriculum in 2023-24, the school took a teacher-driven approach to the process. Hendy focused on building UCS leaders’ capacity to train and support their teachers through implementation of the curriculum. Hendy designed intellectual preparation structures and coached directors to lead those meetings effectively. The team built data collection and analysis systems, then gradually transferred ownership to UCS’s own data coordinator.

The work became increasingly collaborative. Hendy would model a practice, then co-facilitate with UCS leaders, then observe and provide feedback as leaders facilitated independently. This gradual release approach ensured UCS leaders gained both skill and confidence.

Phase 3: Sustaining Independence (2025-Present)

By the 2025-26 school year, UCS was driving their own teacher development and coaching with increasing independence. Directors lead intellectual preparation and observation cycles. The instructional leadership team uses shared language and structures. Teachers follow common schedules and assessment rhythms. A tier 2 intervention system identifies and supports students who need additional support.

Hendy’s role has evolved to strategic thought partnership: troubleshooting implementation challenges, analyzing data for patterns and insights, coaching directors, and coaching the CAO to manage and support director development. The relationship remains strong, but UCS leaders are in the driver’s seat. 

RESPONSIVE PARTNERSHIP: EVOLVING AS NEEDS EMERGE

While instructional improvement formed the core of the work, the partnership repeatedly expanded when UCS identified adjacent needs – demonstrating Hendy’s responsiveness and ability to see and serve the whole organization.

Strategic Planning Support

When UCS’s Board of Directors engaged in strategic planning in 2024, UCS hired Hendy on a separate contract to support the academic team with their pillar of the strategic plan. This work allowed Hendy to help UCS document the significant instructional improvements the school had made and set clear, ambitious priorities for future growth – work that required both knowledge of where UCS had been and vision for where they could go.

Whole-Organization Partnership

Over time, leaders across UCS came to see Hendy as thought partners for challenges beyond the formal engagement scope. The Chief Operating Officer calls to problem-solve.  The Chief Strategy Officer engaged Hendy to explore innovative school models and refine the school’s aftercare program. This reflects the trust that has developed – a belief that Hendy understands their organization deeply and has their best interests at heart.

THE RESULTS: SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS AND MEASURABLE GROWTH

Four years into the partnership, the transformation is visible in both data and daily practice.

Student Achievement: UCS has seen consistent growth in student achievement, particularly in ELA following the curriculum adoption and implementation support. Students are meeting grade-level benchmarks at higher rates than in previous years.

Instructional Culture: Teachers have embraced the observation and feedback cycle. Instructional time is protected and used purposefully. Common schedules and assessment rhythms allow for meaningful collaboration across grade levels and departments.

Leadership Capacity: UCS has grown from three directors to a full instructional leadership team with clear, complementary roles and shared practices. Leaders are high capacity and have had a measurable impact on teaching and learning in their building. The systems are self-sustaining and improving.

Organizational Systems: UCS now has defined, systematic tier 1 and tier 2 academic intervention systems, data collection and analysis protocols, role clarity across all adult positions, and structures that ensure adults are strategically leveraged to support instruction. These systems persist through staff transitions because they’re embedded in how UCS operates.

What UCS Leaders Say About the Partnership

When asked what they value about working with Hendy, UCS leaders consistently mention three things: the thoughtfulness in how feedback is shared, the instructional vision and expertise Hendy brings, and the way Hendy pushes them to be better while remaining genuinely supportive.

WHY THIS PARTNERSHIP WORKS: THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

Hendy’s relationship with UCS feels like a true partnership. We celebrate their victories and share their struggles. The work is challenging but joyful, and our relationship is built on trust, mutual respect, and a shared vision for what could be.

The result is a school that is sustaining and continuing improving their instructional systems independently – proof that investing in capacity building, not just quick fixes, creates lasting change for students.