|  | | MESPA Home > Honors > MESPA Division Leadership Award > 2008 Awards |  | Joan Steffes-Franks, Minneapolis Division
 | | Joan Steffes-Franks, principal of Armatage Community and Montessori School, Minneapolis Public Schools, Special School District #1 |
Joan Steffes-Franks was nominated for the Minneapolis MESPA Division Leadership Achievement Award by her peers. Recently, she received the opportunity to serve as the Minneapolis Public Schools’ Forum President and function as a liaison between the principals, assistant principals, intern principals and the district. Serving as President, she worked closely with the chief academic officer and superintendent to develop, modify, or establish procedures that impact her colleagues in the Minneapolis principalship.
At Armatage, Steffes-Franks, along with the support of her very talented staff, has integrated three programs (Community, Montessori & Special Education CLASS) into a building that functions as one cohesive program. The school is highly regarded by the community as an educational environment where all children can learn because of the dedication, commitment and skills of the staff that serve the children. Through professional development opportunities, collaboration of best practices and their tireless commitment to curriculum development and implementation, Armatage is a school where there are no limits to how far and high a child can go in his/her quest for learning. Through the collaborative efforts of parents, staff and community, and Steffes-Franks, the focus of programs is on achievement goals, which contributes to making Armatage a productive and successful Minneapolis school. The results of standardized tests (CALT’s and MCA-II’s) reflect the efforts and commitment by staff, parents and community toward ensuring that the reading and math programs at Armatage are the focal point of educational programming.
Steffes-Franks believes “that all children can achieve their full potential as they follow their educational path, if they are nurtured in a progressive type classroom where the only constraints are their inability to see limits.” Her educational philosophy can be summed up by the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi: “Life should not be measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.”
Past honors and recognition received by Steffes-Franks include: MESPA Division Leadership Award; President, Minneapolis Principals Elementary School Principals’ Association; President, Minneapolis Forum. She has been a MESPA member for 18 years and active in the association, serving as: division president; state chair for both the Membership Committee and Elementary Principals Action Committee (EPAC); a member of the Membership Committee and EPAC.
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