August Kickoff
A 90-minute session at the start of August that launches Cycle 01. Agenda, materials, what teams leave with.
This is the session that launches the Open Adaptive District at Peninsula. 90 minutes, all cabinet and all principals in one room. By the end, every team has a draft Bet Brief in hand, their Google Chat Space stood up, the Logbook loaded into their personal AI agent, and a clear next-week task list. Facilitated by the superintendent and the CIO.
§ I · Goals for the 90 minutesWhat we leave with
- Every cabinet member and principal can describe SHIP in two sentences
- Each team has chosen a Team Lead and identified its Scribe
- Each team has a draft Bet Brief — not polished, but committed
- Each team's Google Chat Space exists and members are added
- The Logbook is loaded into every attendee's personal AI agent and tested once
- The current quarterly intent has been read together, out loud
- Every team has a Friday calendar reminder for their first Weekly Check-In
§ II · The agendaMinute by minute
The intent for the year
the superintendent opens with why we are doing this — not a pep talk, not a policy briefing. The same three-sentence intent that will go to teams as the quarterly intent. Read it aloud. Then one sentence on what success looks like by May.
- Slide 01 · "Why we are here"
- Slide 02 · The current Quarterly Intent (verbatim)
SHIP in two minutes
The cycle in plain language. Sense, Hypothesize, Implement, Publish. Six weeks active, two weeks plan gap. One bet per team per cycle. Briefs at the end — Adoption, Decommission, Continuation. That is the whole model. Refer to the SHIP Quick Guide for anyone who wants depth.
- Slide 03 · The SHIP cycle diagram
- Slide 04 · The three brief patterns
The Logbook — what it does and how to load it
Two-minute overview of the Logbook (synthesize, coach, draft, flag). Then eight minutes loading the skill into each attendee's personal AI agent, live. Everyone in the room has it working before they leave this block.
- Logbook install link (sent in pre-session email; reminder on slide)
- One-page install instructions printed for the technologically-cautious
- Two people circulating to help with installs — the CIO and one Tech Department member
Team huddles — draft your Bet Brief
Teams break into their already-assigned configurations. Each team picks one problem they want to bet on inside the quarterly intent. The team's Logbook helps them sharpen it into a hypothesis using the Bet-Writing Primer's formula. By the end of this block, every team has a draft Bet Brief — rough, not polished. Use the Bet Brief template and the Bet-Writing Primer.
- Printed copies of the Bet Brief template and Bet-Writing Primer at each table
- Pre-assigned team configurations posted at each station
- the CIO and the superintendent circulating, listening, sharpening
Stand up your team's Google Chat Space
Each Team Lead creates their team's Google Chat Space, adds members, and pins their draft Bet Brief. The Scribe posts a placeholder for the first Weekly Check-In due Friday. Ten minutes is enough — these are not big artifacts to create.
Cross-team share-out
Each team gets 90 seconds to read their draft Bet Brief aloud. No debate, no commentary — just a read-around. The room hears every bet. the CIO notes any obvious early overlaps (he will surface them in the first Cabinet Weekly Read). the superintendent closes with one sentence on what she is paying attention to.
Q & A, expectations, close
Open Q & A for ten minutes. Five-minute close with three things: (1) what is due Friday — first Weekly Check-In; (2) where to ask questions during the cycle; (3) the date and place of the first cabinet-cycle review at Week 02. Calendar reminders go in before people leave.
§ III · What to prepare before the sessionOne-week-out checklist
- Pre-session email — sent one week before. Includes the Logbook install link, links to the Quick Guide and Onboarding Guide, the time and place, the pre-assigned team configurations.
- Team configurations — pre-assigned by the superintendent + the CIO. Each cabinet department has a team. Principal teams by grade band. Reviewed and adjusted in the week before.
- Slides 01–04 — kept simple. Four slides, no more.
- Printed handouts — Bet Brief template (one per team), Bet-Writing Primer (one per team), Logbook install instructions (a few extra copies).
- Room setup — round tables, one team per table, table tents with team names.
- Tech support — the CIO + one Tech Department member on hand for Logbook installs. Expect 5–10% will need help.
§ IV · Things to say more than onceThe lines worth repeating
- "One bet per cycle. If you can't fit your idea in a six-week bet, that's a sign your bet is too big — split it."
- "Your draft Bet Brief does not need to be polished. Friday's Weekly Check-In is when we start learning."
- "Decommissioning a bet that doesn't work is a feature, not a failure. Plan to publish at least one Decommission Brief this year."
- "The Logbook is a tool, not a judge. Use it. Push back on it when it gets things wrong."
- "Honesty in Publish is what makes the corpus useful — to us and to other districts."
§ V · What to do in the first week afterThe cabinet's job before Cycle 01 begins in earnest
- Monday after kickoff: the CIO reviews every team's Bet Brief through the Logbook. Sends a note to any team with a hypothesis that needs sharpening.
- Tuesday: the superintendent meets with any Team Lead whose bet doesn't yet connect to the quarterly intent. 15 minutes each.
- Wednesday: Sponsors (chiefs) check in with their department's teams. Light touch — just confirming the team has what it needs to start.
- Thursday: The Logbook posts the first cross-team digest, even though it's still mostly setup. Cabinet reads it Friday.
- Friday: First Weekly Check-Ins due from every team. Cycle 01 is officially underway.