Posts Tagged ‘school culture’

Happy New Year – Let’s Share the Amazing Things!

Hello all! Happy New Year to all of you! Now that the holidays are over we can really get moving (or I can really get moving) 😉

Every year as January begins, I find myself really digging into the year. I love it because it’s like the first days of school again, except that everyone knows the routines already! They aren’t always followed, but they are known!

As a private school, our Open Houses are early in the school year as we have to plan for enrollment and tuition for our budget next year. January is full-swing Open House planning. Our Open House is February 4, and I don’t think I’ve felt so busy.

The great thing about Open House planning is that it makes me really sit back and think about marketing for my school. WHY should people send their children to my school. WHY should they pay money when they can send them to public school for free? WHAT do we have to offer? WHAT is it that makes our school so unique?

I love my building. I feel that we have built something amazing, and I am so proud of it. I have to make sure everyone else sees that, too. I have created lists, solicited suggestions and comments from parents, alumni, current students, teachers, community members. They all have something to share and every time I hear a new comment it makes my chest stick out just a little bit more.

What is it that makes YOUR school amazing? What do YOU have to offer your community? What is happening in your school that the whole world should know? Let’s take January to brainstorm with our mentor/mentee groups on what you have, and how to share it! It is ALWAYS the perfect time to share how amazing your school, teachers, and students are.

I have added a few resources that may help you in your discussions from many in my #PLN who are masters at telling their schools’ stories and branding. Happy chatting!

Cheers,

Theresa

 

Five Ways to Build Your School’s Instructional Brand and Connect with Families

If we don’t tell our story, someone else will.

http://talkswithteachers.com/power-branding-tony-sinanis-joe-sanfelippo/

Week 27: Little Things and School Culture #savmp

When I first began as principal, I wanted to build a culture that was focused always on the notion of “what is best for kids”.  If we always started with this question, we would make better decisions for our students.

As I wanted the school to be extremely focused on our kids, I noticed that when you walked into the front foyer, they had the pictures of all the former principals at the school, and soon my picture would be added to the wall.  I hated it.

If we were to be a school that focused on kids, why was the first thing that you saw when you walked into the school the principal, past and present.  I decided that all of the pictures were to be taken down and replaced by pictures of current students in the building doing different activities.  The change was massive!  As my office was right by the front office, I noticed kids, parents, and staff all staring up at the wall, mesmerized by the pictures.  We also put a TV up in front and head just a running slide show of students so we could get as many of our students shared in the front hallway.  That little change and focus on them, set a tone for so many other aspects of what happened in school with students.

Sometimes we do not notice the little things in our school that are just “fixtures” on the wall but promote a very different culture of what we are trying to create.  This was one of the reasons that we started this program in the first place.  The idea that you could talk to someone outside of your own organization to get some different ideas and perspective on how to build a more positive culture in your leadership.

What are some of the little things that you could do or have done, to promote a more positive culture for students?

Thanks to one of my favourite principals in the world, Shauna Boyce, for inspiring this question with her recent blog post on “School Culture“.