1

Reviving the Professional Culture

Wendy Gilbert

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD 513: Shaping School Culture

Dr. Steven Bebee

July 26, 2022

Reviving the Professional Culture

As a future school leader, I know that when I become an administrator the school culture

will change because of the transition in leadership. As I prepare to take that role, I have thought

through the process of becoming familiar with the existing culture so that I understand the

current priorities and values of the school. I have also considered how I would make sure that the

mission, vision, and goals of the school align to my leadership style and the culture I would

strive to create. To foster a positive school culture, I would also prioritize productive

relationships with families and the community while advocating for the needs of my school. The

following is the framework of my plan to create a positive school culture.

Summary of the Existing School Culture

As a new high school, the culture of Maynard High School is still being defined.

However, the culture which has been established is characterized by mistrust. Teachers have

experienced lack of consistency in leadership as two administrators resigned in the middle of the

school year. Inequitable evaluations and a lack of structured collaboration have left teachers

feeling unsupported and have resulted in a lack of cohesiveness among content area and grade-

level teams. Because of this, the curriculum is not used consistently, and student achievement

suffered as a result. Teachers have requested support in the form of professional development,

and this was promised but not implemented. Seven teachers resigned because of the lack of

support and resources, and the overall feeling of not being successful teaching at the new high

school.

As a new principal, I know that I have a unique opportunity to build a school culture with

16 new teachers and 38 who are returning, a new grade level, a new administrator, and the

returning counselors and assistant principals. The new school year provides a chance to begin
 3

new. This will be accomplished by meeting with returning staff to discuss what went well during

the previous year and to brainstorm opportunities for improvement they have observed. After

taking these into account, I have created a mission and vision to lead us productively into the

new fiscal year.

Mission and Vision Statements

After meeting with returning staff from Maynard High School, I determined that social-

emotional learning, self-advocacy, global citizenship, and high expectations of academic

achievement were high priorities.

At Maynard High School, our mission is to foster a supportive and positive learning

environment where students are holistically supported to help them to meet their full academic

and social potential. Our vision is to support our students to become productive global citizens

who are responsible, think critically, and advocate for themselves and what they believe in.

Short-Term Outcomes

To put our mission into practice, all staff members at Maynard High School will

participate in on-boarding professional development the week before students return in the fall.

These professional development days will focus on implementation of curriculum, our behavior

management system, the teacher evaluation process, and social-emotional learning. There will

also be time set aside during staff’s first days back to school to focus on building relationships

and fostering a sense of pride in beginning Maynard High School’s first school year with all four

cohorts of students present.

There will be grade-level student meetings and a whole school assembly during the

students’ first week of school to build school spirit and to communicate academic and behavioral

expectations. Administrators and counselors will be introduced at grade-level student meetings.

Student council representatives will take leadership at these meetings and will facilitate games to

help build grade-level pride and cohesion. At the schoolwide assembly, there will be a grade-

level competition for the school spirit stick. I will work with student council and their advisor to

brainstorm activities which will become rituals at our monthly assemblies.

I will measure the effectiveness of the on-boarding professional development days and

the grade-level and schoolwide assemblies by conducting a survey prior to these events. I will

have students and staff complete a survey regarding their perceptions of Maynard High School,

especially focusing on elements of culture such as safety, academic achievement, the learning

environment, and support of administration. I will have staff fill out exit tickets following the

professional development days to see if perceptions have changed and to determine what support

is still needed. Students will complete additional perception surveys midyear and at the end of

the school year.

Long-Term Outcomes

Teachers will meet with professional learning communities (PLCs) on a weekly basis.

During a PLC meeting in the first month of school, teachers will determine a team goal to work

on for the duration of the school year. Each teacher will also create an individual goal which will

help them to focus on one area of instruction in which they want to improve during the school

year. Each teacher will meet with me or one of the assistant principals, as assigned, by the end of

the first quarter. During these meetings, teachers will communicate their team and individual

goals, and will work collaboratively with an administrator to determine steps needed to meet

these goals. Throughout the school year, formal and informal evaluations will be reflective of

these goals. Teachers will also have professional development opportunities related to their team
 5

and individual goals. The success of this plan will be evaluated at the end of the school year

based on teacher evaluations and end of year survey data.

By the end of the school year, staff and administrators will work together to form a

Community Involvement Committee. This committee will lead quarterly meetings with families

and community members to communicate the goals and successes of Maynard High School. The

committee will also organize at least three parent and family nights to showcase students’ work

and to help parents to understand their child’s report card and test scores. The outcomes of this

goal will be assessed based on successful implementation of the quarterly meetings and parent

nights as well as from surveys collected following each event. We will also know that we are

successful if participation in these events increases each quarter throughout the year.

Collaborating for Data

Data analysis and reflection will be a central part of PLC meetings. Teachers will meet

weekly to discuss formative assessment results with their PLC teams. The focus of these

meetings will be DuFour’s four essential questions, “What do we want all students to know and

be able to do? How will we know if they learn it? How will we respond when some students do

not learn? How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient?” (Vander

Ark, 2018). PLCs will focus their time on these four questions so that student achievement is

central to all conversations and decisions. Teams will look at data to determine which

instructional practices have been the most effective, what challenges are anticipated when

considering instruction of a certain standard, and what decisions can be made for students who

need additional support and students who have already mastered the learning objectives.

Each PLC will have a Team Lead who will be a member of the Site Leadership Team

(SLT). The Site Leadership Team will meet weekly to discuss schoolwide goals, progress, and
 6

concerns. The SLT will base their meetings on schoolwide behavior, assessment, attendance, and

perception survey data. All goals and decisions of PLCs and the SLT will be informed by data so

that outcomes are intentional and measurable and are based on objectively identified areas for

improvement.

Individual student achievement data will be communicated with families twice per

quarter through progress reports and report cards. Parents will see their child’s cumulative grades

and results of benchmark assessments. Reading and interpreting data will be a focus of parent

meetings so that parents understand progress reports and report cards. Schoolwide achievement

data will also be communicated at these meetings so that parents see grade level trends and gain

a better understanding of how their child’s achievement levels relate to the school, the district,

and the state. Discipline data will be shared with parents, so they gain an understanding of the

school’s efforts towards providing a safe learning environment which is conducive to learning.

School data will be communicated with community members via write-ups in the local

newspaper and social media. Student achievement trends will be published for the sake of

transparency. The school will also communicate content area goals, so the community is aware

of what the school is working towards. In addition, individual student celebrations will be shared

with the community (with parental consent) through newspaper articles and social media posts.

Productive Family Relationships

Each quarter, parents will be invited to a Community Involvement Meeting. An

administrator, teachers from each grade level and content area, and a counselor will be present at

these meetings. Parents will be encouraged to attend as topics will range from data analysis to

how to best support their children in being successful scholars.

There will be three parent nights throughout the school year. The focus of these events

will be showcasing student learning. For example, during the STEAM Fair students will

showcase experiments, inventions, or projects related to science, technology, engineering, art,

and math.

Parents will also be asked to attend student-led conferences twice per year, during the

first and third quarters. Parents and students will meet with the student’s homeroom teacher and

students will lead conversations about their progress in each of their classes. During these

conferences, students will also showcase exemplary work which model high achievement or

productive learning experiences.

The school will also communicate with parents via social media and through newsletters.

Urgent information will be communicated through robo-calls to parents and guardians. All

communication that is published in newsletters and social media will be positive and focused on

student achievement or schoolwide goals and will align with the school’s mission and vision.

Productive Community Partnerships

In addition to fostering positive relationships with students’ families, Maynard High

School will proactively form productive partnerships with community members. Community

members will be invited to attend Community Involvement Meetings each quarter so they can

stay informed on celebrations of student achievement as well as goals the school is working

towards.

Teachers of technical classes at Maynard High School will invite professionals from

within the community to be guests in their classroom at least one time during the school year.

For example, the culinary classes will be visited by a local chef, automotive classes will be

visited by a local mechanic, and carpentry classes will be visited by a local contractor. The
 8

professionals who come into the classrooms will talk to students about job responsibilities,

training requirements, and possible paths to enter the profession. These professionals will also be

invited to attend a career-themed parent night in the third quarter of the school year.

Public Advocacy

The Site Leadership Team (SLT) will meet weekly, and one of the priorities of at least

one meeting each month will be public advocacy. The team, which will be comprised of

administrators, counselors, and PLC Leaders representing each grade level and each content

area, will brainstorm needs of the school and how these needs may be addressed.

The SLT will review survey data to determine needs of students, and families. Based on

trends that emerge through the surveys, plans will be created with focus on the school’s mission

and vision to support each stakeholder. If parents communicate that they do not know how to

best support their child in math, for example, the focus of the next parent night will be practical

math strategies to practice at home.

The SLT will review social media posts as well as newspapers and other media sources to

assess public perceptions of the school. Topics of newsletters and social media publications will

reflect needs related to these perceptions. There will also be a focus on maintaining clear and

transparent communication with all stakeholders to the greatest extent possible.

As many community members have communicated that they would like to help students

of Maynard High School, administration will post practical ways to help our students on social

media. We will use various social media platforms to communicate about Community

Involvement Meetings, parent nights, and career days at school. Stakeholders will also be

notified when donations or volunteers are needed. We will strive to make our local community

our greatest asset.

Rationales

The primary goals of the plan outlined above are to establish a student-centered

environment which promotes social justice within the school. During on-boarding professional

development, creating team and individual goals, and participating in strategically targeted

professional development, teachers will focus on the needs of the students they serve.

Maynard High School will focus on student achievement by being intentional about

collaboration and making data-based decisions through Professional Learning Communities. “By

bringing students into the PLC conversation, we can truly give students the ability to take

concrete and measurable steps to increase their learning,” (Vander Ark, 2018). The outcomes of

these meetings will be communicated during Site Leadership Team meetings to further prioritize

a student-centered learning environment. The needs and data discussed in these meetings will be

used to guide decisions, including communication with families and community members.

In addition to supporting the mission and vision of the school, the primary focus of this

plan is to support social justice and the well-being of each student. This is in alignment with

PSEL Standard 3a, “Ensure that each student is treated fairly, respectfully, and with an

understanding of each student’s culture and context” (NPBEA, 2015). By prioritizing student

voice through surveys, grade-level meetings, and school assemblies, we will make sure that

students are treated respectfully with an understanding of their culture and context. This will also

be supported as student council is involved in decision making and parents are encouraged to

become involved in their child’s education. We look forward to building a school culture which

causes community members to want to send their children to Maynard High School. We are

excited to become known as a school which fosters a supportive and positive learning
 10

environment where students are holistically supported to help them to meet their full academic

and social potential.

References

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.

Vander Ark, Tom. (2018, August 22). Personalize learning and build agency by using the 4 PLC

questions. EducationWeek. https://www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-personalize-

learning-and-build-agency-by-using-the-4-plc-questions/2018/08.