Andrew Silbaugh’s Personal Code of Ethics

I. Preamble
I, Andrew Silbaugh, believe in all students. All students are capable of success, no exceptions. It
is within this Code of Ethics I set my beliefs as an educational leader. All statements reflect on
the believe that every student is capable of success.
II. Rules
A. Responsibilities
i. Self
a. Always ask yourself the following
1. How are you doing?
2. Are you happy with how things are going?
3. What do you want to do differently?
4. What do you need to keep doing?
b. Stay in the now, learn from the past, and focus on the future
c. Students come first at school, but you come first at home.
ii. Family
a. Always keep in touch with your work family and your parents.
b. Check in on your family to make sure they’re healthy, happy, and safe
c. Take time to spend with your family and take a break from work.
iii. Colleagues, Students and their Families
a. Colleagues
1. Always check in with your colleagues at a minimum of once a week.
2. Keep in touch with their lives, their thoughts, and their feelings.
3. A happy staff makes for happy students.
4. Always fight for your staff.
5. Always be visible to them.
b. Students
1. The student will always come first
2. Ensure that their environment at school is safe
3. Fight for your students
4. Always remember you may be the one stable thing in their lives.
5. Always be visible to them
c. Parents
1. Listen first, respond second.
2. Hear all of the complaints, even when they’re hard to take.
3. Always be respectful. You do not know the whole story.
4. Sometimes people need someone to hear them. Listen.
iv. Community
a. Be on the lookout for partnerships. You never know when one might be
possible.
b. You are always a face of the community which means everyone has eyes on
you.
c. Remember where you came from and who supported you.
v. The Profession
a. Always act with students in mind first.
b. Always follow the Florida Code of Ethics.
 c. Always represent the profession and be an example of excellence in the
profession.
B. Dispositions
i. Advocacy
a. Always fight for your students and staff. You need both in order to create an
effective school.
b. Fight for what is right, not what is popular.
c. If you lose people, find out why so you can learn from what went wrong.
ii. Equity
a. Everyone is to be treated with respect.
b. Listen first, speak second.
c. Give everyone the proper supports to succeed.
iii. Social Justice
a. Be aware of everyone
b. Seek to understand and put the person first.
c. Let people speak their truths and listen.
C. Management Skills
A. Don’t be great and one thing, be good at multiple things.
B. Always have an open door to listen.
C. Listen to your people, give them a say, and let them make choices.
D. Be firm, but fair.
E. Be a steward of finance and spend money wisely with students in mind.
F. Cultivate and train your upcoming leaders so they can grow.
G. Be approachable.
D. School Organization Applications
i. Culture
a. Listen to your staff and see what works and what does not.
b. Create a culture that strives for success.
c. Be open to change.
d. Evaluate all possibilities before making a change.
ii. Learners and learning
a. The learner will always come first.
b. Students will always have opportunities for success.
c. Students will always learn something.
d. Always work to create opportunities for learning.
e. Sometimes life skills and social skills need to be learned first.
f. Meet the needs of the student before meeting the needs of the curriculum.
iii. Instruction
a. Always aim for rigorous instruction.
b. Focus on the standards, but add the hidden curriculum where you can
c. Employ high quality educators with high quality instruction
III. Enforcement
A. Self-Monitoring
i. Think about what is working and what is not. Improve upon what is working and make
adjustments on what is not.
ii. Check in with your staff to get other opinions.
ii. Keep a log of your changes and evaluate them frequently
B. Continuous Implementation
 i. Look at what the future holds and strive for innovation and future-ready students.
ii. Do not fall for educational fads.
iii. Innovate when you can, but only if it works for the students.
iv. Check that things are working, adjust if necessary, and always get the opinion of
others to see what may be missing.
IV .References
i. Florida Department of Education (2020). The code of ethics of the education profession in
Florida. http://www.fldoe.org/teaching/professional-practices/code-of-ethics-principles-of-
professio.stml.
ii. National Education Association (2020). Code of ethics. https://www.nea.org/resource-
library/code-ethics.