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Benchmark-Reviving the Professional Culture

Grand Canyon University: EAD-513

Shanaye Packineau-Williams

4/19/21
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Summary 

In this case study, I am taking over as principal at the Maynard High School

starting in July. I am given a few months to completely turn around the culture of the

school, morale, and how to keep staff so that students are provided with the best possible

education at this new school. Going into the school year, I will be writing a plan for the

district administrators who hired me, detailing what I am going to do to revive the

school’s culture for the upcoming school year. For the next school year, the Maynard

High School is estimated to have 1,450 students, fifty-four teachers, four counselors,

office staff: school receptionist, an attendance clerk, an administrative assistant for the

principal, and two administrative assistants to support the assistant principals. The issues

that I face coming into the school year that affect the school culture are very major. Not

all teachers have been evaluated the previous year, written evaluations have been made

without formal evaluations for some teachers. District supported professional

development days that are in place for staff are not beneficial, because they are quick and

not informative for staff, and then teachers are usually on their own for the remainder of

the days to follow. Professional learning communities or collaborative learning

committees are not developed for collaboration to happen amongst staff. Going into this

job, it is important to keep in mind that God would not give you anything that you cannot

handle!

Vision and Mission of Maynard High School

The Vision and Mission for Maynard High School are to ensure that goals can be

obtained for the success of the students, and to create a positive school culture. The

Maynard High School Vision will be: “We strive to provide our graduates with an
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academic foundation that will enable them to gain admission to the colleges or

universities of their choice as well as to succeed in those institutions.”

The Maynard High School Mission will be: “We are dedicated to a continuing tradition

of excellence in an ever-changing world. Within a safe and supportive environment, we

provide a relevant, high-quality education and prepare our diverse student body for

future endeavors. We honor achievement and promote pride in ourselves, in our school,

and in our community.” (Drew, 2021)

Short/Long-term Outcomes

When taking over as principal at Maynard High School, it is my goal to have the

staff/teachers on board with implementing a standard curriculum to help with improving

school tests scores from the students during the first semester with a tiered system for

instruction that will have teachers. Using the curriculum, will help with professional

learning and collaboration, so that we can help support one another for the success of our

students. The introduction of quality instructional materials can yield more than half a

year of additional learning for students (Kane et al., 2016) and can help make up the

difference between novice teachers and their more experienced colleagues (Kane, 2016).

Also, being sure to have support from grade to grade, making sure that a team is

structured for the teachers for professional development, workshops, duties, and planning

in order for staff to be successful in the content area that is being taught to the students.

Some of the long-term goals that I would be implementing would be there is

consistent communication with the staff and parent/guardians about what our school’s

expectations for behavior, and academics and ways to support this at home. Also making

sure that staff has expectations in the area of classroom management and consistent
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enforcement of rules/expectations by taking time to teach them through the day in a

positive way that student are able to respond to. Another huge long-term goal is to

maximize teacher retention within the school by sending out survey each quarter to

teachers and allowing them to have a voice about the work environment, and how we can

better it for the upcoming quarter.

Data Collaboration

“When parents and teachers have positive connections, students develop a unique

trust in their teachers. They see the care and connection between both parties, and the

student becomes more invested in their own role within the partnership. The student

knows that both parties are invested in their development and works more intentionally

to reach their academic goals.” (King, 2020) As the principal of the Maynard High

School, it is my job to allow students opportunities that will help set them up for success.

I will be sure to have an open-door policy for the stakeholders of our school to ensure

that I am there for them, and will work and collaborate with them. By building

relationships, it will help serve the need of each individual. Each week I will be sure that

the staff send out email blasts with announcements, what the expectations are for the

week and what they will be learning, celebrations, and important information. The goal at

Maynard High School is to have a positive school culture that is encouraging to families,

and will transpire into pride. Collecting and analyzing data will be huge for this

upcoming school year, so that we can create a positive culture in our school and be

successful in all that we do. We will also collect data for attendance, successes, and how

students are doing on assessments and share those with the parents, staff, students, and

community as well, so that we are all on the same page and can work collaboratively
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together. Data will help us determine what is working, and what is not working, so that

we can better our school every quarter so that it for the benefit of our community through

the students’ academic success. I will do this through surveys, and continue to make

changes where there are needs to be met by the end of the year. Quarterly we will

communicate growth, successes, assessment score compared to surrounding school

through emails, assemblies, and on our school website for all stakeholders to see. “When

teachers use data to drive their decisions and plans, they are able to respond to problems

more effectively, construct new teaching methods, and advance skill sets faster.” (Holley,

2017)

We will build community through events at the school for the community,

volunteer opportunities, and by communicating and being involved with our surrounding

community. I will administer surveys quarterly, making sure that I incorporate the

interests of all through activities and events for our stakeholders. This will help build

relationships, and trust for the betterment of the school. Also, in order for our school to

advocate for the priorities and the needs of each individual, we need to be to

communicate, and encourage people to come to the monthly board meetings, and to be

aware of the laws that are affecting our school in some way. “When school staff reach

out to parents and invite them into the school to participate in collaborative efforts, and

assist families in supporting their hopes and dreams for their children, a stronger family

involvement program can result.” (Ferguson, 2005) When this happens, I will be sure to

personally reach out to individual families that are stepping up, and being involved, to

thank them, and acknowledge their presence.

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Rationale 

While creating my plan I made sure to keep the students’ success my top priority.

Every decision was made to benefit them. I also made sure that it was my goal to

establish a positive learning environment/culture for Maynard High School through

relationship and trust building from my stakeholders. The mission and vision statements

support the goals and outcomes that I implemented in my plan to ensure the success of

each individual students based on their needs through a student-centered learning

environment promoting social justice in the high school, by giving everyone a voice. I

believe that my plan is setting the Maynard High School up with the goal of setting a firm

foundation that the school can lean on in the years to come. Collaboration with all

stakeholders is key to the success of the school, and with the help of supporting data, we

will be able to strive at Maynard High school. This falls under the PSEL standard 1b that

states through collaboration with stakeholders, using data, establishing a vision, will

promote success.
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References

1. Drew, C. (2021, February 21). 79 Examples of School Vision and Mission Statements

(2021). Helpful Professor. https://helpfulprofessor.com/school-vision-and-mission-

statements/.

2. Kane, T. J. (2016). Never judge a book by its cover—Use student achievement instead.

Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/never-judge-a-book-by-its-coveruse-

student-achievement-instead/

3. King, I. (2020, April 13). Importance of parent-teacher communication and

relationships. https://www.kickboardforschools.com/family-engagement-

communication/importance-of-parent-teacher-communication-and-relationships/.

4. Holley, M. (2017, November 21). The Benefits of Data Driven Education. Method

Modern Schools - online public school for SoCal K-12 students.

https://www.methodschools.org/blog/the-benefits-of-data-driven-education.

5. Ferguson, C. (2005, September). Reaching Out to Diverse Populations: What Can

Schools Do to Foster Family-School Connections?

https://sedl.org/connections/resources/rb/rb5-diverse.pdf.