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Reviving the Professional Culture

Jimena Rising

Grand Canyon University

EAD 513

Professor Theresa Meyers

7/27/2022
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Existing School Culture

Maynard High School is a new public high school that will be housing 1,450 students in

grades 9-12 for the upcoming school year. This school will contain a staff of 54 teachers, two

assistant principals, four school counselors, and five different office staff positions. As the new

principal of this school that has been observing since February, I would say that the school

culture is currently a negative one. There is no in-person professional development offered, and

it seems like the staff is not given the opportunity to participate in team building or planning

activities. There isn’t a school wide curriculum that is mandatory, and evaluations were not fully

completed so there is no evidence of good teaching. Seven teachers are leaving, which could be

an indicator that staff is unhappy. Additionally, learning communities are non-existing, which

means that the learning environment for kids can be improved in many ways. Because of all of

this, the students probably are not excited to be at school and are not engaged in lessons. There

probably aren’t any community partners either. The culture needs to be built up and include

caregivers, staff, and students.

Mission and Vision Statements

Mission: Maynard High School is dedicated to developing the minds of students and

encouraging them to foster their individual strengths to reach their future goals.

Vision: Maynard High School provides a safe learning environment in which students

can achieve academic success and set goals for their individual futures. Students take

responsibility of their own learning and treat their peers, teachers, and school with respect and

kindness. Students are provided with access to a variety of extracurricular activities to part take

in. Social emotional health is taken seriously, and students are provided with opportunities to talk

to an adult on campus about their emotional health if needed.

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As the new principal, I would ensure to remind staff that our job is to push these students

forward and teach them how to be respectful goal-getters. As a staff, we can only do this if we

collaborate and with each other and brainstorm ideas to teach the students how to well-rounded

individuals. I would also make it appoint to show the staff how important it is to get the

community involved and talk about how important it is to communicate with families and other

stakeholders. I would do my best to provide them with fun team building so that they can get to

know each other better as professional fellow employees. My goal would be to make sure that

everyone feels like they are part of one team.

Student Outcomes

Outcomes show whether a change to the school culture is working or not. It is important

to look at the outcomes that come from the implementation of changes to see how we can

continue to improve our school. “A school’s culture encompasses the perspectives and

backgrounds of its members as well as the school environment itself” (UCDS, 2019). A short-

term outcome that can be looked for is teacher attitude. When things change in a school, it is

normal to receive some push back, but it is also beneficial to see what the push back is and why

it is occurring. When teachers push back purely for the lack of wanting to implement more things

onto their plate, it shows which staff members are there to do what’s best for students and which

are not. This also gives feedback on how to go about introducing information to the staff so that

it is received in a better way. Another short-term outcome would be to see how students react to

the extracurricular activities. If there aren’t many students interested, it is important to recognize

why they are not interested and how to make them more involved. The more involved students

are in the extracurricular activities, the more opportunities we have for community events.
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A long-term outcome to look for would be staff retention. When teachers are happy at

their school, they do not leave. A lot of the time, teachers leave due to a negative school culture

and feeling unsupported. Changing the school culture and providing them with different avenues

for support would make them want to stay at the school because they are happy and valued.

Another long-term outcome to look for would be student academic outcomes- such as

standardized test scores. When students feel safe in their learning environment and are excited to

be there, they are more likely to meet high expectations and do well academically. It is important

to look at academic outcomes to see how teaching can be improved. “A school that consistently

reflects about the needs of students and staff is more likely to sustain an effective culture”

(UCDS, 2019).

How Things will be Implemented

Collaborating with staff, families, students, and community members is a key part in

building and maintaining school culture. Tools such as surveys, student data, and even social

interactions can provide a lot of feedback about the school’s environment. “Creating a stronger

sense of partnership between teachers and parents, which meant understanding that to make

academic gains and support social-emotional growth, we all have to be on the same page”

(Wilbanks, 2018). As an administrator, it is important to keep communication flowing with

families and the community, invite them to school events, and allow them to provide their

feedback about what they would like to see in change or improve in the school. Wilbanks says

that another way to improve engagement with the community is to participate in home visits, this

can really strengthen bonds between students and their teachers as well.

It is important as an administrator's job to get to know students personally. This can be

done by talking to them in the classroom, or while on duty. Keeping an open-door policy with
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students also helps keep an open-door policy with families. It is important to also be transparent

with families about academics and what they can expect of standardized tests. Students have

access to practice tests and teachers should take time to share this with them. Test scores, grades,

and general communication should be constant between caregivers and teachers. It is helpful for

the school and teachers to use a district approved apps to share where academic information can

be accessed and set up conferences.

“We need leaders who not only want to work in collaboration with students, staff, and

families, but believe that working with others will lead to a better solution” (DeWitt, 2017).

Collaborating and fighting for the needs of the community through fundraising and providing

materials to help students succeed is important. Working with the community also means helping

them get their needs met. One way to be involved is to do community clean ups and allow the

community to be involved in school beautification projects.

These plans establish a student-centered environment because they focus on building

relationships and creating a positive culture. They amplify the importance of collaboration, not

only with staff but also with the students and the community. Building a positive culture is

beneficial to students because it makes them excited to come to school. Students spend most of

the day at school, they are more likely to be happy to be there when they feel safe and heard.

Families worry less when they know their student is happy and feels taken care of. When

students feel safe, this also improves their learning and the school has better academic outcomes,

which makes the community look good. It is all a chain, and it is important that all parts of the

chain work together to create the best culture possible for students.
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References

Communication, U. C. D. S. (2019, October 16). Five characteristics of effective school culture.

UCDS. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.ucds.org/five-characteristics-of-
effective-school-culture/

DeWitt, P. (2017). Many Hands Make Light Work: How collaborative leadership leads to
collective efficacy. Principal, 97(1), 28–33.

Wilbanks, J. (2018). An Award-Winning Way to Partner with Parents. Education Digest, 83(7),
53–57