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Reviving the Professional Culture

Whitney L. DeBruhl
College of Education, Grand Canyon University
EAD 513: Shaping School Culture
Jacqui Clay
September 15, 2023
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Reviving the Professional Culture

New leadership will inevitably affect the existing culture of a school. However, it will be

determined by the actions and attitude of that leader as to whether the effect will be positive or

negative. It can be easy for any leader to continue to strengthen an already strong culture within a

school. It will be drastically more challenging to revive a declining or negative culture and only

the most capable leaders would be successful in doing so. To accomplish such a feat, a leader

must be committed and effective in his role. In order to revive a declining school culture, the

leader must develop and implement a shared mission and vision, establish both short- and long-

term goals that will meet the needs of their students, collaborate and assess various data points,

establish productive relationships with both families and the community, and advocate for the

needs of their students and school. As the new principal of Maynard High School, I will do this

and more to revive the culture of the school.

Scenario Summary

Last December, the principal of Maynard High School, as well as an assistant principal,

resigned. Two individuals from the district office were assigned in the interim. I was hired in

February to take over as the new principal of Maynard in the fall. Since February, I have made

several observations about this school. Maynard is a public high school that was newly

established just last year. With a staff of 45 teachers, and 9 more to be added next year, the

school serves 1,100 students in grades 9 through 11. Next year will bring the addition of a 12th

grade, which will increase the student population to 1,450.

Based on my observations, I can say that the overall school culture of Maynard is in

decline. Several teachers have expressed their intent to not return since the loss of the previous
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administration. A standard curriculum is not used by all teachers nor are teachers consistently

evaluated and observed. There is also no collaboration or professional learning communities

taking place amongst the staff. There is no accountability or support for some of the teachers that

are lacking motivation and enthusiasm for the job. Growth and improvement are also clearly not

a priority for all within the school. Data is not assessed nor are any long-term goals established.

Professional development is not consistently offered or utilized and when it is, it is rarely

effective or done correctly. Maynard’s school culture needs to be revived.

Mission, Vision, and Outcomes

Vision: Our vision is to build strong, trusting, and collaborative relationships among

stakeholders to help all in our school thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

Mission: Maynard High School aims to grow our students into confident, well-rounded,

and productive members of society by creating a safe and comforting yet challenging learning

environment.

In order to revive the culture of Maynard High School, I will have two long term focuses.

The first will be on restoring and maintaining a positive image and reputation of our school in

the eyes of the parents and community. This will require more communication and engagement

between the school and the community. The next will be on creating a school improvement team

that will be responsible for assessing various data points in order to create school improvement

goals and action plans as well as drive the focus for our Professional Learning Communities and

professional development topics. My short-term focuses will be to immediately implement a

shared lesson plan template that requires teachers to submit their lesson plans for the week to

administration each Monday. These lesson plans templates will highlight the standard as well as
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the objectives for each lesson. Another short-term focus will be to begin teacher observations to

highlight best practices throughout the school as well as areas of concern or improvement.

Collaborating for Data

To involve and collaborate with all stakeholders in the process of reviving our school

culture, I will ensure that our school improvement team is representative. Members will include

the principal and administration, faculty and staff, students, parents and guardians, as well as

community members. From there, we will need to begin by collecting and analyzing pertinent

information in order to improve our school’s educational environment and foster a student-

centered culture. To collect this information, surveys will be administered to students, faculty

and staff, and parents. These surveys will measure the quality of the school from the perspective

of each group as well as their experiences and thoughts towards the learning environment. It will

be easy to ensure the total participation of both staff and students as it can be completed during

the school day. It will be more challenging to get the parent/guardian population to complete the

survey however we will offer multiple opportunities for them to do so as well as communicate

and stress the importance of their involvement in order to better our school. The data gathered

from these surveys will inform next steps, improvement goals, and action steps towards fostering

a more positive school culture.

Productive Family Relationships

I will build and sustain productive relationships with our school families by

communicating with and engaging them often. I believe that parents should feel welcomed into

the school and should be involved as much as possible. Emails and call out should go out each

week with important communications, highlighting the amazing things that our students are
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doing as well as informing the parents of ways they can further support our efforts or get

involved. I would invite the parents into our school whenever possible for things such as Open

House, conferences, family engagement nights, etc. I would ask them to volunteer for field trips,

mentorships, club and sport involvement, and even as monitors for lunch, hallways, or testing. I

would lastly ensure that our Parent Teacher Organization is up and running properly.

Productive Community Relationships

I will build and sustain productive relationships with the community in two ways. The

first is simple and will be by having a social media presence on various platforms to share

information with the community, to highlight great things happening at our school, and to ask for

support when needed. The second and much more important is by promoting partnerships with

various local organizations, businesses, and professionals. Community members will be invited

to sponsor school clubs and sports as well as fundraisers for student or school needs as well as

community needs. The community will also be encouraged to be present within our school at

various times to promote colleges, universities, businesses, or careers and share information with

our students. Finally, we will encourage partnerships to give our students experiences and

opportunities to problem solve and connect their learning to their local and real-life community.

Public Advocacy

A large part of reviving our school’s culture will require the collaboration, engagement,

and support of all stakeholders. To foster a more positive school culture and to ensure that

students are at the center of all of our efforts, I must promote the various relationships, “adult-

student, student-peer, and school-community”, that “value and support academic learning and

positive social and emotional development” of our students (National Policy Board for
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Educational Administration, 2015). Encouraging these strong relationships will require

advocating publicly for the needs and support that we require. It is crucial that I be open, honest,

and very transparent through the entire process of reviving our culture by communicating and

discussing our needs, goals, priorities, and action plans. The engagement surveys for students,

staff, and parents will help guide the needs and priorities of our school that we must advocate

for. I will also prioritize opportunities for the community and families as well as our students and

staff to ask questions, share concerns, and voice their opinions.

Rationales

My plan works to improve our school culture in multiple ways through a transformational

leadership style. It focuses on uniting all stakeholders and encouraging commitment to our

school and our shared vision and goals (Lewis, Asberry, DeJarnett, & King, 2016). My plan

encourages engagement and collaboration in order to develop new strategies to improve our

school’s future. The vision focuses on creating strong and productive relationships with all

stakeholders. Our short- and long-term goals address the issues of teacher accountability as well

as the overall growth and improvement of our staff, students, and school. The creation of our

school improvement team and parent teacher organization as well as the various ways to

communicate with and engage our families and the community creates meaningful, collaborative

relationships with the goal of bettering our school and helping our students be successful.

It is a principal’s very challenging yet rewarding job to lead their school, their students,

and their staff. Not only are they the decision maker, but also the role model. They ultimately

define the community and culture of the school. It is their responsibility to gain the support of all

administration, teachers and staff, parents, and the community to ensure that together they are

setting the correct example for their students and guiding them towards success. The education
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of our children is not a task that we can take lightly or something that we can accomplish alone.

It must be the priority of all involved. Leaders that prioritize relationships with their families and

community and are receptive to constructive criticisms and new ideas are more likely to foster a

stronger sense of school culture and improve student outcomes in all areas. Alicia Betz (n.d.)

states that “a culture of community doesn’t just happen. It takes careful planning and daily

practice to effect change and maintain a positive school climate.”

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References

Betz, A. (n.d.). How to Create a Community Culture in Your School. Education Corner.

https://www.educationcorner.com/how-create-community-culture-school.html

Lewis, J., Asberry, J., DeJarnett, G., & King, G. (2016). The Best Practices for Shaping School

Culture for Instructional Leaders.

McNally, M. (2021, March 3). 9 Ways to Build a Strong School Culture. Teaching Nomad.

https://www.teachingnomad.com/blog/teacher-recruitment/9-ways-to-build-a-strong-

school-culture/

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

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.