STANDARD ONE - Strategic Leadership
Principals will create conditions that result in strategically re-imaging the school’s vision, mission, and goals in the 21st century. Understanding that schools ideally prepare students for an unseen but not altogether unpredictable future, the leader creates a climate of inquiry that challenges the school community to continually re-purpose itself by building on its core values and beliefs about its preferred future and then developing a pathway to reach it.
Element 1A - School Vision, Mission, and Strategic Goals:
The school’s identity, in part, is derived from the vision, mission, values, beliefs and goals of the school, the processes used to establish these attributes, and the ways they are embodied in the life of the school community.
As a part of the principal preparation program, I wrote, edited, and re-wrote a personal vision statement, a statement by which I hope to live and lead. The vision statement is below:
I will create a safe, grace-filled space where each person is loved, valued, listened to, and empowered to grow. I will lead people, not things, to love first, to pursue equity in all things, to provide opportunities for joy and for growth, and to establish high expectations for all.
As a member of the School Improvement Team at Merrick-Moore Elementary, I helped to craft the school's mission and vision statements, linked below. In going through this process, I learned the importance of basing many decisions off one's mission and vision and these statements being the lenses through which decisions are made.
For example, when my school was given funds from the state for achievement gaps (TSI funds), we met together as a leadership team to discuss how to best use the funds. I reminded the team that we needed to return to the mission and vision for the school and decide how to spend the money based on what aligned best with these statements. One of the lines in the vision is "maintaining high academic expectations". We, as a team, decided that a vital missing piece of our classrooms were novels that were slightly above grade level. We were not able to push our students in literacy, especially those who were reading above grade level. So, in line with this vision, we chose to use the TSI funds to purchase more classroom library books.
The school’s identity, in part, is derived from the vision, mission, values, beliefs and goals of the school, the processes used to establish these attributes, and the ways they are embodied in the life of the school community.
As a part of the principal preparation program, I wrote, edited, and re-wrote a personal vision statement, a statement by which I hope to live and lead. The vision statement is below:
I will create a safe, grace-filled space where each person is loved, valued, listened to, and empowered to grow. I will lead people, not things, to love first, to pursue equity in all things, to provide opportunities for joy and for growth, and to establish high expectations for all.
As a member of the School Improvement Team at Merrick-Moore Elementary, I helped to craft the school's mission and vision statements, linked below. In going through this process, I learned the importance of basing many decisions off one's mission and vision and these statements being the lenses through which decisions are made.
For example, when my school was given funds from the state for achievement gaps (TSI funds), we met together as a leadership team to discuss how to best use the funds. I reminded the team that we needed to return to the mission and vision for the school and decide how to spend the money based on what aligned best with these statements. One of the lines in the vision is "maintaining high academic expectations". We, as a team, decided that a vital missing piece of our classrooms were novels that were slightly above grade level. We were not able to push our students in literacy, especially those who were reading above grade level. So, in line with this vision, we chose to use the TSI funds to purchase more classroom library books.
Element 1B - Leading Change:
The principal articulates a vision, and implementation strategies, for improvements and changes which result in improved achievement for all students.
For my problem of practice, I spearhead the implementation of a social-emotional curriculum in first grade. This was in line with Durham Public Schools' piloting of several social-emotional curriculum in several elementary schools. The project measures the curriculum's effectiveness. As a result of my work at Merrick-Moore, all first grade students and teachers have access to a common language and common practices for social-emotional learning through the Second Step curriculum.
I also served on the social-emotional learning teams both at the school and district levels. As a member of the Strategic Plan Priority 2A team, my team and I are tasked with the goal of ensuring effective implementation of culturally responsive frameworks in all district schools by 2023.
The principal articulates a vision, and implementation strategies, for improvements and changes which result in improved achievement for all students.
For my problem of practice, I spearhead the implementation of a social-emotional curriculum in first grade. This was in line with Durham Public Schools' piloting of several social-emotional curriculum in several elementary schools. The project measures the curriculum's effectiveness. As a result of my work at Merrick-Moore, all first grade students and teachers have access to a common language and common practices for social-emotional learning through the Second Step curriculum.
I also served on the social-emotional learning teams both at the school and district levels. As a member of the Strategic Plan Priority 2A team, my team and I are tasked with the goal of ensuring effective implementation of culturally responsive frameworks in all district schools by 2023.
Element 1C - School Improvement Plan:
The school improvement plan provides the structure for the vision, values, goals and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students.
As the principal resident, I serve on the School Improvement Team. The school improvement plan below details both short and long-terms goals for student growth and achievement. The goals were selected based on the vision and mission of the school.
One of my roles as a member of the SIT team was to help 3rd-5th grade teachers to design and implement formative and summative assessments that would help lead our students to meeting the academic goals of the this plan. I met with them two times per month during PLC to discuss these assessments and our progress toward the determined goals for our students.
The school improvement plan provides the structure for the vision, values, goals and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students.
As the principal resident, I serve on the School Improvement Team. The school improvement plan below details both short and long-terms goals for student growth and achievement. The goals were selected based on the vision and mission of the school.
One of my roles as a member of the SIT team was to help 3rd-5th grade teachers to design and implement formative and summative assessments that would help lead our students to meeting the academic goals of the this plan. I met with them two times per month during PLC to discuss these assessments and our progress toward the determined goals for our students.
Element 1D - Distributive Leadership:
The principal creates and utilizes processes to distribute leadership and decision making throughout the school.
Recently, my school decided to merge the School Improvement Team with the leadership team (CSIL). We intentionally invited parents (specifically those not already represented in decision-making bodies) to join this team. Along with these parents, the team consists of staff members (both certified and classified) as well as community members. There are several Spanish-speaking parents/ guardians who serve on the team, and interpretation is provided for each meeting. This team is the decision-making body of the school. I served as a member of this team, and one of my roles was to coordinate interpretation for meetings for our Spanish-speaking community members. I worked with the district's Multilingual Resource Center to coordinate this.
Below is an example of a spending proposal that was presented to CSIL. The collective team made the decision on how to spend this money, which clearly shows how leadership is distributive at the school level. RC is referenced many times in the spreadsheet - it refers to Responsive Classroom, the cultural framework used at the school level.
The principal creates and utilizes processes to distribute leadership and decision making throughout the school.
Recently, my school decided to merge the School Improvement Team with the leadership team (CSIL). We intentionally invited parents (specifically those not already represented in decision-making bodies) to join this team. Along with these parents, the team consists of staff members (both certified and classified) as well as community members. There are several Spanish-speaking parents/ guardians who serve on the team, and interpretation is provided for each meeting. This team is the decision-making body of the school. I served as a member of this team, and one of my roles was to coordinate interpretation for meetings for our Spanish-speaking community members. I worked with the district's Multilingual Resource Center to coordinate this.
Below is an example of a spending proposal that was presented to CSIL. The collective team made the decision on how to spend this money, which clearly shows how leadership is distributive at the school level. RC is referenced many times in the spreadsheet - it refers to Responsive Classroom, the cultural framework used at the school level.