2. Our Principles
•Every Teacher is a Character Formator
•Not just another subject
•Education is not just covering curriculum
3. Our Principles
•No other better way to teach
character than through the
power of our example
•The teacher is the most
important teaching tool
•The school is only as good as
its teachers.
21. ®
ED U C AT IO N IN IT IAT IV E
Leadership
If a school is a vibrant, innovative, child-
centered place; if it has a reputation for
excellence in teaching; if students are
performing to the best of their ability; one
can almost always point to the Principal’s
leadership as the key to success.
-U.S.Senate Resolution 359
22. *What does the principal plan for?
*What does the principal monitor?
*What does the principal model?
*What does the principal reinforce through recognition
and celebration?
*What behavior is the principal willing to confront?
28. * Are visible to all stakeholders
* Communicate regularly and purposefully
* Never forget that they are role models
* Are passionate about their work
* Accept responsibility for the school’s
culture
29. * Are organized
* Exhibit a positive outlook
* Take pride in the physical environment of
the school
* Empower others appropriately
* Demonstrate stewardship – they protect
their school and its people
42. THE SCHOOL “WAY”
Is developed with input (voice) from
staff, students, and parents
Expresses the school’s core moral
values (respect, kindness, etc.) and
performance values (doing our best,
never giving up…)
Is written in the “We” voice.
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43. THE PLACE WAY
At Place School, we pursue excellence in
scholarship and character.
We celebrate and honor each other by
being respectful, honest,
kind, and fair.
We give our best inside and
outside the classroom.
This is who we are, even when
no one is watching.
44. THE ROOSEVELT WAY
(Greenbelt, MD High School, 3000+ students)
There’s a way that students here are
expected to act, and a way that they
expected not to act. It’s defined by
“The Roosevelt Way.”
—Counselor
45. Classroom Compacts for Excellence
1. All teachers work with their students
during the first 3 weeks of school to
create a classroom Compact for
Excellence.
2. The Compact shapes the classroom
culture. It lays the foundation for
everything else.
45
46. “To be a Peaceful & Productive Class”
Classmates work in groups of 4 to fill in:
To help everyone feel To help everyone
respected & cared about: do their best work:
Students will: Students will:
The Teacher will: The Teacher will:
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47. The Compact for Excellence . . .
Communicates what our school values:
doing our best and being our best.
Sends the message that teachers have
high expectations of students, but …
“We are all in this together. We are all trying
to do our best and be our best.”
47
59. * staffs are extremely
fragmented
* the purpose of serving
students has been lost to the
goal of serving the adults
* where negative values and
hopelessness reign
Realizing a Positive School Culture, 1998
60. “staff fails to
figure out what's
needed to
cultivate the
characteristics
necessary for
student growth
and learning."
Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staf
69. * First Day Treat
* Teachers Day
* Family Day
* Christmas Program
* Love in Action Day
* 100 Days of Kindness
* Pep Rally
70. * Parents’ Day
* Grandparents’ Day
* Medical Mission for Families of Auxiliary Staff
* Thanksgiving Day
* Open House
* Alumni Day
* Principal’s Day
81. How easy it is for
students, teachers
to interact with one
another informally
(size of school
affects this)
82.
83. “Positive learning can only take
place in a positive culture. A
healthy school culture will affect
more student and teacher success
than any other reform or school
improvement effort currently
being employed.”
-Gary Phillips
84. * Student and teacher learning
* Rich sense of history and purpose
* Core values of collegiality, performance,
and
* improvement centered around quality,
achievement, and learning for ALL students
* Positive and Proactive Approaches for staff
86. “Self-renewing school cultures
are collaborative places where
adults care about one another,
share common goals and
values, and have the skills and
knowledge to plan together,
solve problems together, and
fight passionately but gracefully
for ideas to improve
instruction.”
-Robert Garmston & Bruce Wellman
94. 94
Fosters shared leadership
and long-range support of
the character initiative.
9.1: Leaders champion effort
9.2: Leadership group plans
9.3: Student leadership
Principle 9
95. 95
Engages families and
community members as
partners in the character-
building effort
10.1: Engages families
10.2: Communicates with families
10:3: Involves community
Principle 10