Guest post by Bill Ziegler Without a doubt, the most pressing issue in schools today is safety. It seems like a week can’t go by without hearing about a school shooting or someone talking about school safety fears. The Washington Post recently reported a startling statistic that indicated more students have died in school shootings […]
Category: Culture
7 Strategies to Enhance School Safety
Everyone Has a Story
Guest post by Brandon Mowinkel The role of a principal is complex, tiring, and stressful, to say the least. Balancing the needs of your staff, students, school, and community can wear on you, especially as the school year winds down. Tensions seem to run high as patience wanes. It is vital for principals to keep […]
Canines in the Classroom: How Gem Transformed Our School
Guest post by Laurie Wade When I first proposed introducing a therapy dog to my district in 2011, I was met with a lot of raised eyebrows and skepticism. There was the expected chorus of objections: What about kids who are afraid of dogs or don’t like them? What about allergies? What if the dog […]
AVID: A Transformative Pathway for School Improvement
Guest post by Nick Nelson During the 2015–16 school year, The Dalles High School in Oregon was awarded a state grant for AVID training. We didn’t know much about AVID at the time, just that it was a philosophy centered on writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading, and that its goal was to close the […]
Igniting Every Student’s Spark of Genius
Guest post by Stephen Spahn As chancellor of Dwight School for the last 50 years, I have had the distinct privilege of witnessing some of the more dramatic changes in education. As the world continues to be transformed at an unprecedented pace, we are living in a new age of educational enlightenment, challenging educators to […]
Giving Students a Voice in School Improvement
Guest post by Kasey Teske In secondary schools, the greatest untapped resource is our students. Most of our students care deeply about school and have numerous ideas about how to improve their campus community. But how often do we, as principals, involve students in our school improvement efforts? Do the students in our school even […]
iCARE, Part Three: Helping Troubled Students Care
Guest post by Thomas Kachadurian Two weeks ago, I introduced you to iCARE, and last week, I shared how this initiative has helped to unite our school community. In this final post, I will explore how iCARE has changed the way we work with our most difficult students. In 2014, I inherited a unique sophomore […]
iCARE, Part Two: Uniting Our Community
Guest post by Thomas Kachadurian In last week’s post, I discussed the beginnings of the iCARE program at Colonie Central High School and how it has given students an opportunity to make a difference in our school. This week, I will share how iCARE has grown and united our entire community around a variety of […]
iCARE, Part One: Students Making a Difference
Guest post by Thomas Kachadurian In 2011, I attended a character education summit at Sage College with my fellow associate principal Chris Robilotti. After attending a seminar on cultivating stakeholder ownership, we walked away with a new mission to take our successful middle school bullying prevention program and build it in the high school setting. […]
Are Your Students Life Ready?
Guest post by Akil E. Ross As principal of Chapin High School (CHS) in South Carolina, I’m always trying to promote ways to make our students college and career ready. After all, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) calls for our students to meet higher academic standards and for us to help them find success […]