Principal's Message 9/22/08

CREATING A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT

Last week, I spoke about understanding the constituents of our school. I gave some quick tips on how we can start making an effort to creating a welcoming environment. What I would like to do this week is really give a visual on how little things can make a world of difference. When it comes to the actual efforts, you will realize it’s not so much on the action itself that requires the work, but the self-monitoring that is the difference. For instance, it takes no effort whatsoever to say “hello” to someone in passing but it does take an awareness to let go of your thoughts or agenda to pause for a moment to say “hello.” Who is guilty of this the most, yours truly, the principal of your school. Thanks to the assistance of many staff members such as Ms. Scott, Ms. McKinley, Ms. DeStaffan, and Ms. Word, to name a few, I have been more conscious of it than ever.

Again, greeting people is very simple. Prying me from the small mission I am on at that moment is a whole other story. I have put checks and balances in place to assist me in this manner. I have asked staff members to remind me when I have not openly thanked someone or if I neglected anyone. I have shared my goal with many of you so you can help me achieve it. This causes me to continually reflect on the process to see how I can grow as a person in this capacity. What a world of difference it makes when you are not alone in trying to bring forth change in yourself. I now have people checking in with me to see if I recognized a person or if I greeted someone who were in our building. I have also worked on little adjustments in my lifestyle to allow me to be more conscious of greeting people. For instance, I try to walk with my head up down the hallway instead of buried in my blackberry, a document, or my own thoughts.

I am a grateful person for all of you to be with me in the mission of making a difference in the lives of the children within our school. I love when you go out of your way to help each other and community members within our building. I get ecstatic when staff members enjoy each other’s company inside and outside of the school. I am blown away when staff teach other staff members new steps of instruction, organization, and other positive things. I get the chills when I see veterans of the building, especially members of the original staff when I arrived, take a leadership role in a positive way (to go from such a negative world and find the strength and compassion to rise above…whoa! Gives me chills just describing it.) My problem with all of this is that I have not been taking the time to recognize the people who have been doing it. One of my goals to improve this year is make sure I praise a number of people a day to break through this shell I have sheltered myself with. Not only does it feel better as a person to do it, I am seeing how much you appreciate it.

The point of what I am trying to say is even I am making an effort to be more welcoming and positive with the members of our community. As I learn to be better, I hope it influences you to do the same. I stand by my previous statement that we have an amazing staff. It’s time for us to show the world. I have described some of things that can be done in different capacities of the building.

IN THE CLASSROOM

1. Students go home and talk about their day. They should be talking about your classroom for positive reasons. Give them something to talk about! Make a parent feel like they are walking into a productive room. This can be done by displaying student work, posting positive messages on the walls, bringing decorations from home, giving the students an idea of who you are by sharing things about your family, hobbies, and personal life, and posting resources around your room like a word wall and/or strategies that can be applied.

2. Creating a safe environment for your students by making sure your students are not degrading each other, being aware of the actions of your students as far as harming each other, ensuring your students will follow your rules when you are absent, teaching your students how to treat each other right and not excepting anything less (displining is not necessarily a method of teaching – A great resource with this method is to explore the work of Ron Clarke).

3. Developing a room which encourages a positive lifestyle, a resource for students, and praises the great work they are doing in the classroom. Empty bulletin boards send a message of lack of concern, negligence, and a lack of organization.

4. A sense of community is probably the most important element when building a welcoming environment. Each of your students should feel like they belong in your classroom. They should feel comfortable enough to raise their hand whether they are right or wrong because they feel safe that they will not be dismissed or made fun of. Great steps to make this happen is by avoiding to call on the student who is not paying attention (embarrassment only destroys your relationship more then it teaches the child to tune into what you are saying), praise and teach (find something about their answer or actions to praise before you teach him or her what he or she did wrong), and give more attention for positive actions in your room rather than the negative (This one is a great method to measure yourself, if you’re not doing it, then you will only see the problems getting worse)

CONVERSATIONS

1. Every time you talk to someone outside of your comfort zone, you are building relationships. The more you distance yourself from the parents, staff members, and other constituents you do not know, the more they use inferences to decide who you are. Let them know the real deal by taking the time to get to know them. You’re a great person (yes, the person who is reading this), give him or her the opportunity to find out.

2. The more relationships you build within our community, the easier your job gets. When you go out of your way to help others, they will begin to do the same for you. This works with all constituents within our building…staff, students, parents, administrators, etc…. If you see someone who is not familiar, introduce yourself and see if there is anything you can do to assist him or her. Not only do you immediately help someone, but you have taken a step to make our school a more welcoming environment.

3. Begin every conversation with a positive remark or praise. This is especially important when you are bringing up an issue that needs to be dealt with. If everything that comes out of your mouth is negative, do not be surprised if people begin to avoid you. People have lives of their own, if you are constantly bringing them down, then it is only naturally they are going to try to eliminate that portion of their day. This goes for addressing a parent about their child, confronting a colleague about a lingering issue, or approaching anyone who has made a bad decision.

COMMON AREAS OF THE SCHOOL

1. When we assist each other in the hallway or other areas of the school, it is important to be courteous to each other. For instance, by just standing near a colleague addressing students provides another set of eyes. This is extremely helpful because it reduces the number of students who are not following the staff member’s procedures. If you want to offer advice, I suggest you provide it in a discrete manner by whispering or writing down the suggestions so the teacher can enforce them on their own. This allows for the staff members to maintain their authority and you have made a difference in their day. The welcoming environment is established because a staff member does not have to yell to get the students’ attention.

2. Whenever anyone walks through our corridors, they should know exactly where they are going. The truth of the matter is our building can be very overwhelming walking in it for the first time. If we all go out of our way to make sure people know where they are going, then people will feel welcomed when they walk in the building. If you want to add a little more to the mix, introduce yourself and then assist them. Statistics say that when a waiter introduces him or her to the people they are serving, their tip increases by 5 percent. I know we are not waiters but it only goes to show how intimacy can make a difference for people and how they are feeling when they are somewhere outside of their familiarity.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE

The discipline committee meets every week from 3:15 to 4:15 to address issues surrounding the structure, implementation, and effectiveness of the school-wide discipline code.

JOIN THE COMMITTEE: Members of the discipline committee are eager and excited to work with new staff members and veteran staff members interested in improving our school's culture. Please join us at this week's meeting on Thursday in Ms. Quiambao's room. -

ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN: Please be on the lookout for any signs of bullying in the school. Expect resources from the discipline committee regarding this issue in the coming weeks.

HOODIE POLICY: Students may only wear school hoodies in the classroom. Any other type of hoodie must be taken off inside the classroom. Please be consistent with this policy.

COMMUNITY CORNER

This Tuesday is our Open School Night. It is our debut to our families in forging a strong partnership in providing the best support for all of our students. We need to tap into all of our resources to set up a grand opening to our community. The night’s festivities and welcoming will be remembered by all who attend for the remainder of the year. We are hoping to set up the warmest feeling for all who enter the building that night. The grade teams are working diligently to make sure as much information is shared as possible and the families have a strong understanding of what their child’s day will look and feel like. This is the largest whole school initiative we have put together since last year. With our goal of increased parent involvement, we are confident it will be a night to remember.

Short-term goals for community building
1. Building a sense of pride in the school and community
2. Developing a welcoming environment
3. Establishing trust between both parents with staff and staff with parents
4. Maintaining strong communication with our families for both celebratory and informative reasons
5. Researching and constructing a schedule to meet with parents that will support their working day and our instructional day

Long-term goals for community building
1. Provide quality medical support for the families of our community
2. Develop a partnership with our families to maintain strong student attendance and the best instruction possible
3. Rebuild the school image in the eyes of our families and the outside community
4. Establish the school as a resource to our families for education, job readiness, job placement, and crisis management
5. Create more opportunities for our families to participate in the day-to-day decision making

ATTENDANCE

Congratulations to our attendance committee for breaking new ground for J13. We reached over 90 percent attendance in the month of September. With the numbers so low, we will be able to maintain the same percentage to the end of the year. We will continue to call home when a student does not make it into school. We will flag the students who begin falling below 80 to 90 percent. We will begin the conferencing with parents from this point forward to build a team effort with the families to keep the students in school.

There are many things that can be done within the classroom to help maintain attendance. First, we can let our students know they were missed. If a student is out one day, call home or greet the student the when he or she returns with a warm welcome and a clear message that their presence is appreciated (even if they are a difficult student). Second, maintain student engagement. If your students are into a class, then they will want to come back. Right now, many of our seventh graders are anxious to return to Dr. Schultz’s class to see what experiment they are going to do next. If learning is fun for the students, then they are going to want to come back. As much as discipline has been stressed in the past, if that is the major factor to the learning going on in the classroom, it will be difficult to expect students to look forward to returning (especially for the students who are already well behaved). Third, maintain communication with the counseling team and your grade team to monitor students who are out for more than a day. Let’s make sure someone is checking in with the student to make sure the family is not enduring a crisis or the child or family member is severely sick.

When it comes to attendance, it’s the small things that make a difference. Posting the attendance of your independent reading class to urge a better effort as a group, decorating your room to make it feel welcoming, creating a strong community in your classroom to make your students feel safe, and perfect attendance awards or bulletin boards in your room, to name a few.

CHILD STUDY

Our Child Study Team continues to fine-tune our systems of accountability and feedback so that recommendations and planned interventions can be communicated to the faculty, to the student and to the student’s family. Once I submit a yellow referral form—What happens? What is next? How do I know ‘”if anything is being done”….

The primary goal of fine-tuning our communication loop is to help us to create ongoing follow-up and support that is consistent, transparent and meaningful. An intervention planned and agreed upon “in September 2008 ” , for example, may need updating and reconsideration “in November2008”, and maybe again in “…April, 2009” as the student’s needs and circumstances change, and as the interventions and supports that we as an educational community have implemented have yielded (we hope and expect!) positive results and meaningful change.

These kinds of results, this kind of change cannot happen if valuable discoveries and recommendations sit at the table once our Wednesday Child Study Team meeting is over. Once our Child Study Team meeting ends, the next part of our collaborative work begins:

Implement….Strategize…Revisit….Communicate…Collaborate…
Share new information… Ask new questions…Fine-Tune….REPEAT.

Our collaborative efforts are exciting opportunities for us to deepen our work with our students and to offer them the best opportunities for success.

Our Child Study Team is excited to greet our first Autumn here at Central Park East….

We look forward to an awesome year as we serve our educational community.

Working together is success.

BIRTHDAYS:

Latanya Phelps September 5th
Renne Word September 12th
Melissa Quiambao September 12th
Jocelyn Unger-Baitz September 23rd
Jeanette Vega September 28th
Daughn Lee September 30th

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” –Albert Einstein