From the #SAVMP blog:
The first question we are going to focus on is in based on the idea of creating strong relationships to build a solid foundation in your school. From our collective experience, we have seen many administrators focus on the idea of being “innovative” before focusing on the spending time with staff, students, and understanding classrooms. As George Couros would say, “Innovation is a human endeavor”, and it is important that we focus on these connections first. So here is the first question, whether you are a principal, vice-principal, or on any part of a leadership team:
“What are some ways you connect
with your school community?”
First, I LOVE this prompt. I truly believe that relationships must come first, whether you are talking about students, staff, or families. At our school, we have three things that we feel are our signature practices-- the things that make our school unique and special: PBL--Our project based learning approach, Assessment-- and all of the different ways we know students are learning, and Connected Community-- our focus on social emotional learning, and health and happiness, as perhaps our most important school initiative. Included in our connected community focus is also the use of technology to build relationships and to tell our school story to the community and the world.
How do we connect?
Face to Face is one way!
Drop off
Connecting starts in the parking lot!
I LOVE drop off. Rain or shine-- I cannot wait to greet our families and students!
We will even open your car door to say good morning!
We will even open your car door to say good morning!
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| Our custodians and teachers waiting to open car doors at drop off every day!  |
Walking to school!
Connecting with hugs
And at recess
Dancing!
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| Rainy day recess |
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| Four days a week we start the day dancing! |
Connecting in classrooms
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| 2nd grade book club |
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| small group math |
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| Ashley Crane and her 3rd grade students |
At meetings and professional development...
building relationships one meeting at a time!
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| STEM challenge with the staff from Stoneridge Elementary |
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| 4th grade collaboration between 2 schools! |
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| Back to school PD= dancing as a staff! |
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| Ro-sham bo tournament |
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| Lego grade level challenge |
Facebook, Twitter and Technology, oh my!
One of my favorite ways to connect with our school community is our Facebook page. This page isn't public- it's actually secret, and you have to be added to the group to post and view. This group now has almost 500 members, and parents , staff, and community members post every single day! Last year. when we were enrolling over 200 new families, the first thing we did was invite them to join our FB group- in hopes that they would really get a sense of how we are as a school community from joining. We loved being able to connect with and get to know our new families- months before they set foot on our campus. Many of our families use FB as their go to place to find out what is happening in our school. (I post every communication on FB, via Remind text, and on our school website-- trying to reach families where they are!)
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| Aargh! |
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| Our counselor posting about Kind Kids Club & #socktober |
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| Our City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby posts about community events! |
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| I love posting from classrooms! |
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| Parents posting! THIS happens every day! |
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| Sharing about our school with Joe Wood and Brandon Blom --when I'm off campus at a conference! |
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| Teachers post from field trips! |
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| Spirit day posts by parents |
Twitter
We love Twitter at our school! Teachers tweet out the awesome things happening in classrooms and these show up in the feed on our webpage, too. It's like Open House every day, and it allows our staff and teachers to see into other classrooms without ever leaving their class or office. Follow us at @staracademyncs and our #ncsstar hashtag. (We also use #ncsinnovate to connect all five academies at Natomas Charter School!)
Connecting can make every day feel like the best day!
Love the post, Jennifer! I am blown away by the pictures and the energy that comes through in each one. You school is sure lucky to have you as their leader! Thanks for sharing!
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