I imagine that most schools have rituals for saying goodbye to staff members who will not be returning the next year, whether to retirement, job changes, or life changes.  I clearly remember the English department chair at the large high school where I taught, who always made a point to include those who were leaving or had already left who were not physically present in the room.   She emphasized that while these people might not be in the room, it was essential that we pause as a staff in gratitude for the work that they had done for our school community.  I hope to never forget that gesture of consideration and thanks.

We unexpectedly lost some district team members this fall, and it has been inspiring to see the outpouring of support and gratitude amongst members of our SAUSD family.  It seems particularly appropriate during Thanksgiving season to reflect on the things in my professional life for which I am grateful, a few of which I thought I would share.

Santa Ana Unified

SAUSD.  There is a common joke amongst staff that each year in SAUSD has an equivalent measure in dog years.  Our interim superintendents are just here for 6 months, but we think that qualifies for about 3.5 years of experience.  The volume and pace of the work is relentless, but for those of us who work here, we have come to thrive on the urgency around the work we do for our students.  If there is anything that defines our school district, it is passion.  We share a passion for the work and a passion for improvement.  We have passion for anything and everything that will create pathways and possibilities and opportunities for our students, both now and when they leave us as graduates.  That sense of passion and urgency starts with our board members and moves all the way down and through the organization.  Our collective sense of purpose is present in every conversation.  Not everyone has the opportunity to be in an organization that has such a strong sense about its core purpose.  Of course there are as many opinions about how to move the work and where to focus as there are employees, but what unites us is a shared commitment to the young people of Santa Ana, and that is always something worth being grateful for.

Mentors

I’ve written in the past about the men and women who have, for whatever reason, taken the time and interest in my development as a professional educator.  Sometimes those mentors had a formal supervisory responsibility for me and the work that I was doing.  In other cases, the mentor had less formal ties to my day to day work but still seemed interested in me and my future.  Sometimes, even the title of mentor seems a bit formal for those people who demonstrated care for my professional welfare and were willing to share resources and insights without any explicit expectation to do so.  Just like a child may not recognize the sacrifices and gifts of a parent until becoming a parent himself, I am coming to recognize the commitment and courage that was necessary in those who provided me with time and opportunities to grow and develop as a leader.  I now find myself in a leadership position of signficant responsibility, wondering if I am making the same type of investments in others that mentors of my past made in me.

Public Service & the Rising Generation

Education is a field of public service that focuses specifically on the development and needs of the rising generation.  The opportunity to work with and for young people is truly a gift.  Whether I was working as a classroom teacher, as a site principal, or even now as a district administrator, I regularly have the opportunity to interact with, learn from, and be inspired by young people.  Perhaps that is part of the reason why I try to start every day walking classrooms at one of our schools.  I often tell people that working in education keeps you young.  Even on days when you wake up and may not be feeling the work vibe, as soon as you are around the kids, it’s hard not to have a smile on your face.  I am especially inspired by students who themselves are struggling to be there and overcome the myriad challenges of the day.  How can I not embrace my walk through life when so many around me are rising above their own challenging and circumstances?  To work in a place where that type of inspiration is a daily occurence is a tremendous blessing.

Over the past 10 years, research in educational leadership has clearly identified the principal as a key driver in improving learning outcomes for students.  In fact, the influence of a principal on school improvement and success is second only to the impact of classroom teachers.  Strong principals not only develop and retain stronger teachers, but they create professional environments where less successful teachers tend to leave in higher numbers.  In other words, talented principals have a multiplier effect on the good things happening in classrooms.

As the research world increasingly recognizes the outsize impact of effective school leaders, it has codified a number of critical roles the principal plays.  Most prominent of these is the role of the principal as the instructional leader and organizational manager.  The job of the principal has always been complex and multifaceted, and yet it only seems to increase in its demands.  I came into the principal role with my eyes wide open, knowing that the work would be demanding.  I knew that while I would need to focus on instructional leadership, I would also need to develop my capacity at building strong community partnerships, empowering my parent community, strategically aligning resources to our highest priorities and goals, and ensuring that we maintain a safe and welcoming campus.

Yet even with what I considered a broad awareness of skill demands, there were still job roles that I had not entirely anticipated that required both learning and personal improvement.  To a large degree, these roles were not discussed at any length as part of my formal training and preparation for school leadership, yet remain essential skill sets for aspiring principals nonetheless.   

Marketing & Recruitment Specialist

As a charter high school principal in San Francisco, it became quickly apparent that recruitment and enrollment was going to be a very big deal.  At first, I resisted the role.  I hadn’t gone to school and prepared in the classroom to be an instructional leader to turn around and spend my time as a salesman.  I remember the day before my first big school choice convention, my Assistant Principal went into panic mode when she saw me grab a stack of flyers and a tablecloth and declare that I was ready for the biggest recruiting event of the year.

While being the head of marketing and recruitment was somewhat foreign to me that first semester of principal, I forced myself to learn quickly.  At both private and public school choice events, I watched my colleagues carefully.  I looked closely at their marketing materials and information pamphlets.  I walked the convention hall floor, taking pictures of displays and set-up.  During that first year I taught myself Photoshop, and became a self-taught graphic designer.  I set aside every Tuesday morning during the fall months to personally visit potential feeder schools, and build relationships with counselors and administrators who might influence school choice decisions of students as they transitioned to high schools around the city.

By the end of my tenure as principal, not only did I feel like a seasoned veteran on the school recruitment circuit, I had learned that the biggest impact of my marketing efforts was actually internally within the school itself.  My efforts to build a strong image and reputation externally had solidified the perspectives of my staff and students.  As each recruiting class of students entered the school, I realized that my efforts to strengthen our school culture had started in dozens of weeknight presentations, school open houses, and school choice fairs during the previous year.  Internal marketing is a principle of organizational management and improvement that is largely lost on educators, who may not see the positive socialization and culture building aspects of school marketing.  I learned on the job just how essential a skill set effective marketing and branding was for my school.

Chief Curator

Building a strong school culture includes having a physical plant and space that reinforces messages about student voice, excellence, and creativity.  I came to see the walls of the school as a learning space in need of curation, much like the walls of a museum.  We added a video screen in the waiting area of the office, with a slideshow of pictures of our students engaged in meaningful learning and extracurricular activities.  I lined the hallways with student portraits, accompanied by their statements of academic identity – an integral component of our school’s unique defense portfolio that required each individual student to present their philosophy of education and provide evidence of how their learning reinforced their academic identity.  We put up artistic installations, with artist statements explaining the purpose and providing insight into what was happening in classrooms.

When the 9^th grade completed a “students caught reading” Instagram campaign, we celebrated its completion with an art installation depicting a fishing net with book covers caught inside.  After our seniors completed a critical analysis of mass protest movements in the United States, we recreated a picket line with wire fencing and student generated protest posters highlighting their work.  We even chained a few final papers to our makeshift chainlink fence.  Our highly talented muralist was constantly working with students to design and install new murals throughout the school building.  Over time, a truly student centered and arts-focused physical environment took shape, reinforcing our aspirations and vision for a student centered school.

Head Investigator

This was admittedly not one of my favorite realizations, but as a high school administrator, I had to perfect the art of the investigation.  Of course that doesn’t sound terribly student friendly, but keeping students safe and counseling them on making good choices are both inherent outcomes of good investigation practices, not to mention the sometimes necessary practice of conducting investigations into staff behavior as well.

While searching student backpacks and taking witness statements was a regular part of my work, I am happy to say that in 4 years I never had a student arrested.  Of course there were incidents and situations that required the support of an SRO, and we did have a handful of student expulsions over the course of my tenure, but we did most of our work internally, recognizing that substance abuse and threatening behaviors were largely educational matters that required intense student support.

The ability to systematically and thoroughly gather and document evidence is essential for school leaders who advocate for transparent and fair decision-making processes.  While human behavior can be predictably messy, a strong school leader must defend the integrity of the institution through the use of both legally and logically sound protocols and processes for conducting investigations.