Three strategies school leaders can use to stay connected to their communities

By Valery Dragon

When I was a principal, my mentor told me, “Show me the community, and I will tell the story’s end.” No matter how innovative or brilliant I thought I was, if no one felt connected to me as their leader — if no one could enter “in community” with me — I would be unable to positively shape the overall teaching and learning experience.

In thinking about the pressures of leading school during a crisis, I am reminded that leaders must reimagine how we define, experience, and sustain community. With schools switching in and out of models in response to changes in COVID cases, student engagement at an all-time low, and fears of low enrollment turning into reality, we need to re-anchor to the fundamental truth that relationships and learning are inseparably connected.

This past fall one of the principals I work with shared that she felt she was “losing her school”: Teacher attendance was hovering just below 70%; parent attendance at first quarter conferences was at 65%; and student attendance, at its highest, was 68%. It was clear to us both that her school had lost its connection with the community. To connect to her community, she would have to: clarify the need, communicate the pathway to reengage, and cultivate new and reimagined traditions.

Clarify

Sometimes connections organically develop — this is not that kind of party. In COVID times, creating connection is a strategic, ongoing action that requires community participation. It is important that schools clarify the currency that exists between members of the community. In every relationship that survives tough times, there is an easily identifiable win: Do your students and families understand or buy into why the school community matters more now than ever?

Think about the following:

• Leverage your school’s core values: Clarify your vision and the role of community through the lens of your established core values. State your case for active participation and highlight values that provide an avenue to define the priority attributes of community members this year.
• Use surveys: Create or add questions to parent, teacher, and student surveys that gather their expectations for the larger community. Have them rate or prioritize the school actions and routines they value.
• Be aspirational: Write a vision statement painting a picture of the community at its ideal state. Next, write a description of its current state. Then, outline the commitments necessary to move from your current state toward your vision. (If you have survey data, incorporate it into your vision!)

Communicate

We are all distracted. Even when we make commitments, they may blend and blur in the face of high-priority, rapidly shifting work. No matter the stakeholder group, “branding” your community in creative ways can reignite and reactivate even the most passive community members. While schools are already using a variety of mediums to ensure accurate information-sharing, here we are talking about the currency of the heart: How are we eliciting positive feelings about the school community?

Think about the following:

• Spread student voice: Community contests, student highlights, or classroom-driven competitions that elevate the student experience help remind your students, families, and teachers that they are not experiencing this school year alone.
• Capture the school culture: Construct a culture plan for teachers to execute and share out on social media or a school-based platform like Remind or Class Dojo. When thinking about a culture plan, name the traditions and routines that occur daily, weekly, and monthly.
• Promote nostalgia: We all are looking forward to the new normal. Remembering what we’re trying to get back to or experience once again can provide some much-needed hope and good vibes!

Cultivate

No matter the model, the experience of school is best lived through traditions. To cultivate means to prepare something for use — that means we don’t merely collect, but we are also intentional about what was planted and how it will be used.

When it comes to school culture planning, school teams need to adopt a mindset of continuous improvement. At the onset of COVID-19, schools tended to their traditions and celebrations for the purposes of milestone events like graduation. Now, we zoom out from specific events to consider holistically what the on-ramp to those milestone experiences could be. Specifically, how are you creating momentum around a collective experience?

Think about the following:

• Virtually translate your event calendar: Don’t put down your events calendar! We’ve seen schools leverage empty buildings to hold in-person events for cohorts or groups of students. Our partnership team has also supported culture committees in creating virtual versions of traditional events.
• Reimagine key milestones: Quality over quantity allows for safe planning. When looking over the grades you serve, what are the milestone experiences you want to execute? One of our school partners always held a fifth-grade camping trip at the end of the year — this year, they plan to ship packages to fifth-graders so they can “camp” at home via Zoom.

You can’t have a connected community without a plan. While we have rightfully paid attention to distance learning plans, we can quell feelings of ambiguity and anxiety that come from dealing with many unknowns by tapping into the energy we experience when we work shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart.