Instead, classrooms are furnished with tables and chairs that provide children with a variety of opportunities to learn to work together as a team - a community in which each has responsibilities. Earle Elementary School in Landrum, South Carolina.Ĭlassrooms are bright, colorful, busy places where school desks are a thing of the past. Principal Nita High told Education World about some things that members of her staff do to create a special climate at O.P. According to Carol Robertson, a positive and nurturing climate is the greatest thing about her school, Lewis Vincent Elementary School in Denham, Louisiana.

The climate of a school includes its kids and its diversity, but it includes much more than that. The Allen School community respects each other, supports each other, and helps each other to succeed.' A VERY SPECIAL CLIMATE Our school is a perfect example of how different people can live together, work together, and learn together,' said Mink. The schools demographic is 59 percent Hispanic, 22 percent Black, 16 percent White, and smaller percentages of Asians and Eastern Europeans. Principal Karen Mink expresses similar sentiments about the students of the Allen School in Aurora, Illinois. We are an international school that lives and learns together in our own world of Oakridge like the rest of the world should live - with joy, understanding, and delight in what each of us offers each other.' Every child and every teacher has the special privilege of meeting, talking to, learning with, and playing with children and families from places in the world most only see in an atlas or hear on the news. They are truly here to learn, grow, and experience life in the Washington D.C., United States of America.'Įvery adult and child is enriched by just being part of our school,' added Haws. We have the most beautiful, interesting, interested, and talented children from all over the world,' Haws told Education World. Seventy percent of Oakridges 460 students are from countries other than the United States, and 90 percent were born outside Virginia. Diversity is a given in a school whose location is so close to Washington, D.C. Lolli Haws is principal at Oakridge Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia. Great schools cannot exist without great groups of kids, and the diversity of those kids is what many principals say makes their schools so great. If there was one thing about their school that they most wanted the world - and members of their community - to know, what would that be? ITS OUR KIDS! With those lists of great things about my school' in mind, Education World asked members of our Principal Files' principals team to share what the Number One item on the card in their wallets might say. With that list of six great things always in mind, when the talk turns negative or the questions turn difficult, a principal will have ready access to a list of great things about my school.' Even if the positive news does not make its way into the media this time, that principal has taken advantage of an opportunity and planted a seed that might lead to another news story with a more upbeat spin.

To that end, one of Education Worlds Administrators Desk columnists, George Pawlas, suggests that every principal should carry in his or her wallet, pocket, or purse, a card that lists six great things about my school.' Read the article by George Pawlas, Share the Pride: Six Statements of Pride Get Year Off to a Great Start.Įven better, Pawlas suggests that school administrators should commit their lists to memory. School leaders are frequently put in the position of defending what their schools are doing. So often - too often, as a matter of fact - the media seems to focus on the negative news about our schools. Included: What is the greatest thing about your school? And we asked our Principal Files' principals to do just that. Best Books for Teachers, Students and Parentsĭo you have a sense that the media too often focuses on the negative news about our schools? With that in mind, all principals should be prepared to spread the good news about their schools.

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