Carissa Karakaedos

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Creating a Positive School Culture

• Carissa Karakaedos
• Shawsheen Valley Technical High School Billerica,
  Massachusetts

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Todays Topics

• Determine what a positive school culture is
• Identify school culture stressors and motivators
• Compare race, work and dead horses
• Identify strategies that build a positive school
  culture
• LAUGH

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Who is Shawsheen Tech?

• Secondary regional vocational/technical high
  school located in Billerica, Massachusetts
• Serves the 5 member towns of Billerica,
  Burlington, Bedford, Wilmington and Tewksbury
• Possesses a student population of 1300
• Comprised of staff and faculty body of 200
• Offers 19 vocational programs rotating on a
  week-about schedule

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Shawsheen Fact Sheet

• MCAS results (achievement 2004-present)
• English average 91 advanced/proficient
• Math average 84 advanced/proficient
• 2009 Science Biology 77, Chemistry 91
  advanced/proficient
• After one year of study
• Daily attendance 2003-present over 93
• Drop out stats 2002present hover at 1
• Positive placement 2004 present over 92
• Graduation rates
• State average 80, Shawsheen over 94
• 90 for Shawsheen special ed students
• Special Ed pop over 30
• Over 600 applicants for 335 seats

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Shawsheens Organizational Chart

• Insert Chart

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Factors That Determine a Positive School Culture

• Open communication
• Trust
• Orientation program
• Mentoring program
• Support
• Leadership

• Stated expectations
• Creativity
• Autonomy
• Consistency

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Leadership Skills for a Positive School Culture

• Technically a leader has to
• Manage
• Schedule
• Delegate
• Humanistically a leader has to
• Listen
• Be aware of group dynamics
• Resolve conflict
• Educationally a leader has to
• Know about teaching and learning
• Symbolically a leader has to
• Practice school values
• Abide by the school mission
• Good Seeds Grow in Strong Cultures,
  Saphier and King

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Race Horses

• AKA your Go-Gos
• Passionate about the school, student learning,
  collegiality
• Volunteer to be on committees and work on school
  initiatives
• Plant the seeds to get others on board
• Myth typically young teachers looking to impress
  and obtain tenure?

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Work Horses

• AKA So-Sos
• Will tag along with the crowd involved in the
  majority opinion
• At times not respected by all staff
• Typically called upon to do the grunt work
  because of wishy-washy beliefs
• Will complain and praise same topic
• Myth These folks are usually in their
  educational mid-life crisis?

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Dead Horses

• AKA No-Nos
• Will dig their heels in the sand just to be
  defiant
• Refuse to come on board unless given a directive
• Can be toxic
• Will target young staff
• Consistently talk about how many years they have
  left to retire
• Myth These folks are always your older teachers?

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How to Defeat Dead Horses

• Utilize their experience in a positive way
• Assign them a mentorship decreasing their
  teaching load (wherever possible) to work on a
  project
• Ask them for their solutions to the problems they
  raise, having them chair the problem-solving
  committee
• Do not praise or recognize them for doing what
  they are paid to do
• Once they retire.they retire

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Listen

• to your faculty, your staff and your students

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Hear

• What your faculty, staff and students have to say

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Treat All Equally

• Regardless of who they are, how loud they bark or
• who they know

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Be Consistent

• Obey the rules you have made for everyone and
  every reason

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Make Hard Decisions

• The folks who are in your buildings for the right
  reasons (educating students) will appreciate it

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Always Remember

• There is a PERSON on the other side of that title
  of teacher, parent, student,
• staff member