How To Open A New School

1
How To Open A New School

• Devin Vodicka, Ed.D.
• Catina Hancock
• March 21, 2008

2
Personal Experience

• Jefferson Renovation/Pine Closure
• Calavera Hills Elementary Opening
• Calavera Hills Middle Opening

3
Bridges Change Model

• Ending
• Neutral Zone
• New Beginning

4
Endings

• Ceremonies and recognition
• Appreciation for past contributions, experiences,
  and affiliations

5
Neutral Zone

• Polarizing uncertainty
• Two challenges
• Survive
• Use opportunities to innovate
• Urgent problems are most comfortably solved with
  familiar approaches
• Leader may find possibilities for creativity
• Balancing these extremes establishes identity of
  new organization

6
Neutral Zone Strategies

• Creating temporary systems
• Strengthen intragroup connections
• ?
• Short-range goals
• Intense communication
• Formal approaches such as transition monitoring
  teams do not work when there is no
  pre-established structure

7
New Beginnings

• Purpose
• Picture
• Plan
• Part

8
Vision

• Tell them and sell them vs.
• Emergent, shared understand that arises through
  interaction
• Experiences
• Jazz and Learning Community

9
Staffing

• Process establishes identity of new organization
• Must craft compelling image for what the new
  school will become
• Lessons learned
• Be accessible
• Ask for input
• Serve as fallibility model
• Take risks (and consult when uncertain)

10
Teambuilding

• Retreat concept
• Warm-ups, games, and personality inventories
• Peter Senge article
• Reversing Assumptions
• Abundant social events

11
Communication

• Receptive and expressive
• Use technology
• Websites
• Email
• Surveys
• Autodialer
• Dialogue with Principal
• Be open to possibility
• FRC Anonymous Donor

12
Innovation

• Overwhelming number of decisions
• Range of needs
• Urgency
• Balancing time vs. input
• Balancing reapplication of past vs. creative
  potential of future
• CHMS Schedule

13
Conclusions

• Be sensitive to change process
• Vision Know where you want to go
• People Get the right people on the bus
• Promote teambuilding to reinforce the vision and
  build capacity
• Implement communication systems, be accessible,
  and be open
• Slowing down to innovate can also work

14
A Final Metaphor

• Opening a new school is like giving birth to a
  child

15
Questions?

• Devin Vodicka devinvodicka_at_getcivic.org
• Catina Hancock catinahancock_at_getcivic.org
• www.getcivic.org
• Blog.getcivic.org