School Transformation: Good to Great

Check Out the Great Story of Monomoy Regional HS! Click HERE

Monomoy Regional High School 

Our Home Away From Home! 

Tell EVERYONE of your students "You Are Important" & see how is lights up your school!

Monomoy school community creates walls to unite, not divide via Cape Cod Times

Our saying at Monomoy Regional High School is "We are a Home Away from Home" and we truly believe our school is like a family.  Our theme this year to emphasize that we are ALL part of this family is "You Are Important" - we talk about it regularly.  As a staff we decided that we wanted to show our students that we cared about each and every one of them.  So, our talented administrative assistants set to work making giant cards for each of our 615 students with their picture on it.  Then the entire staff was invited to take the cards and write 1 special/positive thing about each student in our school.  Then a group of students, staff and administrators volunteered to hang them all up on our giant wall outside the auditorium.  Remember when your mom put up your best work or report card on the fridge?  Or maybe this didn't happen at your house?  Well, at our school we just posted EVERY single one of our student’s faces, with 1 positive comment written by a staff member on it, on the world's largest fridge!

Students were extremely excited and surprised the next day when they showed up to the newly decorated wall!  Massive groups of students huddled around the pictures looking for their own and their friends.  They took pictures of their card to send to parents, they joked with friends and tried to guess which teacher wrote such nice things about them.  It became a place to hang out and connect, just as we had hoped. We hope people will connect while reading the heartfelt compliments and take the time to learn each other's names.  One small step in uniting our school family!  A few students even asked if they could do the same for the adults in the building- stay tuned.....

Look what popped up on the wall adjacent to the student "You Are Important" wall:

Look What Happened During National Assistant Principal's Week! 

We Surprised our two outstanding Assistant Principals Ms. Girolamo and Mr. Martin with some nice flowers, gift cards to Dunkin Donuts, cake and a very special "You Are Important" card for each of them.  We will be posting the cards next to the student wall for the entire school to sign.  We look forward to all the positive words our students and staff have for them.  Ms. Girolamo and Mr. Martin will take the cards home as keepsakes and a tribute to how much we value their dedication and commitment to our school - thank you.....You Are Important! 

Check Out Teacher Appreciation Week (Click HERE) - MRHS Style! The Wall Expands!

EMPOWER TEACHERS & STUDENTS WIN! 

Monomoy Regional HS is a 620 student high school located in Harwich, MA on Cape Cod.  Our school district regionalized, bringing two rival schools together under 1 roof, a new building and a new principal in the fall of 2014.  We have spent the first two years working hard on establishing a strong, trusting climate and culture.  Our administrative team strongly believe that great schools are ones where teachers are leaders and provided opportunities to make change.  

Recently I participated in a #Rethinkhighschool chat on twitter (which I highly recommend you join).  Chat moderator Jeff Hiser @JeffhiserBL asked, “How do we bring school leaders together to transform classroom learning?” My response was “by providing leadership opportunities in your school - u don’t have to b an administrator to lead in great schools.”  I was pleasantly surprised when Education Innovation @educatinnovtion tweeted “can you please share some examples of leadership in school so we all can learn from them? Thanks :)”  

So, here is my humble attempt to list just a few ways our teachers have taken on leadership roles at MRHS in just over two years of existence.  We have found that when teachers have opportunities to lead, are empowered to make decisions that impact positive change, know their voices will be heard and their effort rewarded, great things happen!

Culture Committee:

The mission of the Culture Committee of the Monomoy Regional High School is to honor who we are and to create who we will be.  We will work with faculty, staff and student leaders to promote positive school culture, nurture positive traditions, and brainstorm ways to implement ideas to establish and maintain an inclusive and welcoming school.

This committee meets monthly and is chaired by teachers.  It is open enrollment, where teachers and admin can come and go as they wish.  This group has been highly successful in setting a positive tone for our school.  Our enrichment team is just one extremely positive byproduct of this committee.  

Enrichment Team:

A group of teacher leaders oversees our bi-weekly enrichment offerings.  Our students are provided opportunities every other week to attend club meetings, participate in small group presentations and all school assemblies.  This group of teacher leaders organizes these events and has conducted surveys to assess the success of our enrichment block and offered feedback to students and staff.  

Faculty Senate:

This group was formed to enrich our school’s culture through constant communication between teachers, staff, and administration.  Small concerns in a school become big concerns and even toxic if not addressed early and often.  The opposite is also true- trust is built when teachers feel empowered to share their concerns in a safe environment and see that those concerns are addressed.

This group is co-chaired by teacher leaders and open to ALL faculty and staff (no admin).  The group has an open agenda that allows any staff member may to contribute.  The senate chairs then meet with the principal and address all concerns and/or issues identified at the faculty senate meeting.  The faculty senate chairs then share the notes from the meeting, along with a list of actions taken to address concerns (this is where the rubber hits the road).  

Struggling Learners Committee:

Our collective school focus last year was to identify and support our struggling learners during the school day.  A group of teacher leaders and administrators joined together to collect and assess data that would allow us to focus on our most pressing needs to support our struggling students.  This group first attacked the 3rd rail of education- Homework.  In less than a year, this group implemented a new homework policy at our school that was embraced by staff and administration.  The new policy identifies the purpose for homework and promotes consistency between teachers and departments.  

Grading Committee:

When looking at our school data, the struggling learner's committee identified the need to focus on our collective grading practices, how they impact students, and how researched based best practices could be identified and implemented into our current grading system.  This committee was formed and consisted of another new set of teacher leaders.  We continue to see more and more new teachers step up in leadership roles in our school.  This committee has a draft proposal ready for staff to offer input, so the committee can make necessary edits and move towards a final draft and implementation.  

Jawsome Team:

This is a group of teachers that organized organically around the concept of “Power Hour.”  The goal was to find “Time” during the school day to support academic achievement as well as promote student engagement in enrichment activities.  This group spent over 1-year completing action research, involving the entire staff, administration and student body.  The concept is in its final stage of development with the hope of a starting a pilot program “Jawsome Hour” beginning in March.  94% of the staff supported the “Jawsome Hour” pilot in a staff survey.  

Global Studies Committee:

A teacher in our school had researched programs at other schools that challenge students while providing them an opportunity to follow a global pathway while in high school. A Global Studies Program is a way of offering students an opportunity to go beyond the standard high school curriculum to make connections to the larger world.  It is designed to challenge students to expand the scope of their high school education, and prepare them to be active citizens of the world. A volunteer committee was born and, through their tireless efforts, so was the beginning of new Global Studies pathway at MRHS to begin in the fall of 2017.

The culmination of the program will be the awarding of a Global Studies Diploma at graduation in addition to the standard MRHS diploma.  The Global Studies Diploma would be granted based on the successful completion of the program components.

Enthusiasm is free and it is contagious, but so is negativity.  At MRHS we make the conscious choice daily to choose the former.  This is simply a snapshot of the many ways our teachers lead at our school.  In a very short period of time we have overhauled our homework policy, have mechanisms that purposely address culture, climate and communication, a new grading policy draft, are ready to pilot a “Jawsome Power Hour” and start a high flying Global Studies Program in the fall.  These wonderful additions to our school align with our vision, goals and school improvement plan.  They also will succeed, because they are initiated and embraced by staff. Teachers will continue to lead at our school because they can!  Ultimately our students are the winners.  

Communicating with Students through Town Hall Meetings

We are in our 1st year as a regionalized school district (Chatham & Harwich) under the roof of a beautifully built new high school.  Establishing a culture of Innovation, Creativity and Excellence has been our focus.  The first day I met the students of Monomoy Regional High School I promised them a voice in our school and constant communication.We started a school twitter account @Monomoyrhs, school blog "Shark Sightings" and a weekly digital newsletter "The Friday Focus"to help communicate our vision, mission and school values.  Digital connections with our students, school family and community have resulted in setting a positive school culture, constant communication and has allowed us to take charge in branding our school on our terms.  The missing link was in person communication with our students.  

We decided that Town Hall meetings by grade level in September and January would allow us to set the tone for the beginning of the year, refocus at mid-year and allow our students opportunities to ask questions and offer feedback.  The mid-year meeting is to ensure that our school continues on its path of greatness and establishes clear expectations on how we accomplish that.  It affords the school community the opportunity to reflect.  It is my belief that great schools, like great teams, pay close attention to the "little things" and that is what separates them from the good schools and teams.  Here are some topics ("little things") we focused on at our Town Hall meetings:

• Accentuate the Positive:  In September we shared all the exciting opportunities for students and encourage them to get involved.  We held club sign ups during school time (Enrichment Block) and have had record breaking involvement.  We discussed the new building and all it offered, the extensive program of studies, our amazing staff, 1:1 technologies, 30+ clubs and activities, Enrichment block, 8am late start time, etc.  In January we shared a quick slide show of pictures taken throughout the year expressing our motto of "Work Hard, Have Fun, with Heart." View the video HERE.  

• School safety:  It is important students know that is our #1 priority to keep them safe.  This is a good time to review rules and safety drills and protocols.  We had local police and student resource officer review our lock down protocol, with an excellent Q & A with students. 

·         High expectations: Great time to establish specific examples of what is important academically and behaviorally at your school.  It is a terrific opportunity for the principal to share his/her own personal values & core beliefs (click HERE for my message to students and school community).  Students were told that we value academic effort and they are accountable for working hard to be the best they can.  Our job as the adults is to continue to offer support and do whatever it takes to move all students to the next level.  We specifically emphasize being a good person, good student and good school and community citizen. 

·         Chemical Health:  Take the time to speak candidly with students and be careful not to make this a lecture.  Because Town Hall meetings are grade specific you may cater your discussion as needed (we are grade 8-12).  We discuss making good decisions and offer real examples of temptations, peer pressure and pressure students face.  We also make it real-sharing potential consequences in life, and in school, associated with making poor decisions.  We educate students on our expectations and their accountability in accordance with our handbook, school family values and the law.

·         Social Media:  We emphasize the importance of making good decisions on social media, facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc.  We let students know that they are building a “digital footprint” with every post.  We share examples of poor decisions made by high school students and the consequences.  We also discuss examples of creating a positive footprint.  We start our presentation with the following video "Look Up" and follow up discussion.  Finally, we emphasize that college admissions and prospective employers are placing increasing emphasis on looking into applicants digital footprint.  As educators we can model appropriate social media etiquette through our personal social media and school accounts.  

·         School Pride:  We are consistently talking with students about our journey to becoming the BEST school, a GREAT school, and what that specifically looks like at MRHS.  I love sharing stories and real life examples of school pride being modeled by our students and staff.  My favorite line to share with students is "Enthusiasm is free and its contagious.... but so is negativity.  At MRHS we will make daily conscience decisions to be enthusiastic." 

·         Student Survey:  We shared with students HOW their voices would be heard and our plan to act on their input.  We explained to them that during our Enrichment Block we would be taking an online "Student Voice" survey on survey monkey.  Because we took the time to explain with students our intentional plan to use their input, our results were amazing.  Students took the survey seriously.  The survey was created by our staff and will be assessed by our "Culture Committee" (a committee open to ALL staff), with a plan for next steps. 

* Q & A:  Always find time for students to ask questions and offer feedback.  

We hope this information was helpful and would appreciate feedback or possible additional topics you

may use in communication with your students.  

  

5 Quick Tips For Landing Your DREAM JOB

It is hiring season for educators and educational leaders, specifically principals.  The process of finding a dream job can be extremely draining on ones physical and emotional well being.  Although this post will focus on principals, strategies mentioned can be easily transferred for use by any educator or professional. 

I recently went through a comprehensive interview process that included an application phase, interview with a large committee, site visit to my school, site visit to the school I applied for which included student, staff, parent & community forums and finally an interview with the superintendent.  At the completion of the process I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the new principal of Monomoy Regional High School and knew that this was my dream job!  This did not happen by accident.       

When school districts hire they do so with extreme focus, diligence and planning.  They are looking for a leader that will best fit their school system and lead them to excellence.  These positions are extremely competitive and hiring committees and superintendents are putting their collective trust in who they hire.  Leaders looking for principal jobs must be prepared and do whatever it takes to gain an advantage over other well trained and qualified applicants.  I will share 5 tips/strategies that have worked for me in my successful search for educational leadership positions.  This list is by no means exhaustive, please feel free to comment and add - our PLN will appreciate it.

1.  FIT: spend time extensively researching the position before you apply

• Don't apply for A job, apply for the RIGHT job.  Principals spend a great deal of time at work, you should apply to a school district that is the best fit for you, somewhere you won't mind staying long hours and possibly many years. 
• Research the superintendent and his/her vision and philosophies-are they in line with yours? 
• Visit the town, its restaurants, coffee shops and town events and ask yourself "do I want to be part of this community?"  For each of my principal positions I spent weeks visiting the towns and speaking to local folks about their town and what they thought about the schools before I applied.
• Everyone reads the school website- you need to do more if you want the edge: read all the local newspapers, subscribe to local town forums on RSS feeds, follow local groups on twitter and attend school committee meetings. 
• Call a friend-reach out to anyone and everyone that works in the district and speak to them. What is great about the school, what do they need to improve, what are they looking for in a principal, etc. 

2. Create your Entry Plan: your vision, values, goals and beliefs as a leader on paper.

• This document prepares you for this specific job and shows you have planned to raise this school to the next level.  Once you get the job of your dreams you have your road map!
• Check out my recent blog post and example entry plan here Principal Entry Plan- The First 100 Days

3. APPLY: if you've done all your homework and this is the right FIT for you-apply!

• Personal touch: most districts accept applications online- schoolspring.com is a common source and one I recommend all educators sign up for.  But remember, you need to separate yourself from other applicants if you really want this job, everyone will be sending in applications online.  I always made it a point to visit the school and central office personally to drop off copies of my resume.  It shows you care and provides you an opportunity to show your face, so smile!
• Connect with the boss: I often debated this technique, but believe if you don't overdo it and become a stalker, contacting the superintendent with a brief introduction of yourself is a good thing.  Again, others may email the superintendent -what separates you? I send a brief email introducing myself with a link to my blogs (Normandin Middle School Blog / Principal Burkhead's Blog) and my 100 day plan (#2 above).  I am banking that the superintendent will be curious and check out my information - BANG, instant advantage.  Now, before you even interview the office staff knows your smiling face and the superintendent knows your core beliefs on education as evidenced by your work. 

4. INTERVIEW:  you've made it past the paper screen, now what separates you?

• Preparation:  all your hard work researching the school& town in step 1 (FIT) will allow you to share your personal knowledge to the committee.  I went to several "interview questions for principals" sites and studied the questions looking for trends.  Good example questions here- Example Principal Interview Questions.  I narrowed questions down to 50 and placed the questions on index cards (old school).  I went to the library and spent several hours/days there answering each question succinctly on the back of each index card based on my personal beliefs and the knowledge I gained from researching the school/district.  By interview time I was prepared!
• Don't show up empty handed: some candidates show up with nothing, others with the typical resume and references (they already have this!)-what will you bring to your interview to separate you? I suggest bringing your 100 day plan with at least 15 copies.  Print your plan out and take it to staples and have them make it into a book.  The committee will appreciate the level of professionalism and the amazing presentation.  You may reference the plan during your interview, which will get them reading it.  Worst case scenario they leave reading your well-presented plan and recall you as being highly organized and proactive. 
• Be yourself:  in the end, you want your dream job to be a real place, a place where you can be yourself.  I like to share some of my personal life and experiences through a quick story.  
• Write personal thank you cards to everyone on the committee-this still works!

5.  Get to Work!

• Congratulations you got your dream job!  Now, get to work & begin following your Entry Plan
• If you do not get the job, it wasn't meant to be.  Start back to #1 above!  Don't let news of not getting the job bring you down. I believe two things: 1. things happen for a reason and 2. good things happen to good people.  Your dream job is still out there- find it!  
    
  Good luck to everyone-

Supporting High Risk Students: The Massachusetts Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS)

Massachusetts educators now have the ability to easily access a wealth of information on individual students that will assist with early interventions and supports so that students are able to meet academic goals.  The Massachusetts Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) is intended to be used as a “starting point” for identifying and supporting students who may be at-risk, or in need of additional support.  The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) worked closely with the national research organization American Institutes for Research (AIR) in developing risk models.  The system identifies students as high, moderate, or low risk based on several contributing factors.  These factors include attendance, income level, gender, special education status, age, residency category, Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MAS) status, core academic course status, and other indicators.    

Before EWIS, data collection on individual students was laborious, time consuming, hard to assess and analyze.  Too often, well-intentioned educators possessing limited resources to identify the services necessary to best serve the students who need support most were given this task.   EWIS has modernized the way educator’s access meaningful information, acting as a “one-stop shop” that provides comparable data and a common language for Massachusetts schools. 

At Normandin Middle School EWIS is a powerful tool, proven extremely flexible, a compliment to our data collection at the school and classroom levels, providing clear, specific information for individual students.  At Normandin teachers review EWIS at-risk student metrics, in addition to their ongoing analysis of student grades, existing supports, common assessments, attendance, and annual MCAS results.  This enhanced understanding of our student’s needs has broadened our staff’s personal connections with students, connecting all members of our learning community by a common language, as well as, driving the imperative that no student fall through the cracks.

This year our focus is on identifying students who have not achieved proficiency on MCAS. Guidance counselors are meeting with students one on one, using EWIS data as a resource, while academic teachers and administrators also have access to EWIS data in the development of targeted instructional support for students.  It is our belief at Normandin Middle School that we need to do “whatever it takes” to ensure our students succeed.  Getting EWIS data in the hands of our professional educators is a means to that end.

 

To learn more about EWIS click HERE