At the start of each school year, I am always reminded of my high school and collegiate cross country races. In my mind, I routinely make the connection of a cross country race to the different phases of a school year. Before the start of any successful race, months of preparation and hard work must precede. The start of a successful school year is no different.
As you think about the beginning of any cross country race, it begins with a mad dash to establish a positive position from the start and then settle into a rhythm. I am intentional at the start of each school year, even in the midst of the mad dash, to make time to routinely meet with new faculty and staff in our building. Each building has many nuances in paperwork and procedures that are unique to the functioning of their educational community. I want my team members to know that I am always available to answer questions and help them work through the processes that we utilize within our building. Over the summer, all new faculty work directly with our district office personnel to understand many of the district-level processes. At the building level, we have a small time frame to work with these new faculty members. During this limited time, I only offer the necessary pieces of information. Then I spend time intentionally working with these new members throughout the first month of the school year. This gives them an opportunity to begin using some of our processes and to ask specific questions about how we do things in our school.
Just as I take the time to work with new faculty and staff members, I am also going to try something new this school year that I believe will be important to staying connected with all of our students. At the end of last school year, I thought to myself, “What am I doing for all of my new students (specifically freshmen) coming to our building for the first time?” I am making it a priority at the beginning of this upcoming school year to briefly meet with all of the incoming freshmen to introduce myself and learn a little bit about each one of our new students. I know that the endeavor will be time consuming, but I believe it is important for our students to understand that I value them and want them to feel comfortable coming to me with questions or concerns. Too many times during this past school year, I had students comment, “Wow, this is the first time I have ever been in the principal’s office, I hope I didn’t do something wrong!” I want to change the dynamic so that it is not always a negative connotation when a student comes to my office.
In all of the craziness at the start of the school year, I think that it is essential to involve your parents and community with your school as much as possible too. Creating these partnerships can be extremely important when later tasked with difficult circumstances that you could encounter at any point. We hold several in-person events that help establish relationships as I am sure many schools do (Freshman Parent Night, Open House, College/Career Fair, sporting events, and the list goes on and on). This past school year, I have made a concerted effort to encourage my staff to recognize our students that are doing great things. I then take the time to call that student into my office and make a positive phone call home. Building these positive relationships with our students and parents is paramount to creating a shared partnership. I have encouraged our faculty and staff to be more diligent with parental contacts as well. Both reaching out and asking parents to help when we see a struggling child and complimenting the great work of our students forge a parental partnership of support for our students. I also set a personal goal during this past school year to get our building more active on our social media accounts. I have found the positivity that has surrounded both the student and faculty recognition has been refreshing and much needed. This also helps the community see the positive activities going on in our building.
As I close, I want to leave you with a few final thoughts. A cross country race is never won in the first 100 or 200 meters of a race, but it can be lost then. The race is generally won by the individual who is prepared, works hard, is disciplined, takes a calculated risk or two, is passionate, and displays a high level of grit. Many of these are the same characteristics that are displayed by an effective school leader throughout a school year. Even though a cross country race is run individually, teammates can be inspirations and motivators to help get you to the finish line. In education, identify the strengths of the individuals on your team and don’t ever hesitate to lean on them for help and support. Also, I value the time that I am able to connect with those that I raced against. By all means, carry this same philosophy in education. Reach out to other school leaders for a perspective or insight in leadership, practices, and procedures for continued growth. Joining professional organizations can be a great way to network and gain valuable advice or perspectives from other educational leaders. I challenge you to take some time to reach out to a school leader or even reach out to me to simply make a connection. The more that we work together in education, the better off students across our region, state, and nation will be served. “The finish line is the beginning of a whole new race.” This is one of my favorite running and life quotes. In education, we are always tasked with new challenges and are continuously seeking out ways to improve, but our students are worth it so keep making a difference in their lives!
John Boyd, Jr.
Ste. Genevieve High School Principal
