Climate Change
These six steps to creating a positive school climate may help your job satisfaction soar!
W 34 Leadership
hen I walk onto a school campus, the feeling I get speaks volumes to me. Is there a sense of positive
energy in the air? Does it feel safe? Is it clean? I suspect that within minutes, many of us can determine a school’s culture or climate. As an assistant principal of a middle
school, cultivating and promoting a positive school culture is what I believe to be one of my most important roles. Creating a positive culture is like taking care of a delicate flower. It takes constant care and maintenance to keep it looking healthy. We can’t just throw water at a garden and expect it to produce amazing fruit. In the same light, we can’t use terms like trust, loyalty and sacrifice lightly. Some would say that AP at the middle
level is a tough job; however, I want to tell you why working on the following six steps to a positive climate at my site has made it the best job in education. Whether you’re a principal or superintendent, keeping these in mind just might provide you with the same positive feelings about your role as I have.
1. Public relations We are our schools’ chief public relations
officers and should constantly point out suc- cesses, celebrate them and remind all stake- holders what wonderful places our schools are for students and staff to learn and work. This creates a desired sense of loyalty by those stakeholders. All of us want to be proud of where our kids go to school or where we work. Anyone actually in the public relations field will tell you that these desired positive perceptions, like anything worth its salt, takes work. Standing proud on a false hill isn’t what
I’m getting at here. For example, I’m very proud of the fact that last year my school had the lowest suspension rate out of the four sec- ondary schools in my district. I’m proud be- cause this hasn’t always been the case at my school, but knowing our school’s strengths and weaknesses and having a transparent plan for all to see has been the case.
By Anthony C. Frascone
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