Activity: Facilitate the review and revision of the schools vision and mission.

Description: I worked with the executive leadership team to develop a plan to facilitate
the faculty through the process of reviewing and revising the schools vision and mission.
The executive leadership team consisted of the principal assistant principal instructional
coach and myself. !e met in a small group during the summer to discuss areas of
concern for the upcoming school year. During this meeting we addressed the fact that the
schools mission and vision has not "een reviewed in some time. !e took this concern to
the leadership team and it was at that time that it was decided that it would "ecome part
of the opening in#service agenda. During the opening in#service grade levels worked as
teams to review and revise the mission and vision statements. After all grade levels were
given ample time to work on this activity the group reconvened as a whole to consolidate
the ideas into one final mission and vision. The statements were then added to the
teacher hand"ooks and the we"site for parents and stakeholders to see.
!hat went well$
The "est part of this whole experience was that the grade levels worked as a team to
create the statements. %any of the teams were new since they consisted of "rand new
teachers and&or teachers who were new to the grade level. Through the process of
working together the teachers were allowed to get to know one another learn a"out each
others "eliefs and create a mission and vision as a team. This was a fantastic way to
"uild relationships and to get teachers colla"orating from the start. I would definitely do
this step again. The next thing that went well was in regards to the timing. I think that
this kind of activity must "e done at the "eginning of the year since it sets the tone for the
year to come and it gets everyone on the same page. It also allowed the statements to "e
placed in the hand"ooks and the we"site so that all stakeholders were aware of the
mission and vision of the school. Finally I think that it was a"solutely necessary to
include all faculty mem"ers in this process. 'ou must have faculty "uy#in and you must
also make sure that everyone is aware of the vision and mission. These statements are
the ideas that the school is "uilt on and all decisions should "e made "ased on these two
statements so it is very important that teachers are not only aware of what they state "ut
they must also feel a sense of ownership. This ownership was given to each faculty
mem"er since they played an active part in the development of the statements.
!hat did not go well$
There were several areas that did not go as well as I would have liked for them to have
gone and given the chance to do this over again I would make sure to change some
things. First I would invite additional stakeholders to the meeting. I would make sure to
include parents and community mem"ers in the development of the mission and vision
statements. These are very important individuals within the school community and they
must have ownership and input in these statements. The other aspect that did not go well
is that these statements are not reviewed on a regular "asis. !hile they were created at
the "eginning of the year the statements were never stated again. They were placed on
the we"site and in our hand"ooks( however these areas are not locations that teachers
fre)uently visit. The statements needed to "e placed in an area that is visi"le on a regular
"asis "y teachers staff visitors parents and any other stakeholder that happens to enter
the "uilding. They should "e the driving force "ehind every decision and we should all
"e aware of what they state. *nfortunately this does not stand to "e true since they have
not "een revisited since they were written.
+iven the chance to do it again how would you do it "etter$
If given the chance to do this activity again I would make sure to invite all stakeholders
to our meeting. This would mean that we would include parents and any other
community mem"er that has a vested interest in our school. I would also make sure that
all mem"ers of our faculty and staff understand our vision and mission and that
everything that we do ties "ack to these statements. This would mean that we would
revisit the statements often and that they would "e the driving force "ehind all decisions
made within our school.
,chools %ission and -ision:
Vision Statement:
East Brainerd is committed to fostering a caring environment where
students and teachers feel safe to share their ideas, explore challenging
education and value growth that leads to life-long learning.
Mission Statement:
To teach the whole child by providing a challenging, focused,
comprehensive, academic program in a nurturing environment.