This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Ramona Williamson!
This month we’re giving away books for principals, teachers, and counselors that will enhance instruction, motivate staff, improve school climate, and more!
- The Principal’s Survival Guide
- The PBIS Team Handbook
- Teaching Smarter
- Everything a New Elementary School Teacher REALLY Needs to Know
- The Common Sense Guide to the Common Core
- What Kids Need to Succeed
To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us your favorite tip for building a successful school community. This giveaway is now closed.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks that you complete:
Each comment counts as a separate entry—that’s four chances to win! Entries must be received by midnight, August 21, 2015.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around August 24, 2015, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim his or her prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Winner must be a U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older.
We welcome your comments and suggestions. Share your comments, stories, and ideas below, or contact us. All comments will be approved before posting, and are subject to our comment and privacy policies.
© 2015 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.
It is ok to let kids wear hats in school and it is ok to let them come into school without lining up first. Loosen some of the rules and they become easier to follow.
Making sure everyone knows…we’ve got your back. You are never in this alone! Wendy McCarty 1stgradefireworks
Building a strong community requires strength in numbers. Individuals who all support one another, take risks together, share ideas, and collaborate consistently creates a positive school community.
Make a plan and try to say something encouraging to a colleague at least once a day. It does take a bit of planning but if you are intentional about it you’ll be surprised at how it unfolds.
My campus tries hard to incorporate student showcases into our PTA meetings to attract higher attendance. We also have grouped different departmental events into one night to secure a high attendance. I also have a volunteer form on my teacher website where parents can submit interest in volunteering. It definitely takes a village!
My tip for building a successful school community is to get parents invested early on in the school year!
Present yourself as a professional and you are more likely to be treated as one.
Always respect differences!
One of the ways I help build a school community is to be present when I am dealing with students. No matter what I am working on or thinking about on the way to the workroom, I make an effort to help the students know that I care about them and what they are saying. I stop working and listen, if it is in my class and try to learn other students names on campus.
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Having professional collaboration with peers is so helpful.
Always remember why you started teaching and every student blooms at a different time
Acknowledging positive contributions
Not every family activity at school has to be educational or a fund raiser. Provide opportunities for families and staff to know each other in a more relaxed atmosphere, for example host a
movie night, or a pot luck dinner.
Simple, easy, and yet often forgot- acknowledge everyone you see. This could be done with a smile, a hello, or a simple nod, but it lets the person know they matter.
At our school, we work on nurturing the child, teacher, and parent’s from the heart first and feel starting there we are able to succeed academically.
I make sure to be a positive role model for all students. Also, focus on student’s positive behaviors as peer role models instead of negative behaviors of students.
we are doing this program called community matters. It brings co workers together to problem solve and it’s focus is on positive interactions.
Our district is encouraging and embracing a positive, energetic climate in our schools for our students, staff, colleagues and greater community. We are getting on the “Energy Bus” by J Gordon. (We have the power and choice to choose to respond positively and be a solution instead of the problem when challenges arise).
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I am the school guidance counselor at an American International IB overseas school and one of the ways that we build a cohesive school community is to have one unified message. This stretches from the administration, to teachers, to me the counselor and to all staff. We are all selling one message and showing the kids we believe in the same message of not only classroom education, but character Development and social/emotional Development, which Means that for Building a strong school, that Means sometimes we sacrifice classtime for meaningful classroom guidance on academic and personal/social guidance issues and topics.
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I like building a school community by helping the students take responsibilty for the classroom. This helps build a sense of belonging and leds to success
Take time to talk with your colleagues and connect with them. It changes the culture and makes it more caring.
Building a successful school community requires flexibility: flexibility for those who struggle to keep up, and flexibility for those who are so far ahead. The STEM School of Highlands Ranch, Colorado has been the only school that has taken my son’s strengths and propelled him forward, and they have also been understanding to his weaknesses in writing (he is 11 years old, in 8th grade for most courses, high school for math and science). The school is looking to create it’s own library in a year, and I would love to give the school these books as a thank you. They have been instrumental in my son’s continued love of learning.
A successful school community is one that is integrated through out. Here we acknowledge the business around our surrounding area, they in turn acknowledge us and our children. We share the same goal of providing quality care for our little ones.
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My favorite tip for building a successful school community is treat everyone with respect. This includes teachers, students, staff, and visitors.
School wide expectations, consistency, and positive reinforcement
We can build a successful school community by including all and everyone regardless of race, backgrounds, socioeconomic status, looks or religion. Children are our hope for the future. Every child deseves a good educational environment!
As PBIS chair at my school, these books would be very helpful.
Smile!!! Smiling makes you and everyone around you feel good!
We definitely try hard to use positive affirmations with not only our students! We try to keep thing fresh each year and are always looking for new ways to build relationships!
Being supportive of one another. Having open communication. Being respectful to all. To me, those are key factors in building a successful school community
A successful school community begins with the teachers. If the teachers ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy! (Right?) I’ve been a part of our “social” committee for a number of years. We try to promote a healthy environment by sponsoring fun activities for staff — Potluck or catered breakfasts or lunches (on special days), Halloween costume contest, Ugly sweater contest, happy hours, and random “prize bags”. Showing teachers you appreciate what they do and value them as people first goes a long way.
In each classroom, make sure students understand their ideas are welcomed and respected by the teacher and other students.
Open Door Policy. Accepting others ideas and thoughts
We always looked at our data and developed whole school, small group, or individual interventions to address them. Our line basics helped classes move through the school quietly and efficiently. As staff were involved in these decisions there was always good buy in.
Always keep the door to your office open and welcoming!
Opening the doors to discussion and communication is tops on my list. Knowing that you are being heard and your thoughts and feelings are being taken into consideration are the easiest ways to building enduring relationships that grow and stimulate the growth of the learning environment.
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From time to time we display a “Kindness Matters’ board and place a stack of Post-its next to it. We challenge the class to write down whenever a classmate ‘fills your bucket’. ie Smiles at you. Helps you during recess. Holds the door for you. Offers you a pencil…….. Write the Kind persons name on the top and write how they ‘filled your bucket’.
Smiles and waves keep hallways quiet but perks everyone up! I am always on the run through the halls but a smile and wave at a teacher, custodian or student truly helps keep our school on the positive side of life!
I have three basic rules, Respect Yourself, Respect Others, and Respect Property. I teach students that following these broad rules will alleviate many conficts in life. I role model that behavior in the school community in my interaction with all faculty, staff, and students. It’s contagious.
My favorite community connector is anything having to do with learning names. I play the theme from CHEERS ~ Where everybody knows your name ~ and we connect and grow. Calling someone by their name is the perfect way to say: I see you. YOU matter!
We regularly put out ‘bucket filling’ notes to be filled out. There is one with each child’s name on it. We pass them out and ask students to think of one thing they appreciate about the class member whose name is on the slip. Every child gets the opportunity on a regular basis to be appreciated by a classmate.
Building and nurturing relationships through effective listening, communication, respect, and caring with everyone – children, families, staff, volunteers and administration is what has been most powerful for me in my work in education.
Throughout the year I try to do little things like leave a handmade magnet behind after my guidance lesson (last year it said “YOU are doing a hard job REALLY well.”) Also, bottles of Propel in their mailbox with a note, “To help Propel you to June!” I also try to give them compliments when we’re talking – you have so much patience! You are a master at classroom management, etc. Random acts of kindness. I know I like to be appreciated and encouraged so I hope to do the same for others.
I make sure that I greet everyone by name and let them know that I value them as a person and as a teacher/employee. Everyone is as important as the next.