We Are Who We Are

In South Carolina, most awards require schools to reach full proficiency. Our school hasn’t reached that mark yet.

That’s not an excuse; it’s just the truth. Our school serves a high-poverty community, and we work hard every day for students who need us. For a long time, there wasn’t anything to show our community, parents, or teachers that said: This school is doing good work. This school is worth believing in.

That’s why we decided to pursue Schools to Watch.

Two years ago, we started considering it. We sent out an informal survey to teachers, then our leadership team sat down and asked ourselves: Is this something we can take on? We felt we were already doing much of what the framework described by reviewing discipline data every month, raising rigor and student engagement, and giving teachers real leadership roles. When I brought the idea to our School Improvement Council parents, they didn’t hesitate.

Their exact words: “We have seen this school grow so much since COVID. This is something we should definitely go for.”

So we went for it. From the start, I told teachers, students, and parents the same thing:

We are true to ourselves. We don’t try to be someone else. We know there are things we can improve, and we also know we’re doing well in other areas. But we have to accept who we are before we can move ahead.

I said that a lot. Because teachers would ask: ” What are we supposed to say when they come to observe us?” And the answer was always the same…The truth. Tell them who we are.

The process gave us a mirror, not one that flatters or criticizes, but one that’s simply honest.

Over the summer, our leadership team and teachers met to review every section. We asked: What are we doing well? What needs improvement? Where can we grow? Those conversations shaped our work plan, which then guided our professional development. Our PD became focused and practical, based on what we actually saw in classrooms, not just generic training.

We do three walkthrough cycles each semester, one day each for math, English, and science. Every teacher receives individual feedback, and each department receives group feedback. In every classroom, we started asking: What’s your learning target today? What are you working on? How do you know if you’ve learned it?

It took time for teachers to adjust, but we improved. By January, we changed our Thursday professional development from passive sessions to planning together: How do we build this into lessons? If someone struggled with small groups, we paired them with an instructional coach or teacher leader and gave them time and a substitute to work through it together.

Don’t hate the data. Embrace the data. Whatever you learn, you have to find out what it is. Then figure out how to address. As a principal, there are times when your feelings get hurt. You put in a lot of effort, but the data shows it didn’t work. That’s tough. But the data tells you something, and if you don’t listen, you can’t make changes. What I’m most proud of is how student voice is starting to grow.t voice.

We know that when students are more involved in their own learning, they learn more. If the teacher does all the leading and students just listen, less learning happens. So this year, we started clubs, like student government, literary magazine, volleyball, football, lacrosse, drama, chorus, and band. We’re just getting started, meeting three times a week for now. Our goal is to meet every day next year.

We’ve also started giving students a real say in things that matter to them.

Earlier this year, I asked the student government, “What would motivate you to do better on your iReady scores?” They discussed it and came back with an answer: If we hit our goal, could we wear pajama bottoms for a week?

I told them, “You hit your goal, you can wear pajama bottoms.”

They reached their goal, and I kept my promise. You would have thought I gave them a million dollars. It’s a great example of what we want to keep building here. What we want to keep building—helping students feel ownership, identity, and that their voice matters here.

We also invited someone from the district to interview students about what’s happening in their classrooms. We use that feedback to guide our goals. They’ll return at the end of the year to do it again, and that will shape our work plan for next year. The Schools to Watch process showed us we needed more student voice, and we’re making that happen.

On math, the numbers are starting to move. Last year, we had low proficiency. Our most recent iReady data projects significant growth. We are doing more small-group and individualized instruction, focusing more on clarity of learning, and using the resources that we have in ways that adapt to each student. Math is about confidence, and when a kid can see their own progress, on their own terms, something shifts.

We already had a strong reading culture, but now we’re deepening it. We’re asking what purposeful reading looks like and building a library with books kids actually want to read, books where they can see themselves and find characters who share their experiences. If a student is in a self-contained class, we want them to find a book with a character like them, not just a mention, but a real character.

None of this shows up on a report card, but it’s real, and it matters.

The Schools to Watch banner on our wall means something to our community. It tells parents, students, and teachers that what’s happening here is worth recognizing, not because we’ve reached the finish line, but because we’re doing the work and growing.

Most awards require scores we don’t have yet. This one looks at everything a school does and says: You’re doing real things, now keep going. For schools like ours, that means a lot.

It’s a great thing for schools like ours to have something to aim for. That’s what the banner represents.

I also say this: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The Schools to Watch process won’t let you do that. Every time you renew, you have to show growth. You can’t stay in the same place; you have to keep moving forward.

That’s the culture I want in this building: not perfect, but always growing.