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National Louis University - Wheeling Campus, Capitol Drive, Wheeling, IL

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National Louis University - Wheeling Campus, Capitol Drive, Wheeling, IL

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National Louis University - Wheeling Campus, Capitol Drive, Wheeling, IL

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Welcome to my leadership interview! Let me introduce my mentor and site director, Brandy Larrance. She has been my mentor, life role model, and incredible leader for the past 15 years!

After graduating with my bachelor's degree in math, specializing in education, I found myself in a time when teaching positions were scarce and hiring freezes were many. Despite growing up in a family of elementary and special education teachers, I decided to focus my career in secondary education as a math teacher in the general population. When I could not find employment, I applied for the math teacher opening at NewHope Academy, Niles, IL. Little did I know that Brandy was about to set my career and life down a different yet remarkable path! I am genuinely thankful for her presence, continuous knowledge, and leadership skills.

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Mission Vision, TPC Parkway, San Antonio, TX

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How does a leader support the school's mission/vision development?

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Mission Vision, TPC Parkway, San Antonio, TX

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Mission Vision, TPC Parkway, San Antonio, TX

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Brandy shared that NHA’s mission statement is to provide students with average to above-average intelligence in a small, safe, supportive educational environment. When asked what strategies are integral to a principal's role in creating a mission statement, Brandy surprised me with her response. I expected her to answer "students" because, as a teacher, that's where my focus fell in the classroom. However, her administrator brain centered on all the players involved, the "stakeholders." My brain was so student-focused that I forgot to pause and consider who else the school serves: families, districts, and staff. Quoting Brandy, the mission statement should embody the stakeholders' core beliefs about the program.

As I pressed further into how she upholds the mission statement, we discussed the therapeutic interventions that aid in students acquiring effective and appropriate coping skills, personal insight, and a growth mindset. Our clinical team comprises clinical psychologists and licensed social workers who provide weekly individual, group, and family therapy sessions. I like to call "the dream team" the partnership between a student's therapist and case manager. Together, they aim to foster confidence and courage by discovering, analyzing, and reflecting on their personal journey through education. As Reeves discusses, leading others is neither unitary nor solitary but a communal and team approach.

The last piece of the mission statement portion of the interview highlights the academics provided. A popular selling point when leading tours to prospective parents, students, and districts is the fact that NHA is the most academically rigorous therapeutic school in Illinois. Brandy continues to explain that through our personalized environment and approach, we provide small learning classes, making our staff-to-student ratio 1:5. We require ESY, which allows students to make up lost credit, our program is based on a public school image replicating homeroom, academics, lunch, electives, study hall, and every teacher has a degree in their content area, not solely special education. We offer honors-level classes and were recently awarded our AP license. This emphasis on academic rigor is a testament to our high standards and commitment to excellence.

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Positive Culture Change, Gregory Lane, Franklin Park, NJ

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How does a leader support the development of a positive culture?

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Positive Culture Change, Gregory Lane, Franklin Park, NJ

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Positive Culture Change, Gregory Lane, Franklin Park, NJ

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As seen in the video clip, Brandy demonstrates that she has built the school's culture utilizing emotional intelligence and laid the school's foundation with a heavy emphasis on relationships. At NHA, our culture has a familial atmosphere that was built through love and longevity. This is the culture I continuously refer to in discussion posts, and this is the culture that has begun to crack as we transition to corporate ownership. While Safir and Dugan talk about an equity warrior, I see Brandy as NHA's culture warrior and champion. She is an incredible educator who raised the bar of expectations and standards. Brandy received loyalty and buy-in in return, and her commitment and dedication never faltered. She led by example as she quotes, "I wouldn't ask you to do something I wouldn't do myself."

Nonetheless, her warrior-like mentality has contributed to the cracks in our culture. As an administrator, principal, and executive director, Brandy took on such a significant role that she embodied NHA. Now, as she pulls back, staff, districts, families, and students have become unsure of the new era, and our familial culture has taken a large step backward. While she wasn't the "lone soldier" Safir and Dugan refer to, she was the creator of the school we find ourselves lost in.

"For a school leader to truly lead others, one must have an incredible understanding and sense of self." (School Leader Paradigm, p.10) While I plan to lead differently, I was trained by the best, and I am confident in my abilities and sense of self.

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Professional Development Centre, Acre Lane, Bromborough, Wirral, UK

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How does a leader support professional development?

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Professional Development Centre, Acre Lane, Bromborough, Wirral, UK

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Professional Development Centre, Acre Lane, Bromborough, Wirral, UK

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This is an area that NewHope lags in. While staff have always been given the opportunity to attend professional development events outside of the building, we have never been given options, ideas, continual encouragement, or enough contributions to cover the cost. Continued learning has not been a high priority since I have been employed, and I aim to change it.

Two years ago, I proposed the creation of departments and department heads for the academic team to Brandy. My proposal was accepted on a trial basis: I would lead the math department for a year, analyze its successes and failures, and then reassess to determine if creating other departments is feasible and opportunistic. Heading into the school year, I immediately saw the need for continued learning and designed a Professional Development Calendar. It provided various event options, from being a math educator to engaging techniques to social-emotional learning in the classroom. I intended to eliminate the process of searching for quality events in hopes that this would increase participation. I soon mandated that each department member attend at least one event and share their findings with the team. While largely successful, I did not have the authority to implement consequences impacting teacher follow-through.

As I progressed into administration, I initiated the next level by creating in-house professional development events. I called upon the seasoned teachers to lead each event, and I was graciously awarded buy-in because I made them an offer: I would organize and prep the content, and by leading an event, they were exempt from attending any additional. When the day of each event came and went, I was, to my surprise, met with gratuity and praise. Seasoned teachers attended multiple events despite not being required to, and new teachers were engaged and curious. They interacted with seasoned staff through games, a teacher panel, teacher "guest speakers," and teamwork. The positive feedback I received was empowering, and I intend to impregnate our program with the culture shift into the world of professional learning.

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Communication House, Portal Avenue, Kampala, Uganda

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How does a leader promote communication?

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Communication House, Portal Avenue, Kampala, Uganda

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Communication House, Portal Avenue, Kampala, Uganda

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In the realm of communication, Brandy has consistently shown that communication is a vital factor in student success and has put many systems in place. As discussed in the video clip, staff communicate through Email, TeacherEase (online grading system), Gmail chat feature, Progress Updates (written by the case manager and therapist every 3 weeks – sent to districts, families, and the admin team), Social Media accounts, Admin/Clinical/Teacher/Department meetings, IEP meetings, daily morning meetings, and twice a week all staff meetings.

The heavy emphasis on communication did not surprise me in the interview, as it ties closely with our familial culture and student-centered approach. Communication strategies boost the quality of stakeholder cooperation and investment, as well as continual development and success.

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School Operations Specialists, Baden Ct, New Bern, NC

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How does a leader manage the school operations?

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School Operations Specialists, Baden Ct, New Bern, NC

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School Operations Specialists, Baden Ct, New Bern, NC

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Since joining the admin team, I have gained a peek behind the scenes at Brandy's contributions to school operations. And may I say, she impresses me. She is a gold-star leader in collecting street data and utilizing her results successfully. She demonstrates distributive leadership by empowering the administrative assistants in organizing student transportation and scheduling IEP meetings with families and districts, utilizes teachers and therapists in the arrival and dismissal process (our students get transported door-to-door every morning and afternoon), has built close relationships with the building manager and IT crew, employs students in taking care of our bearded dragon (dependent on behavior), implements an independent study with high achieving students who orchestrate what presents on the cafeteria TV, and continuously prioritizes tasks according to staff needs over her own.

One belief Brandy shared in the video clip stuck with me: keeping a nice, clean, organized school helps the students feel worthy. So many of our students have experienced hardships and trauma, distrust in adults, a loss of control, and academic failure due to mental health issues. If having a critical eye to keep things "nice" will produce a feeling of worth and value, my heart jumps at the opportunity! It's incredible hearing and witnessing Brandy lead with students at the forefront of her mind.

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How does a leader communicate with stakeholders?

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Brandy's response intrigued me because it gave me a new perspective and highlighted a stakeholder I had yet to consider! Quantitatively, communicating with stakeholders was an essential part of student success because it kept everyone in the loop. However, I had yet to look through the lens qualitatively. Understanding the why; the "common thread" of crisis, and the need for support creates our sense of community. Providing the ability to see hope in the future and the fundamental craving of not having to live in despair brings our stakeholders together.

While the video was cut short, we continued discussing how to provide these services. All students enrolled at NHA require a circle of support with the student at the center, enveloped by parents/guardians, their therapist and case manager at NHA, an outside therapist, a psychiatrist, related services, and their district. NHA positively contributes to the circle of support in many ways, such as providing weekly family therapy sessions, offering a free parent group every Tuesday evening, and ensuring our clinical team constantly communicates with outside providers. The first paperwork to fill out during the intake process is the release of information form!

Lastly, the one stakeholder I never considered and was surprised to hear during the interview was the state of Illinois! Keeping ISBE apprised of employees following the rules and regulations and demonstrating that what we do in the building is important and successful allows us to remain open and functioning.

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EXTRA leadership curiosities and questions...

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Brandy lives by the thought that she should "always listen with your eyes." Her comment immediately referenced the idea of deep listening, which Safir and Dugan proposed and covered. From the reading, listening is 7% words, 35% body language, and 38% meaning through tone (p.71). Personally, deep listening has historically been a struggle. It was Brandy who taught me how I can listen deeply through her example of removing distractions and stimuli. To this day, I turn off my monitor screen and face the individual to provide my full attention. However, I had yet to connect deep listening with the ability to find more immediate solutions to problems!

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Thank you so much for exploring the world with me!

With admiration & respect,

Meaghan Torrence

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Références, Ola Chic couture, Niamey, Niger

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Références, Ola Chic couture, Niamey, Niger

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Références, Ola Chic couture, Niamey, Niger

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REFERENCE PAGE:

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change: The Cultural Change Principal. San Francisco, CA.

Kotter, J. (2012) 8 Step Model to Leading Change. Boston, Harvard Business Review Press.

Fitzpatrick, J. (2020). Beyond theories and degrees: The alley smarts of educational leadership. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc. Lanham, Maryland.

Reeves, D. (2020).The learning leader: How to focus school improvement for better results. ASCD, Alexandria, VA.

Safir, S., & Dugan, J. (2021). Street data: A next-generation model for equity, pedagogy, and school transformation. Thousand Oaks, CA., Corwin.

School Leader Paradigm: Becoming While Doing. Illinois Principals Association. Retrieved from https://ilprincipals.org/resource/1102/School_Leader_Paradigm.pdf