Continuing on the theme of promoting Rockford, I have to say I was troubled by a comment that was made during the community meeting I attended last night. I believe the comment was made by a well-meaning person and intended to provide insight into how we could garner more support for the school system. However, for me, it was similar to the debate over which came first, the chicken or the egg. I'm not going to be able to provide a direct quote, but essentially the comment was the school needs to "sell" the community on what a good job it's doing so that the community will want to support the school. Basically a comparison to how a salesperson makes a customer want to buy a product. Which comes first, community support for the school so the school can do great things, or the school doing great things so the community will provide support?
I understand the logic behind a salesperson needing to create a desire within a client that will drive that client to invest in the product and/or company. The customer starts with no investment in that company and must be "sold" on its value. I view the public school in a community in a different way. The residents of a school district are automatically invested because the school is located in their community. The community is not a collection of customers, but rather a collection of shareholders. As shareholders, the community should be supporting the school because they want the school to do great things, not waiting for the school to do great things before offering their support.
The residents of this district have shown they want to support this school system. As I have mentioned before, we have facilities that rival any of a district our size, and some even larger. That is a concrete demonstration of wanting the school to do great things. However, it's not enough to have great facilities, a district needs the proper funding to operate, to provide the quality learning experiences that will allow all students in the district to reach their full potential. Currently we don't have that proper funding. And, until the state legislators muster the will to provide adequate funding to all schools, it will be left to each community to make sure its school has what it needs to do great things.
I would like to believe that each community wants its school to be a great place for students to get a quality education and would do whatever it takes to see that is done. What could be more attractive to potential residents than a district that can boast, "We make sure our students have what they need to be prepared to compete in the 21st Century". Why wouldn't someone want to send their children to a district like that?
I guess I just want people to understand we're in this together. Not because you've jumped on a bandwagon based on something you saw in a newspaper, but because this is your school and you want it to be the best.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
"Rockford Today"
This is the last blog entry that I'm going to begin with an apology for not keeping my blog more current. From now on I will assume that you know that I'm notorious for not consistently blogging and don't need to be reminded of that fact. I'll just thank you for taking the time to look at this blog and hope that you're pleasantly surprised to see a new entry.
At a recent meeting, the subject of perceptions of Rockford was discussed. Some feel that there are negative perceptions that exist about Rockford and the Rockford schools. This brought up some questions: Do we know why people would feel this way? How do we promote all of the positive things about Rockford and, in particular, the Rockford Area Schools to change that perception?
When discussing why the negative perception might exist it was mentioned that this negative perception existed a long time ago, and, if that's true, at what point would we stop referring to this negative perception as if it was some sort of black cloud hanging permanently over our heads. Perhaps it was time for us to stop focusing on the negative perception, which may not even continue to exist today, and move forward with a positive focus. Activities Director Michael Tauber used the term "Rockford Today". That hit home with me as a potentially effective positive promotional campaign.
When I first interviewed for the principal position at RHS in the summer of 2005, I wasn't very familiar with Rockford other than knowing a little bit about where it was and the size of the high school. Both pieces of information were, in my mind, positive. I was disappointed when I wasn't selected for the position. When the position opened again last spring, I was very hopeful that the second time would be the charm and very excited when I was offered the position. My time working here has only reinforced those positive feelings. Because of that, I agree with Mr. Tauber. We should begin the "Rockford Today" campaign.
For me, as high school principal, the campaign would emphasize the district's aims, goals, and measures, the dedicated staff, the excellent facilities, and the wonderful opportunities available to students.
To begin, I think the district's aims, goals, and measures identify a clear direction for the entire system. Everything that we do attempts to bring us to the realization of those goals. That attempt to steer everything in a common direction doesn't exist in all school systems. E-12, we are more "on the same page" than many districts. This is cause for celebration.
Also, we have a staff dedicated to the education of students. They are highly qualified, employ best practices in their teaching methodologies, accepting of change, willing to work to improve instruction, and interested in engaging students in learning. There are some very talented people working with the children of this district.
In addition, we have excellent facilities in this district. We have beautiful, well-maintained buildings with plenty of space. Not all places can make that claim. My previous district would love to have the space we have at our high school and they have twice as many students.
Finally, we can provide a wealth of opportunities for students when compared to most other districts. We can provide more options for students than schools of smaller size and we can provide a more personal touch and less competition for participation opportunities than can be offered by schools of larger size.
What this all means is exactly what I originally thought about Rockford, it's a great location and has a school in which I would love to work.
I think the "Rockford Today" campaign could help us attract more students to our district, which would, in my opinion, be mutually beneficial. A boost in enrollment would benefit us financially and the students would benefit from the things I previously mentioned. We could easily handle an increase of twenty-five students per class here at the high school without losing the benefits of our small size.
So, how do we roll out the campaign to retain our current students and attract new students? I'd welcome your suggestions.
At a recent meeting, the subject of perceptions of Rockford was discussed. Some feel that there are negative perceptions that exist about Rockford and the Rockford schools. This brought up some questions: Do we know why people would feel this way? How do we promote all of the positive things about Rockford and, in particular, the Rockford Area Schools to change that perception?
When discussing why the negative perception might exist it was mentioned that this negative perception existed a long time ago, and, if that's true, at what point would we stop referring to this negative perception as if it was some sort of black cloud hanging permanently over our heads. Perhaps it was time for us to stop focusing on the negative perception, which may not even continue to exist today, and move forward with a positive focus. Activities Director Michael Tauber used the term "Rockford Today". That hit home with me as a potentially effective positive promotional campaign.
When I first interviewed for the principal position at RHS in the summer of 2005, I wasn't very familiar with Rockford other than knowing a little bit about where it was and the size of the high school. Both pieces of information were, in my mind, positive. I was disappointed when I wasn't selected for the position. When the position opened again last spring, I was very hopeful that the second time would be the charm and very excited when I was offered the position. My time working here has only reinforced those positive feelings. Because of that, I agree with Mr. Tauber. We should begin the "Rockford Today" campaign.
For me, as high school principal, the campaign would emphasize the district's aims, goals, and measures, the dedicated staff, the excellent facilities, and the wonderful opportunities available to students.
To begin, I think the district's aims, goals, and measures identify a clear direction for the entire system. Everything that we do attempts to bring us to the realization of those goals. That attempt to steer everything in a common direction doesn't exist in all school systems. E-12, we are more "on the same page" than many districts. This is cause for celebration.
Also, we have a staff dedicated to the education of students. They are highly qualified, employ best practices in their teaching methodologies, accepting of change, willing to work to improve instruction, and interested in engaging students in learning. There are some very talented people working with the children of this district.
In addition, we have excellent facilities in this district. We have beautiful, well-maintained buildings with plenty of space. Not all places can make that claim. My previous district would love to have the space we have at our high school and they have twice as many students.
Finally, we can provide a wealth of opportunities for students when compared to most other districts. We can provide more options for students than schools of smaller size and we can provide a more personal touch and less competition for participation opportunities than can be offered by schools of larger size.
What this all means is exactly what I originally thought about Rockford, it's a great location and has a school in which I would love to work.
I think the "Rockford Today" campaign could help us attract more students to our district, which would, in my opinion, be mutually beneficial. A boost in enrollment would benefit us financially and the students would benefit from the things I previously mentioned. We could easily handle an increase of twenty-five students per class here at the high school without losing the benefits of our small size.
So, how do we roll out the campaign to retain our current students and attract new students? I'd welcome your suggestions.
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