feature story
The Vincent Way BY LYNNE STARK
I
was excited as I drove to my interview for the principal job at Vincent Elementary School nearly two years ago. Maybe a little too excited.
I evidently gave the car more gas than it needed, and a police officer pulled me over for speeding and ticketed me. It was an ominous start to one of the most important days of my working life, but it didn’t take long for me to forget about it. During the interview, what I already knew or suspected about Vincent was confirmed for me: the school had scored relatively low on state report cards, students were entering kindergarten unprepared, bad behaviors had become more extreme in recent years, and teacher morale was at an all-time low. Suddenly, my speeding ticket didn’t mean a whole lot. When I got the job, I felt overwhelmed and invincible at the same time. I knew that there was a lot to tackle, but I was ready for the challenge. This is what I wanted. Now I had to prove to myself, to the staff, to the students, and to their parents that together we could do this.
for a jeans day ticket are incredible! Of course, this relationship-building was just the foundation for ultimately helping and educating our children. Despite morale rising, it was an immensely challenging year. With 600 students, many of whom have experienced trauma, I was constantly dealing with extreme behaviors. Just when I thought I had heard it all, I was called another new unflattering name by a student. My saving grace was being part of a principal Facebook group, where I learned that I wasn’t alone—and some of the names my fellow principals had been called were far worse than anything I’d been called! As the year ended, I was exhausted and wondered how I could do it all again the next year. But, I took time to reflect on what had gone well. One thing I knew for sure was that I loved my team, and every one of them was in it for the right reasons. I surveyed my teachers and asked for both feedback and new ideas as we looked ahead. I needed to keep staff morale high and find a way to break down some of the barriers caused by trauma and poverty. On the final days of school that first year, the district had a breakfast to honor years of service. I sat with the other principals, having no idea what I had to do. My plan was to watch and learn. Unfortunately, my superintendent called me up first. My staff, in pure elementary fashion, cheered me on by squeaking the rubber ducks I had given out earlier in the year to remind them to “Keep swimming!” I started speaking by saying, “I’m not really sure how this is traditionally done, but since you have me going first, we will just do things ‘The Vincent Way.’” Ducks squeaked and the elementary teachers cheered! The statement was purely off-the-cuff, but it was at that moment when I realized that those words would be our theme moving forward.
“When offering her the I knew the first key to any success would require building relationships job, I told her, with the staff. I had to earn their trust. Raising scores was the “I’m Batman, and furthest thing from my mind. There would be no chance of scores ever increasing if I didn’t create an I need a Robin. environment where people enjoyed coming to work and knew that they Are you up for it?” were appreciated. Some of the things I did throughout the year included celebrating a “Have Fun at Work Day”’ by conducting a staff, team-building scavenger hunt; developing a calendar for the 12 days before Christmas break to keep it fun for students and staff; putting encouraging notes on staff computers; recognizing the good work of teachers at meetings; sharing ideas without making them mandates (“When I was an AP we used to…” ); using my principal account to give each teacher $100 to spend on their classroom as they wished; keeping my door open and pushing around a mobile desk so that I was always visible; and, on some mornings, beginning the day with chair races down the hallway. The things these teachers will do
My biggest takeaway of the year was that I couldn’t do it alone. I had a great team, but there were too many balls to juggle as principal to do the job well without more help. Fortunately, I got just the help I needed. At the start of the summer I was given the opportunity to hire an assistant principal, and the positive transformation of Vincent
spring 2020
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