Why is School Culture So Important?

Why is School Culture So Important?

In How to Create a Culture of Achievement in Your School and Classroom the authors explain how research has shown the influence of a positive school culture on academic achievement in school. This research states that school culture has a direct effect on effort and productivity of staff and students, faculty collaboration, change and improvement initiatives effectiveness, school spirit, and motivation of staff and students. Without a healthy school culture, our students' potential for achievement will suffer.

Often times we think school culture is the mission statement or philosophy of education planned by the school. But culture is not about what should be and instead is about what is. 

"Culture is reflected in the behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of individuals and groups" - Douglas B. Reeves in Leading Change in Your School

As Reeves states, a school's culture will be apparent in the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of its staff members, students, and parents. So really, if you want to know what the culture of a school is don't read the mission statement or values, instead get to know the staff, students, and parents in the school.

What Makes for a Great School Culture

In a 1991 study by Jim Sweeney (Tips for Improving School Climate) that involved hundreds of schools and thousands of teachers, 10 essential factors of a great school culture were found,

1. A supportive, stimulating environment
2. Student-centeredness
3. Positive expectations
4. Feedback
5. Rewards
6. A sense of family
7. Closeness to parents and community
8. Communication
9. Achievement
10. Trust                                                              - From Future-Focused Leadership by Gary Marx

What I believe is important to note, all these factors were present in schools with great cultures. Yet not every school was perfect in all of them. When we consider the school we're in right now, there are elements of each of these present, but some could use an improvement plan. Self-evaluation should not be a process of condemnation and defeat or that of pride and victory. I bet each person took a moment and did a quick evaluation of their school while even just reading over each those aspects. Evaluation is a natural process of growth and for the benefit of our children's academics and future, we should take the time to evaluate and work toward improvement.

One Team

Making positive cultural changes in a school does not come quickly and there are no shortcuts. But the most essential element for change is unity. The Bible speaks of the blessing that comes from unity,

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity... For there the Lord commanded the blessing--life forevermore." - Psalm 133:1,3b, New King James Version Bible

Over the past several years leading a school, I have been continually reminded of the tremendous power of unity and teamwork. From local wildfires to COVID-19 shutdowns to staffing shortages, when our school has faced these challenges together, we have succeeded. One of our former staff members would constantly say, "One team!" any time we needed to all get on board and make an adjustment. And when it comes to creating a great school culture, we truly need to have that mindset, we are "One team!".

Come Together 

But a great school culture is not created just through a stellar staff (which I absolutely work with the best team). As Reeves said in the quote above, the culture of a school is created in the behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of everyone involved. This includes staff, students, parents, grandparents, other active family members, school board, and any other stakeholders in the school. The culture of a school is what these groups of people do, say, and believe about the school. And that means, we need to come together and include the entire team.

Our school began over 40 years ago with families primarily from the church it was attached to. But over the past few decades the school has grown and is reaching out into more of the local community with approximately 31% of our student body attending the church the school is part of,  48% attend another local church, and 21% do not attend church. As this change occurred the families in the school have become less connected to one another and to the school staff. The result is an areas of need for our school and something we consciously are giving attention to.

Partner. Encourage. Connect.

With the desire to bring our school community together, our staff worked together to create events aimed at bringing our community together. We started with a Family Movie Night in our courtyard and Father-Daughter Dance near Valentine's Day. Since then we have added a Middle School Dance, Mother-Son Game Night (later turned into Family Game Night), and several one-time events.

Most recently we started Parent Nights. These nights are times set apart for our staff and parents to join together for three goals: foster a greater partnership between parents and staff, provide encouragement for parents, and connect our school families together. Our first Parent Nights were held this past September with parents of specific age groups being invited to an evening meeting specifically geared toward their age of student. We had approximately 50% of our families represented in these events and received some wonderful feedback from our parents. Our desire is to see Parent Nights become a place to resource the needs of our families and create that sense of family and closeness of community that Sweeney lists as essential to a healthy school culture.

School culture has a direct effect on our students' success both academically and emotionally. As a school leader, fostering a healthy culture that students are comfortable to learn in, staff enthusiastically work in, and parents actively engage in, is one of my highest priorities. This kind of unity in a school will result in. compounded effectiveness in the lives of our students.

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