Collaborative School Culture

Developing a culture of collaboration from the top down begins with the school board who directs the vision and mission of the district. A collaborative culture that invites input from front-line staff who face daily challenges in the classroom is vital in producing employee buy-in with the district mission. Employee buy-in drives loyalty, creativity and ownership of the results they produce. When employees are encouraged to collaborate with both administrators and board members, and their input is valued in creating solutions, everyone wins; board members, administration, students, teachers, paras and ancillary staff.  Having listened to many teachers speak at board meetings about their concerns of overwhelm and issues with classroom safety, as well as communicated frustrations that the administration and board have been unresponsive, creating a collaborate culture is essential in finding solutions that work for both employees and students to repair the current gap. When work environments are collaborative and every employee is valued, this also reduces staff turnover which impacts both student achievement and the financial bottom line in terms of decreasing the cost of training new employees.