Survive or Thrive?

Amid the harsh realities of Federal and local budget cuts, is your school surviving or thriving?

Survival can be a brutal contest of resources that bring harsh casualties. In the current conditions, those casualties can include programs, teachers, community and ultimately your students.

Thriving denotes the ability to take what resources exist and nourish the situation to the point of growth. The same groups that suffer while surviving, see the bounties of thriving.

Here are 4.5 indicators of a thriving school and district:

Sustainable community partnerships - programs that provide training and development past a 3 year window will have an impact that will outlast leadership changes.
Visible community volunteer base - parent coordinators, homeless liaisons and school leaders host parents on a consistent basis. Those meetings result in greater parent volunteer base or increased tax-credit donations.
Web presence - not just a site. I'm talking about Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube presence. Principal PodCasts or Superintendent's WebLogs - that will drive traffic.
Waiting lists - Teachers and students can't wait to get in your school. Teaching and learning velvet rope will build exclusivity and results-oriented customer service.

4.5 Lean and mean - any district cuts begin at the top and trickle down to the school level. Top-heavy
mega-districts are the car manufactureres of the 80's soon to be eclipsed by efficient small schools.

Thrive.

My personal best,

Principal Sharp

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