Equity = Safety > Belonging > Achievement The new year started with hope and enthusiasm.  Then, from day one transportation was a challenge.  Lunch was a challenge.  Classroom behavior was a challenge.  No, it wasn’t COVID. Unknowingly, we had tripped trauma triggers for dozens of students. For years, we planned to combine two schools.  An…

Learning Resilience Together Our superintendent cohort met last week.  Resilience and strategic alignment were our themes:  coping with the present and cautiously moving forward at the speed of trust.  Here (not polished yet) is an emerging toolkit of our collective thinking on resilience.  How we went about it is, in itself, a case study in…

Resilient Leadership Its still challenge and churn and chaos out there, I know. Last week a colleague put it all in perspective for me.  His district, like so many others, started the year with high hopes of returning to normal only to find a return to the chaos and churn of COVID impacts.  Let me…

Resiliency Books What have you learned since we last met? –Ralph Waldo Emerson Five years from now you will be the same as today but for the people you meet and the books you read.  –Stanley “Tremendous” Jones Lately, my reading keeps coming back to the themes of resiliency, culture, and belonging.  Here are a…

Adaptive Thinking We continue to adapt our thinking around COVID.  Just when we have it all figured out, something changes.  In times of certainty we look for technical solutions.  Now, in times of UNcertainty, we seek adaptive solutions. Here is a big picture look at Adaptive Thinking: Bay of Pigs: It was clear to his…

Adaptive Leadership Our primary task as leaders is to keep hope alive … and keep moving toward our shared vision.  Now, thanks to COVID, we once again (sigh) need to remain agile and adaptive to uncertain times. AND we need our leadership team right there beside us … renewing hope … remaining flexible and help…