Visionary Leadership
Diana Stein
ADMIN/520
August 8, 2016
Russ Cornell
Please follow the
link below to LISTEN to the interview with Principal Kirstin Lasto on August 5,
2016:
https://youtu.be/wwxgNN35Npk
https://youtu.be/wwxgNN35Npk
Introduction
Overview of
the vision
The
Classical Academies’ Mission is to partner with families to inspire each
student to think critically, communicate effectively, and achieve excellence by
providing educational choice. As the administrator of a school, it is important to involve the
community in helping achieve the school’s vision and goals. The mission of the
Classical Academies extends beyond the classroom to positively impact the
community and surrounding region. Through multiple partnerships with local
non-profits and businesses, our resources are multiplied, our student's lives
are enriched and our community benefits.
Each campus offers a flexible, personalized educational environment that blends
the best of independent study and the traditional classroom experience. Options
range from blended in-seat and independent study programs to full-time
independent study programs. The hybrid programs are uniquely designed to
encourage students to explore their interests, accommodate their learning style
and reach their maximum potential by becoming thinkers, communicators, and
achievers (The Classical Academies, 2016).
Characteristics
of the community, including the diverse expectations, needs, goals,
and aspirations of family and community groups
and aspirations of family and community groups
The
Classical Academies (TCA) are committed to enhancing educational opportunities
for all and believe that the Classical Model of personalized instruction guides
our processes and methodologies to meet the diverse expectations, needs, goals,
and aspirations of the students, families, and communities that we serve. Our staff
is passionate about providing better opportunities for all young people
regardless of location or circumstance. Our student body contains students
ranging in abilities from special needs to giftedness and every level in
between. We believe that the Classical Model of Education provides a rigorous
and supportive choice in academic and character education. Our history proves
as testimony that personalized instruction and partnering with parents provided
at TCA creates thinkers, communicators, and achievers.
Meeting
the diverse needs of the community includes reaching out to community groups.
Our Executive Circle is our internal organization of teacher leaders,
administrators, and executives who conference monthly to hear presentations
from invited community leaders who are engaged in positive change in and around
San Diego County and beyond. The purpose of these meetings is to build momentum
in promoting change that will impact the community and surrounding area. These
solutions for change include but are not limited to charitable outreach, social
and mental rehabilitation, and food and shelter for the homeless.
Specific goals for the
school and how they address the vision
School Leaders build climate
and culture through the following shared leadership strategies to address the
vision:
1. Set clear parameters to create balanced power and
establish leadership as a partnership.
2. Engage all stakeholders in working together toward a
shared purpose.
3. Ensure all participants share responsibility and accountability.
4. Recognize and embrace diverse perspectives in the
group.
5. Teach and value inner strength in
all participants in shared leadership.
(Jennifer Smith, personal
communication, August 6, 2016)
The Classical Academies’ culture points are founded
on four pillars: Impact, Communication, Judgment, and Passion. We exemplify our
culture through the following actions:
·
We make positive
contributions. (Impact)
·
We are positive
role models to others. (Communication)
·
We are each
self-directed. (Judgment)
·
We are
self-satisfied through our individual contributions and personal service to
others. (Passion)
Our learning
community extends far past the classroom. It includes all of the department
chairs within our schools, grade level teacher leaders, and parent-partners of
each student enrolled in our program (Stein, 2016).
As the
principal leads the learning community he or she must actively exhibit three
behavioral patterns while addressing the specific goals and promoting the
school vision:
- First Pattern: Direction in Making Choices
- Second Pattern: Persistence
- Third Pattern: Intensity
(Owens
& Valesky 2015, Chapter 5)
The
principal must be confident in his or her decision-making ability and
direction. A decision without action is
not activated to propel change.
Secondly, the principal must remain persistent
in the direction taken, and remain consistent with the actions needed to
bring about the desired change(s). The
third and most vital ingredient in addressing the vision is intensity. Passion is the genesis of
genius (Robbins, 2016).
Strategies for involving the community in achieving the vision
It is vital for our schools to make
active and ongoing contributions to every student and to the communities that
we serve. Our goals include that every student graduates as an exceptional
thinker, communicator, and achiever with our personalized learning programs
impacting local, state, and national educational options.
The Classical Academies are certified
California public charter schools that are nationally recognized by the
California Charter School Association. Accolades include but are not limited
to:
•
Coastal Academy, California Distinguished School 2007
•
Classical Academy High School, California Distinguished School
2013
•
Coastal Academy, (Charter School) Teacher of the Year 2009
•
Leader of the Year, Executive Director 2011
•
All schools have received the Exemplary Independent Study
Recognition Award
•
95%+ parent satisfaction rating annually
•
Nationally recognized by Newsweek Magazine, The Washington Post,
and US News and World Report
•
Classical Academy High School, honor roll with the California
Business for Educational Excellence 2014
•
Awarded Union-Tribune San Diego Top Work Places 2014
•
Executive Director awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year”, Escondido
Chamber of Commerce, 2015
•
Top 40 Elementary Schools for Homebuyers in San Diego County,
California (Cruvita, 2016)
Strategies
for achieving positive results like these include shared decision-making. According to Owens &
Valesky (2015),
Leaders
are not merely catalysts of the ideas of others, much as they encourage and
facilitate participation; they have their own clearly thought-out vision of the
future, their sense of direction. Leaders have something important to say in
the dialogue about where we are going, something that engages the aspirations
of others and raises their hopes about what can and should be achieved in their
work. Leaders move them forward to participate vigorously with others in
building a new and better future in the organization. But leadership is not a
solo performance. The leader's role in the process of developing a vision of
the school, in addition to offering ideas and participating in discussion
emphasizes facilitating the involvement of others in an ongoing dialogue about
the direction for the future.
Our
involvement outside of the schools and inside of the community includes annual
events like JumpStart, Super STEM Saturday, the Spring Art Show, and Musical
Theater. This year our annual JumpStart Parent
Conference on Tuesday, August 23rd at The California Center for the
Arts in Escondido is entirely underwritten by sponsors including:
- BCS Copier
- Leavitt Group
- San Diego County Board of Supervisors
- Pacific Western Bank
- Young, Minney, & Corr
- Customer Service Advantage
- Cox Communications
- AT&T
- Pathways
- Edgenuity
- Waxie Sanitary Supplies
Conclusion
According to Owens & Valesky (2015),
The
goal of forging agreement on the vision or mission of the organization is,
ideally, to seek consensus as nearly as it can be practically achieved, but
always consensus on a new and better state in the future. We define a vision
for an organization as the ideal toward which the organization is focused,
whereas the mission is how the team will achieve the vision, which is, a
clear statement of the methods and strategies to be used, which contain the
beliefs and values of the organizational culture. Throughout the process of
developing or revising a vision and mission, the leader always strives to
marshal consensus in support of something better: a higher plane of
functioning, an elevated sense of motivation and commitment, an organization
that is constantly metamorphosing into something better than it was.
The
vision to Partner with Parents has been life changing for my family and for the
lives of thousands of families that I am personally and professionally vested
in. The climate and the culture of the school is a living and breathing
organism and needs to be cared for by the entire organization, patiently with
an eye on the future and a pulse on the needs of the present not just for the
school, but for the community that we share.
References
Bolman, L.
G., & Deal, T. E. (1984). Modern approaches to understanding and
managing organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Cruvita. (2016). Top
40 Elementary Schools for Homebuyers in San Diego County,
California. Retrieved from http://blog.cruvita.com/top-40-elementary-schools-for-homebuyers-in-san-diego-county-california/?utm_source=16MediaSanDiegoElem&utm_medium=SM&utm_campaign=16Media-SanDiego
Cunningham, W. G. (1982). Systematic planning for educational change. Palo
Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Owens, R.,
& Valesky, T. (2015). Organizational behavior in education:
Leadership and school reform. Upper Saddle, NY: Pearson Education,
Inc.
Robbins,
A. (2016). Brainy Quotes. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/tony_robbins.htm
Stein, D. (2013). Diana Stein, MA.ED. Retrieved from http://flexforward.wikispaces.com
The Classical Academies. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.classicalacademy.com/about/about/
