October 2017

After a considerable amount of thought and lots of collaborative talks with my Assistant Principal, Counselor, and Instructional Coach, I took a leap of faith and jumped right into the beginning stages of implementing the “House” concept. The first thing I did to begin this process of transformation was to meet with my Transformational Leadership Committee. I was not surprised that they all bought into the concept right away! They saw the value of what the House concept could do for purposeful planning and more individualized instruction for each child. They were excited and offered to be the first to implement the concept! I was thrilled and began planning

a “Pilot House” with my Transformational Team. Then, the word spread around campus, and teachers began asking questions about the House concept. I noticed there were some that seemed genuinely interested and also wanted the opportunity to try it and be part of a “House.” Although this was extremely promising to have a number of teachers ready to jump on board, it also made it more difficult because I had enough to “Pilot” one “House,” but not two in these beginning stages.

So then I decided to venture out and include all grade levels in the implementation process. I wanted feedback on their thoughts of implementing this concept in a “Pilot” program. I also wanted to get a feel on how many were interested in being part of a “Pilot” to see if I could add another “House.” The feedback I received was mixed. Some were immediately excited about the possibilities, and some were somewhat resistant. Everyone thought the concept made sense and could understand the value of the approach, but some of the upper grade levels were hesitant about going self-contained (teaching all subjects). Some were just afraid of change and weren’t excited about leaving their teams and working closely with other staff members they didn’t know well. In the end, I had more teachers that wanted to try it that didn’t. So, even though I knew that it would not be easy, I made the decision to go school-wide because trying to add two “Pilot Houses” into a rotation schedule for Specials could not be done. There just wasn’t enough time in the school day to rotate 6 grade levels and 2 Houses through Specials. It just made sense to bite the bullet and dive in school-wide. And with the approval of my Superintendent, we did just that!

Then we began rolling out the plan. I met with my staff to go over the roll out plan and what it would look like here at Madeley Ranch Elementary. I immediately got in touch with the Principal at Lee Elementary to schedule a day for my staff to tour her school. I felt it was important for them to see this concept in action! In April, I sent 21 of my Teachers along with my Assistant Principal and Counselor to tour Lee. They came back just as excited and in awe as the three of us were in January! Buy-in had definitely started to set in on my campus!

In the month of May, we held three Parent Information Sessions about the “House” concept. I set it up in a town hall format where I explained what the “House” concept was all about, why we were going to implement it, and how we would implement it on our campus. Then I gave time for parents to ask questions. I had a panel of teachers who volunteered to speak and answer questions. The panel of teachers did a phenomenal job of explaining the concept and answering questions. You could see the passion resonate from each one as they spoke about the benefits the concept allows for teachers and for students. Most parents were receptive to the idea. Some were very excited! And, there were some that were not on board. Change is difficult, and I could see that our journey would have some ups and downs along the way. I knew this journey would not be easy, but one worth taking the risk. In my heart, I knew this was what was best for kids.

After the meetings, I put together a FAQ about the “House” concept to send home with students. I also placed it on our website. We wanted to be as transparent as possible. We felt it was vital for parents to read the FAQ and feel free to ask questions through emails, parent conferences, and phone conferences. It was also important for our parents who were not able to come to an information session to have literature on the “House” concept. There was also some inaccurate information and misconceptions floating around the community regarding this concept that needed to be put to rest. We wanted only the facts to be disseminated.

In June, a group of teachers, administrators and I presented the “House” concept to our School Board. They were impressed with the benefits of the concept and what it could do academically for our students. They were also very fond of the relationship piece that “House” lends to the approach. We were excited and ready to get started! We were ready to embrace the long hours we knew we had ahead of us to plan, write new schedules, revise procedures, tweak curriculum alignment, move classrooms and place students into Houses. We had a lot of work in

store to make this a success!

The summer was spent planning to be the “Change!” Our staff was busy making plans to go “Above the Line” for our students!

Navigation menu

The Summer of getting ready for The Change!

FAQ About the House Concept

Beginning stages of "House" Implementation

Message from Research Partner: American College of Education

Follow

Search This Blog

Archive

Design Credit