District changing with an eye on its culture

Trotwood is a place of pride. Our community is rightfully proud of its accomplishments. Our schools have graduated many successful people over the years and many return to Trotwood to put down roots of their own.

Trotwood-Madison alumni are attorneys, engineers, doctors, educators, technology experts, artists, college professors, professional athletes, politicians … The list goes on and on.

Over the years, the district has also encountered obstacles and barriers to success — while some of our students excelled, others struggled. That is what led the school district to refocus our mission statement to “100% student success.” As a relatively new superintendent in the district, I know we need to make changes in order to accomplish our mission for all students.

Change is hard. It is hard for the systems and structures and it is hard on the people inside the systems and structures we must change. The most difficult thing about change is summed up in this quote from Seymour Sarason, “If you attempt to implement reforms but fail to engage the culture of the school, nothing will change.”

We have great plans of how we will reform our systems and structures, of how we will train and develop our staff and how we will incorporate our students and their families in the process. If we do all of that without engaging the culture in our district, we will fail, no matter how detailed and studied our plans and processes are.

Reinvigorating culture takes time and effort and relies on our students to embrace the change. First and foremost, our students and staff must feel safe and valued when they are at our schools. COVID has certainly posed a challenge, but as more individuals receive the vaccines we see our quarantine numbers decrease and we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

In order for students to feel welcomed and valued, it is important that we provide opportunities for students to provide feedback and input so we are creating more opportunities for student voice. We are reminding students they are capable and powerful thinkers. And we are bringing back many of the activities and clubs that were postponed during COVID.

Our goal is to ensure our students and staff feel safe and valued as learners and individuals. We know our efforts are working when we see students smile and engage as they walk through the hallways and are attentive and ready to learn when they get to class.

We will see attendance rates rise because students know they are welcome in the classrooms. We will see discipline decline because students have a safe place in their classrooms, activities and clubs. We will see instructional time increase because students will be ready and eager to achieve the academic goals before them as they work toward their bright futures.