“I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.”
– Vincent Van Gogh

Upon entry into a school system (or company) one of the first things leaders do is listen to stakeholders and find out what’s going on. They ask questions like: “what’s on your mind?”, “what is working here”, “if you were in my position, what advice would you give me”, and so on. Any impactful leader’s entry plan involves engagement and listening! As I have learned and as I continue to learn on my leadership journey, it is necessary to listen and respond throughout one’s tenure – not just at the beginning. In our District we value strategic and ongoing communications to engage our stakeholders.

In our District we highly value survey data, focus group data, stakeholder input, and action. Each year we administer a Culture Survey and every other year we administer a climate survey. I have shared posts

about our community engagement efforts over the past few months. From the earliest days of my administrative career I have had a Chinese symbol in my office: this is a reminder to LISTEN with both ears and my heart!

As part of our data informed decision making processes we engage with thought leaders and thought partners around various endeavors on an on-going basis about a multitude of topics (including but not limited to): curriculum, teaching, engagement, innovation, communication, etc. With respect to communication, the following four slides show graphics about our recent strategic engagement efforts. While our tag line is Engage, Inspire, Empower – our energy is devoted to seeking out thoughts, reactions, feedback and input into how we can continue to best fulfill our bold mission!