If you’re going to lead, lead. “Wha

If you’re going to lead, lead. “What happens in a school and what does not happen in a school is up to the principal,” says Cliatt-Wayman. “I am the principal, and having that title required me to lead.” That meant stepping up and taking charge. “I was not going to be afraid to address anything that was not good for children, whether that made me liked or not.” At Strawberry Mansion High School in North Philadelphia, she worked with her leadership team to tackle issues both small and large. They posted cheerful messages on bulletin boards and made sure the lightbulbs worked — and rebuilt the school schedule to include flexibility for children with hugely different needs. But their best invention ever? The school-wide discipline program called “Non-negotiables,” a behavior system designed to promote positive behavior at all times. The result? “Strawberry Mansion was removed from the ‘Persistently Dangerous’ list our first year, after being on the list for five consecutive years,” Cliatt-Wayman says.So what? Now what? "There were many excuses for why Strawberry Mansion was low-performing and persistently dangerous," says Cliatt-Wayman. "Only 68 percent of the kids come to school on a regular basis, 100 percent of them live in poverty, only one percent of the parents participate, many of the children come from incarceration and single-parent homes, 39 percent of the students have special needs." Her response: So what. Now what? "Eliminating excuses at every turn became my primary responsibility." That included focusing on the teachers as well as the kids. "We addressed every one of those excuses through a mandatory professional development, paving the way for intense focus on teaching and learning." Teaching was centered around small groups of students to try and ensure they got their needs met in the classroom.

If you're going to lead, lead. "What happens in a school and what does not happen in a school is up to the principal," says Cliatt-Wayman. "I am the principal, and having that title required me to lead." That meant stepping up and taking charge. "I was not going to be afraid to address anything that was not good for children, whether that made ​​me liked or not." At Strawberry Mansion High School in North Philadelphia, she worked with her ​​leadership team to tackle issues both small and large. They posted cheerful messages on bulletin boards and made ​​sure the lightbulbs worked - and rebuilt the school schedule to include flexibility for children with hugely different needs. But their best invention ever? The school-wide discipline program called "Non-negotiables," a behavior system designed to promote positive behavior at all times. The result? "Strawberry Mansion was removed from the 'persistently Dangerous' list our First year, after being on the list for Five consecutive years," Cliatt-Wayman says. So what? Now what? "There were many excuses for why Strawberry Mansion was low-performing and persistently dangerous," says Cliatt-Wayman. "Only 68 percent of the kids come to school on a regular basis, 100 percent of them live in poverty, only one percent of the parents participate, many of the children come from incarceration and single-parent homes, 39 percent of the students have. special needs. "Her response: So what. Now what? "Eliminating excuses at every turn became my primary responsibility." That included focusing on the teachers as well as the kids. "We addressed every one of those excuses through a mandatory professional development, paving the way for intense focus on teaching and learning." Teaching was centered around small groups of students to try and ensure they got their needs met in the classroom.

If you 're going, to lead lead. "What happens in a school and what does not happen in a school is up to the principal," Says Cliatt-Wayman. "I am the principal and having, that title required me to lead." That meant stepping up and taking, charge. "I was not going to be afraid to address anything that was not good, for children whether that made me liked or not."At Strawberry Mansion High School in, North Philadelphia she worked with her leadership team to tackle issues both small. And large. They posted cheerful messages on bulletin boards and made sure the lightbulbs worked - and rebuilt the school. Schedule to include flexibility for children with hugely different needs. But their best invention ever?The school-wide discipline program called "Non-negotiables," a behavior system designed to promote positive behavior at. All times. The result? "Strawberry Mansion was removed from the 'Persistently Dangerous' list our first year after being,, On the list for five consecutive years, "Cliatt-Wayman says.

So what? Now what?"There were many excuses for why Strawberry Mansion was low-performing and persistently dangerous," says, Cliatt-Wayman. "Only 68 percent of the kids come to school on a regular basis 100 percent, of them live, in poverty only one percent of. The parents participate many of, the children come from incarceration and single-parent homes 39 percent, of the students. Have special needs."Her response: So what. Now what?" Eliminating excuses at every turn became my primary responsibility. "That included. Focusing on the teachers as well as the kids. "We addressed every one of those excuses through a mandatory professional. Development paving the, way for intense focus on teaching and learning."Teaching was centered around small groups of students to try and ensure they got their needs met in the classroom.