Introduction Every school district, teacher and academic leader must possess a strong, shared vision in order to produce

successful students who are prepared for lifes journey. A vision encompasses so many things in a school and must be shared and understood by all stakeholders in order to come to fruition. A vision provides direction in a school, highlights the goals of the school and puts a clear plan in action to meet the goals. According to Burt Nanus, vision serves as "a signpost pointing the way for all who need to understand what the organization is and where it intends to go" (Nanus, 1992). It is the roadmap to success in my eyes. It is crucial for a leader to identify his/her strengths and leadership style in order to build and strengthen the leadership capacity within a school. A leader must build an effective team and share ownership and accountability. I believe that every vision begins as a dream and ends with reality. As a leader, I will dream big for my students but must empower my teachers and students to attain realistic goals while promoting student success and achievement for all regardless of socio-economic status, background, race, or ethnicity. Every student deserves the same opportunities. The vision must drive the decisions of the school and impact the future. "A clear vision [also] enables principals to come back to the fundamental beliefs that drive the actions of a school" (National Association of Elementary School Principals [NAESP], 2002, p. 20). Develop a Vision In order to develop a vision, it is important to examine several things. I must begin by being introspective and examining my own core values and beliefs. What do I believe about leadership, staff, students, community involvement, teaching, learning, communication, change, etc.? How will I leverage the people around me to make the greatest impact on student achievement? How will I strengthen the leadership capacity of the staff, students and teachers? Once I examine and articulate the answers, I must then begin to think towards the future and focus on the desired outcomes. I believe that it always critical to begin with the end in mind. You must identify your destination before you begin the journey.

I must take into consideration legislation and accountability. Teachers and administrators are held accountable for student success. Acts like NCLB set specific timelines for students to demonstrate proficiency and create a high stress environment for students, staff and administrators. As a leader, I must embrace that accountability while providing the means for our students to be successful life-long learners who are prepared for the real world. We must use data to drive our instruction and decisions at all times. Charlotte Danielsons research captured in Enhancing Student Achievement: A Framework for School Improvement has revealed that we are not serving our students well and that we have an ethical obligation to assist all students in realizing their full potential. There are, therefore, ethical and economic imperatives for all students to be schooled at a level once reserved for the privileged few (Danielson 2002, p viii). Danielson also stresses the importance of the four circles model which highlights the importance of examining what we believe, what we know and what we want for our students to determine what we do to make an impact. (Danielson, 2002 p. 1) By allowing the data to drive our instruction and our decisions, we are naturally building the leadership capacity within the school. We need to be deliberate about the decisions we make and have the data to support those decisions. What do I believe? I believe that as a leader I must foster a safe environment where all students and staff are encouraged to learn, grow and excel. I must listen to the concerns of the students, staff and community and ask for feedback. I must empower teachers to teach and differentiate instruction by providing appropriate, high level curriculum, valuable assessment tools and frequent coaching. I believe that all students can learn regardless of socio-economic status, background, race or ethnicity. My teachers need to believe that all students can learn and explore ways to overcome difficulty. I believe that we must foster a culture of hard work and promote strong partnerships amongst all stakeholders in order to promote the success of all students. I believe that we must have methods in place to measure our success and be ready to make necessary changes when we arent seeing the success we need and want. I believe that leaders, students, staff and community members must be active participants in bringing the vision to life and making it a reality. I believe that everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses. The key is to identify those and leverage

them to ensure that the right people are in the right positions. By allowing for collaboration and relationship building, we can help to identify those strengths within individuals. Once I have established my own personal vision, it is crucial to involve the staff, students and community. I must examine the individual beliefs of these groups to ensure we set a vision that takes into account the desired outcomes for all. If the vision for the school is strictly mine, it is less likely to be carried out with fidelity. We must have a shared ownership and belief in the outcome. When school staff members link to outside individuals and agencies, they are constantly aware of the effect those connections have on student learning. (Danielson, 2002. P.67) I think it is imperative to stay true to what you believe in and fight for it at all times. Once you abandon who you are and your core beliefs, you take away your own credibility and decrease the trust that others have in you.

Articulate a Vision According to Peter Senge, 'A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?' In order to create a shared vision, I would ask for representatives to serve on a school-wide team made up of teachers, staff members, students and community representatives. As an administrator, I must know where each of these groups sees our school in the future so I can determine how to get there. We will need to examine where we have been as a school, where we are as a school and where we want to be as a school in the future. I will present information regarding our school demographics and at-risk population, achievement scores and academic areas in need of improvement, and how we are a part of our community and why this is important. I will share my beliefs and personal vision, but communicate how strongly I feel that we must all embrace a shared vision in order to serve our students and promote the success of all. I will explain my beliefs about teamwork and collaboration and the importance of leveraging everyones strengths to have the greatest impact on our students.

At our first meeting, we will discuss what we believe a vision is and examine vision statements from other schools in our area. We will then work in groups of mixed representatives to gather input on the following questions as outlined in The Principal's Companion (2nd ed.), by P. Robbins and H. Alvy, 2003:
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What kind of school do we want for our children and staff? What will students learn? How will they learn? How will students benefit from attendance at our school? How will their success be measured or demonstrated? Of all the educational innovations and research, which strategies should we seek to employ in our school? If parents had a choice, on what basis would they choose to send their children to our school? (Hirsh, 1996)

Each group will share their ideas and beliefs in relation to each of these questions. As we share, we will keep a running list of commonalities amongst all stakeholders. These commonalities, in addition to my personal vision, will eventually serve as our shared vision. We will adjourn this meeting and set the date for the next meeting. At our next meeting, we will work to develop a shared vision statement for our school. Each group will examine the commonalities that we identified our first meeting and work to develop a vision statement for the school. We will share vision statements with the entire team once again highlighting commonalities. We will then compare to my personal vision for the school and determine how to tie it all together. Once we have our shared vision, we must implement and evaluate our progress frequently so we can make changes as needed.

Implement a Vision Our school vision (an outcome of my personal vision and the team of school and community representatives) is: At All Star Elementary School, we believe that all students can learn regardless of socio-economic status, background, race or ethnicity. We believe that all students are unique and require different paths to reach academic

success and will do whatever it takes to ensure the success of all students while promoting lifelong learners who are prepared for the real world. We believe that we must have strong partnerships amongst all stakeholders in order to foster a positive learning environment and maximize student success. We believe that we must communicate clearly, ask for feedback and evaluate frequently to ensure that we are doing what we set out to do! At All Star Elementary, we believe in our students and will base every decision on what is best for the students. Now that I have developed my personal vision for our school and tied in the input from important stakeholders, it is time to implement our shared vision. There are many ways in which I believe we can do this. I firmly believe that it starts with the principal. According to Todd Whitaker (2012, p. 18), great principals have clarity about who they are, what they do and how other perceives them. If we want others to embrace and promote a shared vision, as the leader of the school we must lead by example and blaze the trail. We must demonstrate that we believe in our vision and support our students, staff and teachers in order to make the school of our dreams a reality. Therefore, as a leader, I must learn and grow with the staff and students and encourage an open door policy. Lambert states, "Learning and leading cannot be separated: leading is a form of learning together." Regardless of whether you are a student, teacher or administrator I believe that you must be a lifelong learner. Education is always changing and student achievement is at the forefront of every initiative. An effective leader recognizes and has a strong desire to obtain as much knowledge and information as possible to strengthen his/her leadership skills and ensure that he/she sets appropriate goals. A leader also turns around and shares the knowledge with the staff so that they too can continue to learn. I think it is extremely important for the staff to also see the leader engaged in learning, just as it is important for the student to see the teacher engaged in learning. We must always lead by example. I will attend professional development workshops to enhance my own knowledge, discuss methods that are working with all stakeholders and collaborate frequently with all stakeholders through meetings, surveys, forums, etc. I must promote a positive staff

culture through communication, collaboration and strong relationships. I must know how all stakeholders feel in an effort to make changes when we are not on the path of our vision. To do this, I will implement an open door policy for all members of the school. They must know that I care, believe in them and trust in them in order for them to embrace and promote our shared vision. I would like to embrace the quote by President Theodore Roosevelt, Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground for our school. As a school we need to embrace this quote and keep it at the center of everything we do. We must always aim high while being realistic and staying grounded in our beliefs. To aim for the stars, we will need to ensure that we have a high level curriculum, valid and reliable assessments to determine if our students are succeeding, a highly qualified staff who is able to provide differentiated instruction and strong relationships amongst all stakeholders. Our students must be the center of every decision we make. In order to determine that we have the appropriate curriculum in place at All Star Elementary, we will need to begin with the end in mind. With a committee comprised of teachers, staff members and administrators, we will need to examine state assessments, determine which benchmark assessments and interim assessments will be used to measure achievement and mastery at each grade level. From there, we will need to determine the curriculum to be used for each subject at each grade level. This curriculum must be able to promote student success on the assessments we will be using. It is important for teachers to believe in the curriculum and utilize their creative abilities to meet the needs of the students through differentiated instruction. All students can be successful; they might just need to take a different road to get there. In Whitakers book, What Great Principals Do Differently: 18 Things That Matter Most he states, Great principals take every opportunity to hire and retain the very best teachers. (2012, p. 56) If we hire and retain a highly qualified staff who is able to recognize the needs of students and differentiate instruction accordingly, we can reach our goals and carry out our vision. We cannot do any of these things alone. In order to be successful, we must strengthen and promote the importance of strong relationships amongst all stakeholders so that our students feel valued, cared about and supported.

It is important for me, as the principal to build relationships with the staff and faculty. I will do this by being a present, active member of the school who is seen in teachers classrooms, in the hallways, at school events, etc. I will utilize one on one weekly coaching conferences with all teachers. We will examine instructional practices and student outcomes by diving into the data. We will focus on how to improve instructional practices in order to maximize student achievement. Teachers should have the opportunity to explore and attend meaningful professional development and I will examine the common instructional needs across the school when setting up and offering school-wide professional development days. I must encourage and allow time for teachers to collaborate with others while pursuing areas in which they are passionate. All members within our school can and should be leaders! We must foster and promote that learning within the school. During faculty meetings and team meetings, teachers will have the opportunity to share best practices with one another and celebrate each other. I will also encourage their ideas, opinions and feedback so that they know I trust and respect them as educators. If I model the importance of relationships and promote those relationships amongst all, my hope is that its importance will trickle down. The teachers will build relationships with each other, with their students, and with the parents of the students. Furthermore, the students will build relationships with each other and the parents and community members at large will also build relationships amongst each other. When everyone is working towards the same vision and BELIEVES in the mission, we can accomplish great things. We will then have a strengthened our leadership capacity! Evidence of this will be: Principals, teachers, parents and students as skillful learners, a shared vision resulting in program coherence, inquiry based use of information to inform decisions and practice, broad involvement, collaboration and collective responsibility reflected in roles and actions and reflective practice that leads consistently to innovation. At All Star Elementary School, we will implement our vision through the use of a star theme and star awards. I will discuss this at our very first faculty meeting, parent open house and back to school night. Teachers will promote this in their individual classrooms. Why did I pick stars? Stars can be a symbol of hope and a celebration of success. These are two things that I do not want any members of our school community to lose sight of. We will utilize star awards as a school wide system for

celebration and recognition of greatness. Star awards can be given out to any member of the school community by any member of the school community. I want everyone involved in this initiative and will participate myself to set a good example. I will be sure to celebrate all school community members and will provide teachers, students, parents and community members the opportunity to do the same. We will keep a Hall of Stars bulletin board in the largest hallway of the building and place the names of the star recipients on the board throughout the school year. This will aid in strengthening relationships and focusing on a common goal success for all students! I believe that we will be able to carry out our vision if we ensure that we have a high level curriculum, valid and reliable assessments to determine if our students are succeeding, a highly qualified staff who is able to provide differentiated instruction and strong relationships amongst all stakeholders. I also believe that we will demonstrate high leadership capacity. Steward a Vision As a principal, I must always keep our shared vision at the forefront of everything I do. This means that I must frequently reflect on our success and ensure that we can make changes if we are off track. The vision must be a reality and not just a dream for our school. This is a large task and as a principal, it is important to delegate. The best way to delegate is to know the strengths of your team and leverage those strengths. You must have people doing what they are best at for the greatest impact to occur. You also must allow people to collaborate and pursue their passions. I believe that a happy staff is engaged in what they are passionate about which enables them to be a productive and effective staff. Creating a sense of responsibility and ownership among teacher leaders of their role in building and cultivating learning capacity is a critical and highly effective role for principals (Matthews and Crow, 2010. P. 81). By creating teacher leaders who can promote a positive culture and gain the trust and support of others while allowing for open communication, we strengthen our ability to carry out the shared vision. This will allow for teacher and staff buy-in to occur. I must analyze data frequently and teach

teachers how to analyze data in order to examine success and determine where we may need to change. Reflective practice is crucial!

I have stated before that I believe in an open door policy. I believe the lines of communication must be open to all stakeholders. I feel strongly that if I dont listen to others, I cannot know what may need to be improved or changed. It is important that I ask teachers for feedback, hold discussions with students, parents and community members regularly, and evaluate my decisions on student needs. I must coach my staff and teachers towards effective instruction so that we can attain a high level of student achievement. All stakeholders need to know that I am invested in the school as a whole and will do whatever it takes to ensure success. I firmly believe in standing up for my beliefs even when there is opposition or a directive is coming from higher up. I fight for my teachers because it wasnt too long ago that I was in their shoes. I am passionate and committed to my team and my beliefs and am not afraid to defend them in a respectful manner. Throughout the year, I must analyze data regularly to determine if our methods are working. I must also listen to and observe students, staff and parents. If it is brought to my attention that something is not working, I must be ready to investigate. I need to research, ask questions and determine how we can move forward. That may mean making changes in staff, curriculum, instruction or assessment. Without open communication and readily available data, I may not be aware that these issues exist. If I determine changes are needed, I will need to rely on the data and support of all stakeholders to implement those changes and move forward. Promote Community Involvement People often move to particular communities for the schools that exist in that community. Schools that have a good reputation and high rate of success often draw students to their doors. For that reason, a school can have a huge impact on the development of a community. I want to be the leader of a school that is supported by its community and seen as a pillar of excellence within the community. I must work to promote community involvement in order to carry out our shared vision for our students.

I will be a present member of the community. It is important to me that all stakeholders see this and that they realize their important role in our school. I will support and encourage the parents of our students and discuss our shared goal for the students. I want them to know that I am invested in the students, just as they are, and will do whatever it takes to promote success. I think it is important to talk and listen to parents. I also think it is important to focus on the positive in students and highlight this with parents. This can be done through star awards sent home or through e-mail, notes home or personal phone calls. I will attend school and community functions and chat with parents whenever possible. I will also work hard to connect them with other parents and build their support network. Parents and community members need to know that their values and beliefs matter and that they have a say and hand in change within the organization. I will hold social events for parents to get to know each other and community members at large. I will utilize local businesses to promote career opportunities for students and use as resources. I will host open house sessions for prospective families so they have an opportunity to get to know our school, staff and students. As the principal, I will communicate with the school community and students through a monthly newsletter. I will also develop and share a weekly memo with staff and faculty. These tools will allow us to celebrate success while promoting information about the school.

Conclusion A principal must take the necessary steps to develop, articulate, implement and steward a vision while promoting community involvement. Though this is not an easy task, it can be attained. We must encourage all stakeholders in the school to embrace what President Roosevelt said, Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. If we follow this philosophy, we will be able to successfully carry out the vision of All Star Elementary School. The vision that states We believe that all students can learn regardless of socio-economic status, background, race or ethnicity. We believe that all students are unique and require different paths to reach academic success and will do whatever it takes to ensure the success of all students while promoting lifelong

learners who are prepared for the real world. We believe that we must have strong partnerships amongst all stakeholders in order to foster a positive learning environment and maximize student success. We believe that we must communicate clearly, ask for feedback and evaluate frequently to ensure that we are doing what we set out to do! At All Star Elementary, we believe in our students and will base every decision on what is best for the students.

References Danielson, Charlotte (2002). Enhancing Student Achievement: A Framework for School Improvement . Virginia: ASCD. Lambert, Linda (2003) . Leadership capacity for lasting school improvement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Matthews, L. Joseph & Crow, Gary M. (2003). Being and Becoming a Principal. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Matthews, L. Joseph & Crow, Gary M. (2010). The Principalship: New Roles in a Professional Learning Community. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. National Association of Elementary School Principals & Collaborative Communications Group. (2002). Leading learning communities: Standards for what principals should know and be able to do. Alexandria, VA: NAESP. Nanus, B. (1992). Visionary leadership: Creating a compelling sense of direction for your organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Whitaker, T. (2003). What Great Principals Do Differently: 18 Things That Matter Most, 2ndEdition. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.