School Culture

@The Environmental Charter

School
Introduction
The Environmental Charter School is a non-profit,
inner-city, charter school in the east end of
Pittsburgh, PA.
-We currently serve around 600 students K-8. We
have added one grade each year for the past 8 years.
This year was the first year we did not add an entire
grade level team of teachers to our faculty.
-We recently were approved to expand our charter,
adding another K-8 and a 9-12 school (ECS, 2016).
Identifying the Problem
-As we have expanded, leadership, staff, and students
alike have noted some shifts in the culture of the school.
-The schools vision and original community was
deeply invested the work of culture building,
relationship forming, and instilling trust in our
students, parents, and the larger community.
-As we started our 9th year, we saw a noticeable decline
in work around culture and community.
The methodology
-As part of the culture committee leadership team, I
felt the right way to start the process to address this
problem was through data collection and
collaboration.
-We created 2 surveys, one for the students to take
and one for the teachers.
-Each survey allowed input from the stakeholders
and the results were shared at staff meetings and a
community meeting with all students.
School Culture Surveys
Teacher Survey

Each survey was created using

google forms. This method
allows for quick collection and
organization of data.

The surveys were both

anonymous but asked for
identifying information such as
grade level team.

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Faculty")

School Culture Survey
Student Surveys
Like the teacher survey, this
survey was anonymous.

It allowed students to rate our

school culture and learning
environment.

It also allowed for input or

suggestions to improve school
culture.

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Students")

 The Teacher Responses
What are the biggest behavioral concerns you see in our school?

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Faculty")

 The Teacher Responses
What initiatives would improve our school culture?

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Faculty")

Teacher response summary-
Overwhelmingly, the staff reported feeling a negative
attitude about school from the students, that they felt
the sense of respect for our school building and our
educators had diminished, and that the hallways were
becoming loud and disruptive.
Needless to say, this isnt what we envision as our school
culture. We hope to be inclusive, allow for dynamic
learning experiences, and to build relationships of
mutual respect between all members of the community
(Torti, "Survey of ECS Faculty").
Teacher response summary-
We also asked our educators to vote on which school wide
initiatives they thought would best address the behavior pattern.
They identified a lot of the initiatives which our school started out
practicing, which have since been less emphasized or have completely
been discontinued.
-This was a reality check for those of us who have been at the school
for years. We let some of our core practices go, and we were seeing the
results of that.

-I also felt hopeful, because the school has the tools, resources, and
training to reinvigorate these practices. Also the fact that teachers
had identified them, means they will value the practices when they
are put back into place (Torti, "Survey of ECS Faculty").
 The Student Responses
Do you understand the 3 Be expectations of our school?

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Students")

 The Student Responses
How would you rate the culture of our school?

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Students")

 The Student Responses
How do you rate the learning environment at ECS?

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Students")

The Student Responses

(Torti, "Survey of ECS Students")

Student Response Summary
Similarly, the students reported they felt the school culture would
be improved by working on issues surrounding respect. They also
responded that uniforms, lunch, and class/instructional time needed
worked on.

-When students were asked: How would you rate the culture of our
School? Only 18.3% of our students gave us the highest rating of
almost always inclusive, friendly, and safe (Torti, "Survey of ECS Students").
-When students were asked: How would you rate the learning
environment of our school? Only 22.7% gave us the highest rating of
almost always a comfortable, productive, place to learn (Torti, "Survey of
ECS Students").
Action Plan
Within the culture committee of my school, I am
working to implement cultural changes in our school
culture. I created an action plan directly from the survey
results to ensure this change was collaborative, needed,
and all stakeholders had an understanding of why we
were making a change.
The 3 main ideas that came from the survey were to
-Reinstate daily morning meetings
-Reinstate monthly community (multi-grade level)
-Create character based lesson plans for homerooms to
implement.
Action Plan
These 3 steps will strengthen our school curriculum
because they allow for relationship building, student
centered discussions, and re-enforcing behavioral
expectations.
-Having a morning meeting in each homebase, ensures
that each child is greeted every single day.
-Having community meetings, helps us feel like one
community rather than separate grade level silos.
-Character based lesson plans reteach expectations and
support students who need explicit direction.
Leadership Style
-I think this data set and action plan highlight my
leadership style by showing my willingness to
collaborate as a peer with other faculty and our students.
-When something as integral as school culture needs
changed, you must be inclusive and dynamic in your
leadership style.
-I believe how we do things is just as important as
what we do. Reinvigorating our school culture can
highlight this belief.
-I also think using strategies most of the staff are already
familiar with can help avoid change fatigue.
Reference
Environmental Charter School. (2016). Retrieved February 17, 2017, from
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/environmental-charter-school-at-frick-pa-profile

(2014, June 09). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ0doKfhecQ

Survey of ECS Faculty [Online interview]. (2017, March 6).

Survey of ECS Students [Online interview]. (2017, March 6).

Waters, T., & Cameron, G. (n.d.). The Balanced Leadership Framework: Connecting
Vision with Action.