Andrea G.

Dagnalan
NELA Cohort V

DLP Assignment Component Five: Creating a Strong

Internal and External Stakeholder Focus

Assignment 5.1: Imagining your Future Schools

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Action Plan

1. Know where youre going as a school We should have a vision

of what our school should look like and create a plan for how to
get there. If we already have a vision we need to seek input
from all staff, parents and other community stakeholders. Our
vision should reflect the diverse needs and interests of the
schools community members.

2. Find out what the public is saying: I recommend conducting a

survey where the respondents would be the parents, students,
staff and other stakeholders. The areas of concerns that must be
included in the survey are the following: Factors parents consider
in selecting and supporting school i.e. the quality of teaching
staff; student discipline and curriculum; I will also conduct a
random interview with parents who come in and out of the school
to ascertain what their impressions of the school are over the
years; I will also conduct an interview with teachers and staff
(non-teaching staff including the cafeteria workers, custodians,
bus drivers, etc.);
Likewise, the school could also conduct a focused-group session,
have a meeting with business leaders in the community; visit
 other schools that are successful with public relations to address
these concerns:
3. After the above-mentioned activities, I would utilize the data to
confirm the need to have a strategic plan for the school. The
stakeholders would be invited in a series of public speak-out
sessions or focused group sessions to draft a plan that lays out
the schools mission, core values and objectives. These core
values and belief systems must be aligned with that of the
districts.
4. The school would then designate a public relations committee
whose membership includes parents, teachers and other
stakeholders. These committee members should have the ability
to carry out the task of public relations functions.
5. The next step is to create and implement public relations
strategies that may work for the school. The school should seek
to address the following concerns: How welcome does a parent
feel in the school? How informed are people in the community?
What do they know about the schools accomplishments? How
much influence do parents feel they have over their childs
education?
As such the school committee on public relations can use media
of all types to target various groups in the school community. i.e.
newspapers, newsletters, radio, local television and the internet
(social media).

Press Release/Digital Story Telling our school can send out press
releases to share out achievements of the school, staff and
students.
Website the school can update its website to reach more
parents, students, teachers and businesses or anyone who might
be interested in the school. The website must be designed to
 meet the needs of anyone who use it the most as it can really be
effective to market the school.
Creative use of materials i.e. brochures
Principal Newsletters
Personal Notes i.e. positive referral sheets for students to go
home

6. Examine the schools edifice and premises. When parents walk

into the building, how are they greeted? Is the waiting area
comfortable enough? Do we have bulletin boards that display
student achievement? Do we value diversity? Do our bulletin
boards represent those families of the students that we serve?
Parents and visitors alike could still feel welcome even if the
school building is old and needs repairs. Building grounds should
be clean and well kept. Do we have a neat entrance with?
7. Examine the physical condition of the library, classrooms and
restrooms; do we have clean restrooms? Do we have open and
inviting classrooms?
8. School Programs Does the school promote school excellence?
Student of the month or of the year award posted? Do we
conduct curriculum nights or Science fairs? What after-school
activities do we currently have?
Assignment 5.3: Student leadership and Engagement

Personal Reflection
Southeast Halifax High School has made a lot of positive impact
on its students in regard to student leadership opportunities and
engagement. For four consecutive years, the school consistently has
been making a lot of progress in regard to the students level of
engagement and student leadership.
As a Principal resident, I witnessed how students actively
participate in the different programs that the school is offering. I will
start off with discussing the students level of engagement. This year,
we have had intramurals and clubs where students had the opportunity
to participate in. For all of the grade levels, students chose one club
and intramural activity that each of them could participate in for 45
minutes. The intramural activities include classes for story-telling,
drama, movie review, debates, Wifi Caf, National Honor Society,
Freshman Academy, Power Off and Dear, etc. The club also offers many
different activities that students could participate in such as the
following: Sports club, Spanish Club, Step team, Strategic Thinkers
Club (which is my club for students who fail to follow school rules, etc.).
Then on Fridays, we encourage students to be leaders in as a sense
that they plan out activities for their respective houses. Each grade
level is considered one full house where students elect their set of
officers. Teachers from that grade level are supervising the houses. On
the other hand, there were areas for growth, which I hope the
leadership team would be able to address with the staff particularly the
House meetings. Our students need to be modeled and taught how to
run meetings. The adults i.e. supervising teachers should model these
actions so students can learn from them. Time becomes an issue since
there was no coherence or direction as to what objectives would be
accomplished after the House meeting. Moreover, with regard to
intramurals, some classrooms were so big because students went with
their friends and not the intramural activities that they signed up for.
The teachers were not keen on checking the accuracy of the list about
which students should stay for that particular group. Also, some
teachers were not prepared with their materials or do not have an
option if their activity did not go as planned.