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As administrators we spend a
significant amount of time making
sure we start the school year on a
positive note. We plan our
meetings, bring in a speaker,
provide in-service for our staff, and
make sure our buildings are
cleaned and ready to start another
year. However, we often don’t put
in the same amount of effort to
bring the end of the year to a
positive and proper closure.
Although it sometimes feels like people “just
want to get out of here,” the collective gathering of
our staff can be very beneficial and help start the
summer vacation period on a very positive note.
Following are some things that can be addressed:
Acknowledge the highlights:
Every district
has to have some highlights to acknowledge from
the school year just completed.
Whether it is from your athletic
teams, academic competitions,
student achievement, staff or student
successes, implementation of a new
program, survival of a challenging
winter — you name it — celebrate
those successes and acknowledge
some of the positive things you
accomplished together as a district.
Speak about the challenges:
Often times we want to shy away from sharing or
describing some of the challenges that we may
have encountered as a district. As with the
proverbial “elephant in the room,” everyone knows
of these challenges and wonders if you’re going to
address them. You may have encountered a strike
this year, or suffered the loss of a staff member or
student. You may have experienced a catastrophe
with one of your buildings, or lost a referendum
campaign. Whatever the challenge was, address it
head on with the staff and let them know how you
will respond moving forward to address that
challenge.
Project your continued vision:
As district
leaders we don’t often take the opportunity to
remind our staff of our vision. Meeting at the end of
the year can be used to describe any headway you
may have made to that end, as well as to describe
what the staff can look forward to when they return
to the district in August. Whether it’s a new
technology initiative, a building initiative or
improvement, the implementation of more engaging
teaching methodologies, or simply reviewing the
status of achieving district goals can remind staff
that even though they may be leaving for the
summer, the work of the district continues toward a
vision that they can look forward to when they
return in the fall.
Thank your staff members:
Sometimes we
think that since we pay our staff to do what they do,
we don’t need to thank them. Nothing could be
further from the truth. We
need
to thank our staff
for their continued efforts on behalf of the students
and our communities. The teaching profession is
not getting any easier, and sometimes
acknowledging that to our co-workers and sincerely
thanking them for continually trying their best to
make a positive difference with kids can be
extremely appreciated. Also be sure to thank the
support personnel, your administrative assistants
and clerical staff, your custodians, your bus drivers,
and anyone else who contributed
to providing the necessary
services to make our schools
successful.
Wish them a good summer:
Although many staff members
don’t like to be reminded that they
have their summers off (since
many of them don’t), encourage
them to take some time off for
themselves — to relax, to refresh
and to re-energize — because August will be here
sooner than they think. Encourage them to do
things they may not get to do during the school
year, but also encourage and challenge them to
reflect on their own past school year and think
about what they might look at doing differently to
improve themselves for the coming school year.
Encourage your staff to read a professional journal
or book periodically throughout the summer, but to
also enjoy their own personal reading. Remind
them that our own professional growth never ends,
nor should it in the summer.
The end of the school year can be as positive as
the beginning of the school year if it is planned with
the same effort we put into the start of the new
school year. It can be a great opportunity for you
and your administrative team to reflect on those
things you would like to highlight, acknowledge and
address to bring positive closure to the school year.
It also reminds your staff that despite the summer
break the business of the district continues
throughout the summer while planning for continued
growth and success for the next school year.
Bringing PC (Positive Closure) to your school year
Dr. Gary Zabilka
IASA Field
Services
Director
