A School Leaders Manual for Opening a New School: How to Plan and Be Ready for the First Day of School

By Jane Garraux

A School Leader's Manual for Opening a New School is a blueprint for school administrators embarking on the challenge of opening a new school. Opening a new school is one of the most challenging, rewarding adventures any school leader can experience. This book is designed to assist in this endeavor by outlining best practices, while providin

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781641116039

Book preview

Chapter One:

MISSION/VISION

A

s mentioned, the starting point of opening a school is an academic framework. The school district most likely has determined the theme and, in some cases, even the mission and vision statements of the school. With that in mind, the planning process begins either with what has been provided or the creation of the mission or vision statements. These statements provide a school with an overview of what professionals want to accomplish and how they hope to meet those expectations. The schools that have been the most successful in addressing the overall academic achievement have benefited from a clear and concise purpose that is developed from a shared set of core values as reflected in the vision and mission (Gabriel and Farmer 2009).

The vision statement of a school is defined as a collective expression of the school’s goals. The mission statement is an overview of the strategies to achieve those goals. The development of these statements should include as many stakeholders as possible. The inclusion of such stakeholders is dependent on the identification of those groups and the timeline for the student enrollment process. Both the vision and mission statements can be created initially with little input; however, it is imperative that once the stakeholders have been identified, these statements are reviewed and modified as needed (Gabriel and Farmer