Building a school culture that staff members don鈥檛 want to leave is a long process that takes a real commitment from administrators, but the hard work pays off, according to one Texas principal who鈥檚 dedicated his career to doing just that.
At Colleyville Middle School, staff have been known to turn down job offers that would have bumped up their salaries by as much as $10,000 or significantly cut their commute time.
What makes Colleyville so special?
During an EdWeek forum on Aug. 17, Principal David Arencibia said it鈥檚 all about balancing high expectations with truly valuing employees.
鈥淚鈥檝e been in a lot of places where it鈥檚 high standards鈥攄ata, data, data, state testing scores, accountability鈥攁nd that鈥檚 where the focus only stays,鈥� Arencibia said. 鈥淚鈥檝e also been in other places where it鈥檚 all about the people鈥攌eep people happy, relational鈥攁nd that鈥檚 great as well. However, once there was a little accountability ... people didn鈥檛 like that. What we鈥檝e done is we鈥檝e been able to marry the two.鈥�
During the event, Arencibia said school leaders should focus first on determining a set of 鈥渃ore values鈥� to guide the school community, which could include things like ensuring all students achieve academically or a commitment to student and staff members鈥� physical and mental well-being.
Once the core values are established, hiring people who truly believe in and support them is critical, Arencibia said.
Once people are hired, supporting their professional development through relevant and engaging annual trainings that align with the school鈥檚 core values can go a long way, he said. Also key: celebrating their successes often and genuinely.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter how small the success is or how big it is, we are constantly lifting our teachers up and lifting our students up to say, 鈥楬ey, you see, you can do it, you can be successful,鈥� 鈥� Arencibia said. 鈥淲hat that does is it just breeds more success, more positivity.鈥�
It takes time to infuse a positive culture into a school, Arencibia said. Some people may not be a good fit, and there will be some turnover, as there is at any job. But because of his work at Colleyville, the 615-student school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area only had five teachers out of about 65 leave at the end of the 2022-23 school year, Arencibia said. Before Arencibia took over at Colleyville, the school routinely had to fill more than a dozen vacant positions each year, he said.
The full recording of Arencibia鈥檚 session during the EdWeek event is above.
