Greetings Everyone & Welcome to another school year!
And we are off…as we begin this new school year I want to welcome back our returning families and provide a very warm welcome to our new families joining our school community. Your involvement and participation in our school will aid in meeting the school mission of educating, supporting, and caring for all individuals within our school community. I have been involved in education and the youth development movement for over 25 years now and can report that each day continues to bring new experiences and lessons which shape our culture and community. In partnership with educators, students, families, and community leaders we can provide a collaborative approach to shared decision-making, open communication, and a collective commitment to student success and well-being.
My commitment to SUCCEED:
Seek the inclusion of all voices and appropriate data to guide decisions for school improvement
Uphold, support, and advocate for underserved populations to ensure safe spaces
Celebrate experiences and accomplishments for growth - honoring individual journeys
Challenge all in our school community to Reflect, Refresh, and Renew
Engage in a variety of collaborative opportunities to co-create a thriving, inclusive school
Encourage a culture that embraces diversity and fosters learning and thriving together
Deepening relationships within the school community: students, staff, families, and community members
Your partner in education,
Coach Anthony M. Unchangco (he/him)
PERSONAL REFLECTION
Outreach to minority students and families has been a group that needs a focus beyond test scores and dropout rates. This is of special interest which needs support and advocacy in order to provide optimal learning environments for students throughout my school community. As an educational leader, I want to include staff, students, families, and the community in this process. School leaders can take a collective responsibility for student performance but must also use community-based knowledge and resources to help teachers achieve this goal (Khalifa, 2020).
Humanization of students and families is essential to honor their culture and identity when ensuring a safe and inclusive learning environment. We must do a better job in identifying bias within ourselves as well as in the many archaic education systems currently in place. For example, the “factory model” of schooling and the outcomes-focused standardization regime common in school districts does not honor the individuality of our students, their needs, or the benefits of community-based knowledge in the classroom.
I can be better at advocating for student identity and cultural capital through reimagining family and community engagement. As stated in the text, Just Schools, there needs to be a conscious effort to shift away from prioritizing school events and checking boxes to “fix” parents (Ishimaru, 2020). This resonated with me because I often feel this is something that we do as school leaders without seeking feedback from our school community on the effectiveness or genuine engagement of families outside of attendance. There needs to be a “buy-in” from families in order for the engagement to be meaningful. Oftentimes families feel an obligation to attend without an understanding of the broader purpose of the school event.
The purpose of community partnerships is ineffective if schools continue to “train” parents in how to be involved and contribute. As a school leader, I need to be concerned with how teachers are engaging the community and need to seek authentic community-based collaboration despite the perceived inexperience of community members and school staff discomfort.
There really needs to be an emphasis on advocacy, inclusion, and outreach when it comes to providing for a safe learning environment for students, staff, and the community. A Systems Thinking approach can support a transition to providing services, networking, and resources to students and families through community agencies, organizations, businesses to foster equity for all. As a school administrator, I want to be able to support the mediation between families and these resources. The current climate in the country and more particularly our small community can be terrifying for families and we need to provide safe places for families, not just the students enrolled in our schools.