Christy Croll

When I started my educational leadership journey, I wrote a statement of value and purpose that holds true still today. "I desire to create a community of excited learners." To this end, I advocate for student and staff agency, believe in serving the whole child, invest in developing compassionate classrooms, lead dynamic professional development, focus on making connections that count, and am curious about what's next in education and life. I believe that all young people are able to learn, create, and achieve at high levels, and that our role is to foster a strong sense of belonging through nurturing relationships that enable every learner to thrive in a future that they create.

Summary:

Spearheaded the development and implementation of a district-wide social emotional learning program for 10 high schools with 15,000+ students, which involved leading a team of 9 through a variety of projects and related tasks (see below) in which we co-developed SEL content and concepts from the ground up. Following development and training, the team of 9 facilitators collaborated with other staff (through multiple iterations and changes) to put the content and curriculum in practice to produce improved student engagement with lessons and staff as they expanded their SEL and academic skills.

Program included multiple projects such as:

• Curriculum writing (weekly advisory lessons and newsletters that reached all over 15,000 students, training for 1,000+ staff, etc)

• Event planning (successful community event held during pushback against SEL at a national level, wellness fairs and more)

• Team management (training, presentations, multiple evaluations, culture building, conflict resolution, etc)

• Interfacing with multiple high-stake stakeholders (community events, leadership at campus and district levels)

• Developed an evaluation system for, and in conjunction with, SEL facilitators (resulted in exceeds expectations ratings from campus leadership)

• Other duties included managing long-view timelines, projections, budgeting, culture building, and gaining stakeholder buy-in in a low engagement environment)

Summary:

Led staff on a low-income campus through a multi-year process to develop multiple new systems and protocols, resulting in an improved culture and climate for staff (rating of 4 out of 5 on evaluations for administrator support) and maintaining academic standards (before and during a national pandemic).

Short-term projects (a month - 6 months) included:

• family orientation and communication at the beginning of each year (multiple community events, orientation for 3 grades, awards, graduation, newsletters, etc.)

• staff and student updates for each year, with long-term communication and updates throughout the year, including writing a weekly family newsletter

• improving collective teacher efficacy (ex., campus teacher profile underwent an update and committee revamp each year) to meet State protocols and standards

• Common language and protocols creation and updates (common LMS protocols or discipline/grading policies did not initially exist) leading to an improved student experience and learning opportunity

• Development and implementation of reflective and effective evaluations for staff and students

Connected Classroom Concept

Continuing development of a program designed to help staff integrate the concepts of social and emotional learning and academic outcomes, with an expected growth of 10% in academic gains, as part of a larger SEL program

• Next Step: Create the story and profiles of students, teachers, and admin and how Connected Classrooms impact them.