What Makes a School Great?

Last year, I attended a community event in my school district when a local realtor approached me and shared, "I have a hard time selling property in this town because the schools are rated low."

That sounded completely absurd! 

After all, weren't we the first PK-12 district in our state to be named a National District of Character? Didn't a statewide magazine recently recognize our high school as one of the top 100 high schools in the state? Isn't there a banner hanging outside our high school celebrating our achievement for being on the College Board's AP Honor Roll List? And wasn't our community named one of the Best Communities for Music Education for multiple years in a row? How could anyone think my schools were anything but excellent?

I was a little annoyed and outraged, so I decided to do some research on my own. What I learned from my research is that prospective home buyers are often influenced by the school ratings that are found on some of the popular home shopping search engine sites such as: 

In some instances, these school ratings were based solely on a single factor such as the statewide test scores. At best according to these "great schools" ratings, my schools were simply average scoring a 6, 7 or 8 on their rating scale. At worst, my elementary schools didn't even qualify to be rated and they were labeled "NR."

Do they really believe that students who entered my elementary schools in pre-K and exited after completing 3rd grade had done nothing worthy of receiving a "great schools" rating?

And to add insult to injury, in some cases the data displayed was not accurate and/or up-to-date. Some sites don't display "live data" but rather a "snapshot" from 2-3 years ago. Does the prospective home buyer know this?

Is this a problem that you also face as an educational leader?

Who decided that the most important and in some cases the only factor that determines whether a school is great is a standardized test score? Those "great schools" ratings that are solely based on test scores woefully missed their mark on what really makes a school great.

Perhaps these so-called "great schools" experts don't value the countless educational lessons and student experiences that focus on perseverance, resilience, critical thinking, kindness, empathy, grit, and motivation.  

As author Sylvia Duckworth (Sketchnotes for Educators) so elegantly illustrated below, these skills are not measured by tests.  

Let's face it...no one wants to hire a person who has perfect SAT scores but lacks motivation, creativity, self-discipline, leadership and endurance. No one wants a co-worker who is very smart but lacks the ability to work collaboratively in teams, embrace constructive criticism, and maintain task timelines.

It's time for educational leaders to stop letting these "great schools" websites tell OUR story.

Here's one thing that we did to tell our own story...

We contacted several local realtors and invited them to attend an open house at our high school. Over 20 realtors attended and participated in my session entitled: What Every Realtor Needs to Know about Our Schools.

In 20 short minutes, I armed these realtors with visuals, statistics, documents and talking points that showcased the talent that exists in our wonderful educational community. They had questions...I had answers. I would not stop until every realtor wanted to send their own children or grandchildren to our schools.

At the end of my session, my stellar high school student leaders escorted the realtors on a personal tour of the high school facilities. Again the realtors had questions...the students had answers.  

Along the way, the realtors saw parents and community members (also touring) engaging with student groups, athletes, coaches, teachers, and administrators.

As the realtors made their way through the halls, they were entertained by our award-winning cheerleaders, band, and choirs.

A pit stop in the grotto allowed the realtors to gaze upon staff and student artwork that dressed the hallways.

A final stop in the commons found the realtors surrounded by staff and students eager to share their school experiences.  

And what better way to end the evening than to offer the realtors a "taste" of our educational community. Our fantastic dining staff served their special recipe yogurt smoothies. After all, we value healthy lifestyles.

The feedback from the realtors was very positive and this was a small step toward taking back our schools' reputations and telling our own stories.

Isn't it time that you tell your own story?