Highlighting Leadership Excellence at Two Rivers Community School
Hey Everyone,
Two Rivers Community School, in Boone, NC, has been a cornerstone of educational excellence for over 20 years. Led by Principal Natalie Oransky, who began her journey at the school as a teacher assistant in the school's second year, Natalie and the Two Rivers Community School exemplify a dedication to holistic child development for students in grades K-8 that is unique to public education.
Their mission. Is simple, To utilize the expeditionary learning model to develop the whole child.
Recently, I had the opportunity to lead a strategic board retreat at Two Rivers. Our focus was on strengthening the role of the board as a whole and defining each member's role based on their strengths and skill sets. We also worked on establishing a three-year vision and prioritizing the work for the next 90 days.
As a charter school leader, you understand that no other singular variable is more important for the health and vitality of a charter school than the way it is governed. Serving on a public charter school board is no small task because every decision, in some manner, affects children.
Natalie and the TRCS board worked through a series of vignettes and exercises to strengthen their relationships, set goals, and identify priorities.
The question I get asked the most when leading retreats is, what is my role as a board member? We created a workbook for boards to better understand the crucial and critical problems of not clearly understanding their role.
So we start by Clarify Board Roles and Responsibilities: Clarifying the collective role of the board and individual members' contributions.
You can download the R & R cheat sheet here and have a discussion with your board.
Vision Setting: Establishing a clear, actionable three-year vision for the school. By asking the board, staff and families the question, What do we want students to experiences, employees to feel and parents to see three years from today, you can begin to draft your vision for the future. Without a clear vision any idea will work. When there is clarity, decisions are easier and focus is forward. As a board and management team, you need to telescopic on the future and microscopic on the now.
Two Rivers Community School's commitment to the expeditionary learning model and holistic child development continues to inspire hundreds of students in Watagua County. They raise young children to be lovers of the environment and movement. They are very intentional with every minute of the day...bridging academic focus with its real life connections to the environment around them.
Other areas our retreat focused on:
Prioritizing Work: Identifying and prioritizing key initiatives for the next 90 days. I love asking the question, based on everything we discussed today, and the vision forward, what's most important right now? I believe that without established priorities everything, or nothing, is most important.
Governance vs. Management: The vignettes we utilize of true charter school stories of poor governance, we facilitated a discussion around How Well (Board) and How Will (Management). When there is not clarity in the role, members will seek to do what is most attractive to them or what is in their strength zone.
Reporting Clarity: It's critical for the board and school leadership to distinguish what needs to be reported and what is the timeline.
Handling Side Conversations: We learned strategies to manage side conversations when parents approach the board. I always share my Piggly Wiggly story as a board member...I am not here representing the board, I am here to purchase ham. Have you spoken to the principal?
I could not be more proud of Natalie. Leading a public charter schools is not easy. It's one of the hardest jobs with very high turnover rates. She carries many roles and has worked diligently since joining the Inner Circle to empower and delegate where she can. She works long hours to serve her school community.
She does it because she loves kids. She loves her community. She loves to serve!
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