A New Turnaround Strategy
MOBILE, Ala.—Of all the strategies we’ve heard for turning low-performing schools into high-performing schools, we had never heard this one: become a mind-reader.
Extrasensory perception—or at least a staff with a shared vision and the ability to anticipate each other’s needs—has apparently been key to the transformation at George C. Hall Elementary School.
“We’ve come to read each other’s minds at this point,” Principal Terri Tomlinson said today when the Courage in the Classroom bus pulled up at Hall. “We’re just a solid team.”
Earlier this year the Department profiled the school’s success in a series of videos on school turnaroundsabout the federal School Improvement Grant program. It was good to meet the administrators, teachers, parents and partners from that video in person and to hear from the larger team and community.
Click here for an accessible version of the video.
The community’s role in this turnaround was key, especially the support of the Mobile Area Education Foundation. For hard work like this, everyone has a role to play.
Massie Ritsch
Office of Communications & Outreach