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Greenville City Schools
Positive Climate and Culture in our Schools
By Stan Hughes, Greenville High School Principal
The climate and culture of a school building affect all aspects of
educating our students. Climate and culture affect adult morale,
student learning, and community involvement in our school systems.
Positive and healthy climate and culture boost morale, growth, and
positive interactions between the community and the schools. These two
concepts are interconnected and the relationship between them has been
studied by experts in every workforce many times. Climate can be
defined as the attitude of a school building. Attitudes can change
quickly and be brought on by a few positive interactions among
stakeholders. Culture is the personality of a school. Personalities are
perceptions gathered over a lengthy period of time. The most effective
schools have the best climates and cultures. Here at Greenville High
School we are committed to increasing the positive climate and culture
of our building. We believe that by creating and using a shared vision,
fostering a community of learners, and recognizing staff and student
accomplishments, we can cultivate a school climate and culture that
enhances staff, student, and community growth and morale.
Recently Greenville City Schools has created and implemented a shared
vision and mission statement. Our vision is to be the leader in
educational offerings, student performance and community involvement,
and to maximize the potential of each and every student. When all
stakeholders share the vision, the goals, practices, within the schools
are bound together and united in an effort for success. When our staff,
students, and community are united to maximize every student’s
potential, our climate and culture are truly positive and healthy.
Another factor in creating a positive climate and culture is the
creation and support of learning communities. At Greenville High School
we have created Teacher Based Teams (TBTs) for each grade level. Each
grade level TBT meets once a week and collects and analyzes data on a
specific project they have created for improving our school. These
teams all have equal voices determining the success of our schools.
This planned learning community allows the staff and students to take
ownership in identifying issues within the school and the support to
address and implement changes for school improvement.
One of the most important factors increasing positive climate and
culture in schools is recognizing students and staff members for doing
things well. By focusing on what our people are doing right, we can
make a huge impact on creating a positive climate in our school
buildings. Each of our schools has implemented a Positive Behavior
Intervention Support system (PBIS). This allows our staff and students
to focus on prevention and positives rather than punishments and
negative behaviors. At Greenville High School we have increased our
time on task in the classrooms and reduced our disruptions by
approximately thirty percent. Our staff and students are large part of
this process. Staff members report good behavior of students to the
office. We take that information write it on a note and give the
student the reinforced behavior and a small treat.
There are many factors that are involved in creating a positive climate
and culture in a school building. By implementing a shared vision,
creating and supporting learning communities, and focusing on doing
things the right way we have increased the positive climate and culture
of our schools. Ours students and staff are seeing the benefits in
having good morale, and seeing growth in their academics and
extra-curricular activities. Our school buildings have grown and
improved greatly in the past few years and I am very proud of our
accomplishments.
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