The first time you walk into a school you always get that sense, that feeling of the school. Hopefully it’s a palpable sense of energy and excitement, but it always gives you the feeling of that school’s culture. That feeling is often deep rooted and comes from years of history. New schools don’t have that history; instead that feeling can be intentionally shaped and formed.
This September there are 8 new schools opening in Calgary, and by 2018 there will be 22. That means 22 schools will get to build their school’s feeling, their culture.
We’ve been intentional about building that feeling. Our current off-site office is the first taste of that school’s feeling; you get a taste of it every time you walk in the door. Small things like fashion Fridays, pot-luck lunches and day-to-day camaraderie are all part of it. If, as a staff we build relationships, have fun together, respect each other, and are innovative together; the students will see us live that and they will live it too. We are about to get a whole lot larger, but we hope the kernel of warmth we’ve kindled will grow and spread.
Jeff Thompson (@thompsojeff) is a maker, a gamer, a geeky nerd, a book-worm, an amateur photographer, a sometimes film-maker, a dad to two little boys, and a husband.