Every year there are families who leave day schools.
Other than cases of relocation, we don’t always get clear answers or the “real reasons” why people leave. It’s natural to speculate—“The family wasn’t a good fit” or “Their new school is closer”—but this approach ignores more complex reasons. Digging deeper may lead to ways to improve student retention.
The Long Chain of Cause and Effect in Student Retention: Systems and Culture Failures
A common nugget of wisdom from the business world holds that “People don’t leave bad jobs; they leave bad leaders (or bad managers).” But a recent article in Culture Amp quotes a study that found the following: “People blame managers when they should be blaming the system.”
As hard as administrators and teachers work to make their schools great, from a departing parent’s perspective and experience, there may have been any number of problems that pushed them out the door: problematic policy decisions, interactions with people that didn’t go well, communications that were not timely, student bullying, constant calendar changes, well-intentioned promises that were not fulfilled or accumulated grievances that were never aired out or solved. These and other problems—by themselves, or in combination—could be what convinced parents to leave a school.
So, no, the culprit is usually not just one person or one big “blow-up event,” but some ongoing systems failures and/or school culture problems that created a long chain of cause and effect.
Some Definitions
Systems are the principles, practices and procedures used to efficiently achieve specific results. Well-thought-out and functioning systems allow a school’s staff to create and maintain an excellent educational program and promote student success, as well as create an environment that is productive and easy to navigate for students and families. The areas of personnel, development, admissions, facilities, financial management, education, board work and communications, as well as others, are only as good as their embedded systems. Good systems connect parents in productive ways to the school, give them confidence in the staff and contribute to student retention.
School culture encompasses and expresses the values and attitudes that the school promotes. It describes the ways the school “is” and wants to “be”—not just how it runs, but how it impacts people, how it creates a very clear and intentional environment. It embodies the “why we are here” goals of the school. School culture defines what it’s like to be a student or parent in this school. It shapes behaviors and attitude, while also setting limits by pointing to what is acceptable and what isn’t in the school.
When those limits are ignored, or when the culture is “off,” there is trouble. As Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker write in the book School Culture Rewired: “The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.” A healthy, pervasive and consistent school culture is a centripetal force that keeps people in the school.
How to Improve Systems and Culture
Plan Your Work
As you set out to examine and strengthen your school’s culture and systems, map out your plan. Will you administer surveys? If so, to whom? And with whom will you share the results? Who will prioritize which areas need to be improved and create the timelines to do the work? How will you create teams to work on the “to do” lists? How will you communicate progress?
Do A Systems Check
To learn how your school is experienced by parents, it’s important to get feedback from them about areas of school operations that directly impact them. Which interactions with the school are going well? What draws them closer? On the other hand, what’s not going well? What consistently bothers parents or leads to frustrations? Where are there gaps in various processes?
Examples of systems to check: How often and effective are methods of communication? How does the school ensure a smooth beginning for new students and a successful transition for students from one grade to another? Are all administrators and teachers on the same page when it comes to behavior management? Are parent handbooks easy to read and use? How are parents’ concerns handled? Do administrators follow up after meetings with parents? How are special needs documented, addressed and monitored?
I think one can also create a student-friendly systems check: Do they know the school’s rules? Do they know whom to turn to with questions or problems? What if they are at home for the day—how do they get class notes or homework assignments? Are teacher communications clear? ... to name a few.
Conduct a School Culture Audit
There are several good school culture survey instruments available that can be given to teachers, parents and students. While this article is about student retention, it’s important to note that school culture greatly impacts teacher attitudes, motivations and performance, which, in turn, impact student retention. In choosing a culture survey, make sure the one you use measures much more than “teacher morale,” which is a result, but not a cause or a description, of culture. For parents, focus on their experiences as members of the school community, as well as their parental roles, in your school. For students, ask them how they feel at various times/places in their day, what works for them and what doesn’t, how they understand school rules, activities and values; ask them what they think their teachers think of them or how they relate to them.
Examples of “culture” questions: How do teachers interact with parents? Do they feel comfortable raising issues and concerns with parents? How do students speak to one another and to adults? How responsible are students for classroom cleanliness? How is kindness expressed in the building? Are success or effort (or both) celebrated?
Are students proud of their school? Do they feel safe while in school? Are special food needs honored, consistently? Do parents feel that teachers know their children? Do parents attend open houses and assemblies? Ask for the same information in different ways; questions may overlap, but the responses to these detailed questions will help paint a clearer picture.
Make “Anticipate Needs” the Mantra of Systems and Culture Changes
One of the pillars of Nordstrom’s customer service approach is to anticipate a customer’s needs. As you go about strengthening systems and culture in your school, it’s important for your staff to also anticipate how every policy, decision, process and interaction will impact parents and students in the school community. When anticipation and awareness of their needs are part of the thought process, it sets a tone and leads to the intended responses or actions. It is the “glue” that connects systems and culture to people. Don’t be afraid to “workshop” some of your ideas with trusted parents.
Do the Work/Share the Information/Conduct the Surveys Again
This is a work in progress. Be open with staff and parents about the results of the survey. Share which areas you are prioritizing and why, and what you will be doing to improve systems/culture.
Once you’ve made some changes, ask people if they are noticing a difference. After six or so months, conduct the surveys again. Compare results and report progress. It’s important to show the staff and parents that these issues are important—for you and for them.
The Leader’s Role in Systems and Culture Change
Your honesty, transparency and vulnerability will set the tone for this effort. Making things better is part of your job and is one of the responsibilities of leadership. It is also an opportunity to show parents and students that you care about them and respect them.
All parts of the “cause and effect chain” are important to examine. Never assume that a small gap or “oops” will be insignificant. What you may think is a small thing might be huge for a child or parent.
Listen to everyone, even people who are angry and frustrated (remember to breathe!) and thank them for their contribution. As Ron Heifetz wrote: “Buried inside a poorly packaged interjection may lie an important intuition.”
Do some visioning. Imagine what each area of school operations will look like, and how it will impact students, when things are in place. Know what excellence will look like. Imagine a school that no one would ever want to leave.
Informally check in with students, parents and faculty to see if they notice a difference. If not, find out why and make changes accordingly.
Finally, as you go through this process, and in the future, learn to be a systems/culture diagnostician. When something goes wrong—a parent complaint comes your way, some kids are unhappy or frustrated—do a “differential diagnosis” before commenting or attempting to fix things. What are all the possible things that could have gone wrong? Did someone make a mistake, a “one-off” error, or is the problem embedded more deeply?
Was it an issue of not anticipating, not thinking through how something might go wrong, or not thinking how various people or departments need to coordinate their work? Was it a systems design flaw, or did someone just ignore the process? Was it a new employee who had not yet absorbed an element of school culture? Compare it to your vision of excellence and see what’s missing.
Excellence in the Details
A house is built with wisdom (Mishle/Proverbs 24:3)
We all come to Jewish day schools with passion and a vision. We like to do big-picture thinking; we want to innovate and inspire.
It’s very common, therefore, to think of all these “organizational details” as a distraction, as a low importance/low impact part of an administrator’s job. But if you want to have an excellent school, you have to go beyond passion and vision. You’ve heard the quotes: “Vision is important, but execution is priceless,” and ““Vision without execution is just hallucination.”
Creating and monitoring a great school culture and systems will make your school an even more amazing place that attracts and retains families for years to come.
