While closing her previous school, Lauren discovered that her 12-hour work days were unsustainable. Now, as principal of 聽and an Independent Schools Principal, she advocates for self-care. 鈥淚鈥檝e been a better principal because it鈥檚 given me a chance to decompress so I am ready, refreshed and fully focused during the time that I am here,鈥� she said.

Lauren encourages healthy behavior by sending home staff who come into the building feeling unwell. 鈥淭he kids are going to know if you’re tired and the kids are going to know if you are not fully present鈥� I fully believe you have to be rested in your own mind before you can deal with kids.鈥� Lauren and her staff work to manage their professional and personal lives as a model for their kids.

Lauren implemented a policy that eliminates homework over breaks so students can engage in self-care habits. Lasalle II is known for its聽rigorous curriculum that includes a nine-year language program offered to kids beginning in Kindergarten. Four times a week, students are immersed in the language and culture of either Arabic, French, Mandarin or Spanish. 鈥淲e push them hard and we have high expectations. If we do our jobs here, we do not need to push them during the off times,鈥� she said.

For Lauren, the foundation of happy and healthy students and staff is relational trust. On her first day she began building relationships with her staff that would grow into trust and personal buy in. She is visible to her students by visiting classrooms and attending recess. In doing this, Lauren said, 鈥淚 bring them [kids, parents and teachers] all together in one cohesive school community and that鈥檚 been the most rewarding part for me.鈥�

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Early Morning Start

I arrive at school around 6 in the morning. From 6:15聽to 7:15 a.m., I鈥檓 automatically answering the phone to see what the staff needs. I could be finding and calling subs, dealing with issues with bussing or helping special education students; it鈥檚 a lot of maneuvering.

No Student Left Behind

At 7:15 each morning, I go to the front desk to greet the kids. The bell rings at 7:45 a.m., and I start my morning routine of going to every classroom. I had an attendance of 96 percent again, so I go to each classroom to see which kids are absent and to record every name in a log. I call each child who is absent every day.

From 8 to 9:30 a.m., I do home visits with my security guard four days a week. I am constantly picking kids up from home, getting them dressed and bringing them back to school with me. Parents know I am coming and what I expect. I make it very clear that kids need to be in school. If you鈥檙e not here, you are not learning; how are you going to succeed?

Social Afternoons

After that, I go in and out of lunch and recess duty. I try to do two or three formal or informal observations a day. Then, I have meetings. Once a week I have grade-level meetings and twice a month I have聽Instructional Leadership Team meetings, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support meetings and Individualized Educational Plan meetings. After my meetings, I work through parent issues.

School Never Ends
I end school with outside bus duty to make sure all busses are gone and students are dismissed. Then, I come back in and maybe do some paper work. I come in a lot of Saturdays. I like Saturdays – sometimes I鈥檓 here alone and sometimes I鈥檓 here for detention. I love being here because, I have to be honest with you, I have the greatest kids. I am a very lucky person!

This news post was authored by Summer Fellows Ezgi Ilhan and Hailey Oliff.