The Challenge

Years of principal turnover at Passages Elementary created a sense of mistrust between school staff and school leadership. As indicated by 5Essentials data, teachers did not feel supported by school leadership. This lack of trust made it difficult for faculty to reflect and continuously improve together.听

The Solution

Dr. Jeremy Riggs, his assistant principal and a dozen or so members of the Passages staff created the Building Trust Team. The Trust Team meets 10 times during the year, and team members take turns leading the 90-minute meetings which aim to create a sense of community and make teachers feel valued and respected.听

For the most part, they follow a simple format:聽

• Review values and purpose
• Do an icebreaker
• Complete an (more details below)

The Story

As principal of Passages Elementary in Andersonville, Dr. Riggs has big goals for his school. He wants every student to reach their potential, every parent to see their student grow, and every staff member to feel fulfilled.听

The challenge is turning the goals into reality.听

When reviewing 5Essentials data, Riggs noticed a trend. The survey showed that teachers did not feel supported by school leadership. Riggs realized he had to take a hard look at his own practices and find a way to show his staff that he was committed to moving forward with them, during and beyond the pandemic.听

Riggs started brainstorming with his assistant principal. They hit on an idea: create a team dedicated to building trust with each other. The hope was that, by creating a space to have difficult conversations and make deeper connections between staff, a stronger sense of trust would permeate through the rest of the school.听

Riggs and his AP launched the group, open to all school staff members,聽 in October 2020. Ultimately, 12 people joined, a little under a third of the Passages鈥� staff.听

From the beginning, the Trust Team acknowledged that things could get messy. The content of the meetings is private, and all members are committed to showing up consistently, especially when things get hard.听

The group starts each meeting by grounding themselves in their values and purpose. Team members take turns leading the meetings. This has been a critical part of the exercise for Riggs; he has had to learn how to let go of control. It鈥檚 also been the most rewarding. The school leader respects and appreciates the different strengths his staff bring to the space.听

Riggs knows there鈥檚 still a long way to go. He hopes to continue this group – and even grow it beyond its current reach – to help Passages become a place where teachers feel valued and safe.听

鈥淭rust takes as long as it鈥檚 going to take,鈥� Riggs shared. The Building Trust Team is an important step in the right direction.

Advice from Dr. Riggs

• Principals have to be reflective of their own practice: 鈥淭rust in a school starts and ends with the principal. Bottom line. If there are issues that need to be worked on, they鈥檙e the principal鈥檚 responsibility to fix.鈥�

The Challenge

Families, students and teachers needed a place to ask questions, troubleshoot tech problems, and get updates about reopening. And staff needed a way to re-establish trust with families and students.

The Solution

Morrill Elementary School Principal Dawn Sydnor-Cole created a 鈥渧irtual main office鈥� on Google Meet. The office is open and staffed during the school day. To do it yourself:聽

1. Create a recurring all-day calendar invitation with a .听
2. Share the link to the meeting with staff members and the dial-in numbers with school community members.
3. Make sure at least two staff members are present in the Meet at all times.听
4. When a school community member calls in, use the to discuss their issue more in-depth.听
5. Follow up with the caller either via email or phone to ensure the issue has been resolved.

The Story

Morrill鈥檚 virtual main office was, like many things during the 2020-21 school year, born out of necessity.听

In August, Principal Sydnor-Cole needed to find a way to keep her clerks safe while answering families鈥� questions about remote learning. Her first solution was simple: She set up a walk-up window in a classroom across from the main office. Morrill families were used to doing things in-person, and the walk-up window was an easy way to hand out laptops and other devices.听

But Sydnor-Cole also knew that families would need more help getting their kids connected and logged into class. The first week of school, 160 students were not online. So she and her clerks set up a virtual main office in Google Meet, with dial-in numbers in English and Spanish by grade level. Then she shared the dial-in numbers any way she could: robocalls, texts, emails.听

The calls came rolling in. Mostly requests for help with resetting passwords at first. But the system was working: within weeks, the number of students showing up for class increased significantly.听

She quickly expanded her main office team, training teacher assistants, SECAs and security guards on how to handle the most common questions. Over time, the system has helped her rebuild trust with the school community; parents, grandparents and caregivers once again have a reliable way to get in touch with school staff.听聽

Six months in, the office runs like a well-oiled machine. Sydnor-Cole makes sure that families can easily find the dial-in numbers. They鈥檙e at the bottom of every email she sends, and she reminds community members to use them during her biweekly principal chats.听

The office has evolved a bit since its early days. Now, when school community members call the line, staff quickly identify their questions and pull them into breakout rooms to work with them one-on-one. If staff can鈥檛 immediately help a caller, they follow up afterward with a phone call. Follow-up is crucial; it helps reinforce strong relationships with families.

Overall, Sydnor-Cole sees the office as a success. There鈥檚 been a decrease in foot traffic and an increase in calls over the last several months; community members 鈥渇eel valued and heard.鈥�

Sydnor-Cole plans to keep the virtual main office running through at least the end of the school year.听

Advice from Principal Sydnor-Cole

1. Give families a phone number – not a link – to the Google Meet. Some community members don鈥檛 know how to use Google Meet, so a phone number is easier.听
2. Share the phone number in every communication to caregivers. Consistency and frequency are the keys to success.听
3. Make sure you have at least two staff members in the virtual office at all times. Team members should be seen as first responders and empowered to make decisions.听
4. Equip staff members in the virtual office with all the resources they need, including training on common technology issues. Staff members should be able to meet the language needs of the community and have the patience to talk caregivers and students through issues.听