When Good Leaders Aspire to be Great

Written By Diane DeLaTorre

“Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader, they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role, it’s always about the goal.”- Lisa Haisha (Life Coach)

These words brilliantly capture the motto of many principals and instructional leaders: their ultimate goal is to make a difference. However, over the last decade the goal of making a difference in public education seems to have become more and more challenging. For years we have lived in a repetitive, stagnant cycle of curriculum implementation, teacher walkthroughs and professional learning communities. Yet, while the same cycles continue and continue, we see little to no growth in student data nor improvement in teacher practice. When everything educators do to make a difference isn’t working, the call for leadership becomes louder and more needed than ever!

So, what can good leaders do to move the needle to great? There are pockets of educational leadership greatness in Missouri and we want to highlight some of those leaders, while sharing how they demonstrate greatness in their district!

Melanie Rucker-Leading Positive Culture and Community

When it comes to building culture and strong community culture, Melanie Rucker is a leader to follow. While leaders often feel the pressure of creating grand gestures and multiple celebrations to make a statement for culture, what we can learn from Melanie is that intentionality of small but consistent authentic relationships have made the difference for her.

Students with struggling behaviors can be any building leader’s challenge, how to discipline them, get parents on board, prepare strategies to be in place.  Melanie’s strategy? High expectations, listening and advocacy. While her buildings have always had strong processes and a behavior continuum in place for students, Melanie leads with strong relationships with students. From noticing changes in their home life that need to be addressed before behavior or catching that the behavior stemmed from academic challenges and advocating individualized education plans that will best serve them, Melanie fights the battles that matter for her students.

It is evident that instruction is a priority for Melanie. Having led a school in the 2021-2022 school year to a National Blue Ribbon award, she knows what teachers need to keep their focus on instruction. She advocates to get her teachers and and staff Missouri specific tools that help them understand their standards. Melanie facilitates collaboration meetings that tightly focus on solid assessment and instruction and she tracks data to make sure instruction is in check.  Her ability to push staff but provide support instructionally is due to the strong agendas and processes she has put into  place.  Thank you Melanie Rucker for your greatness in positive culture and community!

Brad Briscoe-Leading the Power of Vision

Under the innovative leadership of Dr. Brad Briscoe, the Wellington-Napoleon R-IX School District is blazing a path to put "students first for a better tomorrow." Dr. Briscoe is leading the district's focus on effective teaching and learning, cultivating a safe and healthy school culture, and best practices of successful communication and community engagement.


In line with this vision, the district has implemented various initiatives to enhance the educational experience of its students. Through a series of professional development sessions, teachers have aligned their pacing guides to the Missouri Priority Learning standards, as well as developed high-quality assessments to ensure students are adequately exposed to a guaranteed and viable curriculum. As they plan instruction, Wellington-Napoleon teachers are utilizing methods that allow for more interactive and personalized learning opportunities. Additionally, the district has prioritized the development of strong relationships between teachers and students, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment.


Dr. Briscoe recognizes the importance of community involvement in shaping the future of education. Through partnerships with local businesses and organizations, students have access to real-world experiences and career exploration opportunities. The district also actively encourages parental involvement, recognizing the crucial role that parents play in their child's education.


In conclusion, Dr. Brad Briscoe's leadership has propelled the Wellington-Napoleon R-IX School District toward a future where students are at the center of everything. Through their commitment to effective teaching and learning, a safe and healthy school culture, and community engagement, the district is shaping tomorrow's leaders and creating a thriving educational environment.

Heather Schaffer- Leading Instruction Through Relationships

Heather Schaffer is a dynamic elementary principal in the Leeton School District. While leading a staff in rural schools can lead to extra barriers in innovation, Heather is unstoppable!

     Heather demonstrates “good to great” with staff culture and her relationships with staff members. Her ability to foster authentic, caring relationships among her team of educators is inspiring and is a big part of her school’s success. She maintains a positive school environment by forming meaningful relationships with all school stakeholders, but particularly her staff members. Teachers are comfortable bringing concerns or instructional needs to her attention, and she always provides teachers a listening ear, as well as advice or feedbac. Heather always responds to staff concerns and needs thoughtfully, while providing both comfort and support.      

        

The Leeton School District is currently working to audit their curriculum through the use of a curriculum management tool and high quality assessment checklist. The task of auditing curriculum can be challenging for teachers and Heather is always completely supportive of her teacher’s needs- whether that may mean extra work time or one-on one guidance and feedback. She has clear expectations for her staff, and she helps them meet those expectations through support and kindness. 

 

Heather consistently makes an effort to be involved in the day-to-day instructional decisions taking place in classrooms across her building. She has built a strong rapport with staff so that she is able to ask questions about their instruction and encourage them to think deeply in regards to curriculum. Through Heather’s guidance and instructional leadership with curriculum, Leeton staff is making an impact on student learning!

Karen Snider-Focused School Improvement Efforts

Focusing your school improvement efforts can be a daunting task for building leaders.  At Center Elementary, Principal Karen Snider has equipped teachers with the time and tools to develop proficient student authors who are empowered to tell their story. Mrs.Snider is the principal at Center Elementary School serving K-5 students in the Center School District. Karen’s experience as a master teacher, instructional coach and champion for students has given her a focused plan for growth and school improvement. 

 Karen understands that teacher learning precedes student growth. The current reality is that the majority of the students he serves, cannot write at the proficient level. With this in mind, she has implemented a strategic professional development plan that will equip teachers with the knowledge and strategies they need to improve students’ writing ability.  This process has included studying the priority standards and crafting a description of writing proficiency at all levels  K-5. This developed a vertical progression that solidified the importance of mastery of benchmark skills at each grade level.  Once teacher clarity was set, teams collected baseline writing samples, calibrated expectations on the writing rubric, collaboratively scored students’ writing and then created SMART goals to track progress. After analyzing data, teams identified the greatest areas of need and committed to implementing strategic instructional practices to move students on the writing continuum towards proficiency. This intentional professional development plan anchored in the priority standards, will yield great gains for teacher practice and student success.

Mrs. Snider understands that teacher clarity of the standards, leads to better instruction and student growth which ultimately yields increased collective efficacy. This focused approach to school improvement, will have a  ripple effect on culture, climate and growth at Center Elementary School. Mrs. Karen Snider, is an example of a building leader who is moving from good to great.

Diane DeLaTorre
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