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Collaborative Culture

A strong, trusting community is an important element of a school safety plan

By Learning Forward
February 2014
On Oct. 8, 2010, Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad, Calif., where I am principal, was put to the test. A lone gunman jumped the playground fence and began firing a handgun into a crowd of 250 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders at lunch recess. Two students were injured. This experience challenged relationships within the school community. From the first phone calls home to injured students’ parents, to asking parents to wait calmly in the nearby park, to weathering the media onslaught, to holding a special celebration the following Monday to reclaim the campus, the school community relied on these relationships to ensure that our response and recovery could move us forward. As Susan Scott says in Fierce Conversations (2002), “Our lives succeed or fail gradually,

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Authors

Susan Scott and Tressie Armstrong

Tressie Armstrong (tarmstrong@carlsbadusd.net) is principal of Kelly Elementary School, Carlsbad, Calif.

In each issue of JSD, Susan Scott (susan@fierceinc.com) explores aspects of communication that encourage meaningful collaboration. Scott, author of Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success At Work & In Life, One Conversation at a Time (Penguin, 2002) and Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst “Best” Practices of Business Today (Broadway Business, 2009), leads Fierce Inc. (www.fierceinc.com), which helps companies around the world transform the conversations that are central to their success. Fierce in the Schools carries this work into schools and higher education. Columns are available at www.learningforward.org. © Copyright, Fierce Inc., 2014.

Tressie Armstrong is a shining star, a model for how to build a strong, trusting school community that can and will do the right thing should the worst thing imaginable occur. When bad things happen, it is too late to talk. Armstrong started early. 

— Susan Scott

References

Scott, S. (2002). Fierce conversations: Achieving success at work & in life, one conversation at a time. New York, NY: Penguin.

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