Susan Scott

When I first became superintendent, I felt prepared to raise student achievement in Orting (Wash.) School District, a rural district of 2,300 students in four schools. My goal was to create a culture of excellence — a healthy, professionally sustaining environment in which teachers are encouraged to do their best […]

Our school, which serves urban youth, is in Chicago’s South Loop. We have stakeholders in the building on any given day, touring the school and meeting with or learning from staff. At the end of those meetings, one common theme becomes evident: There is a culture of calm, safety, and […]

Can you guess what the number 86 represents? This is a question I asked for two consecutive weeks in my staff newsletter, Opal’s Gems. I placed the number 86 on a big sign in the front office and on a bulletin board in the teachers’ lounge. I even placedthe number […]

Nearly every school I’ve worked in has an “Anne” on its staff. Teachers talk about how Anne isn’t the teacher she used to be. Parents don’t want their children in Anne’s class. Students walk on eggshells, careful not to upset her. Some principals talk with Anne about the problems they see, while others complain about Anne to their administrative colleagues […]

The mission of the Corpus Christi Independent School District is to develop the hearts and minds of all students. It does our community little good to try to educate our students on academics without developing the heart to connect students to each other and to the community as a whole.We […]

I became superintendent in July 2001, succeeding a superintendent who had the confidence and respect of the district. He was wonderfully supportive of me, and we shared a common devotion to our schools and students. A difference in our personalities was that he had a strong top-down leadership style. With […]

“I see that I spend a lot of my time in conversations. It’s really the core of the day.” Teachers around the table nod in agreement as we review their monthly logs. “Yes, the same for me,” remarks another. “The teachers and administrators are coming to me looking for resources, […]

I gasped as I read the angry parent email that had been sent to the teacher and copied to me, her principal. I imagined the sinking feeling the teacher would have when she began to read what can best be described as a rant. Knowing how difficult this was for […]

Every day, I get e-mails from Plaxo, LinkedIn, Facebook, Classmates, Twitter. No doubt you do, too. So-and-so wants to connect with you. I rarely know who so-and-so is or why they would want to connect with me. Is it so they can have a gazillion followers? Is this a contest? […]

A friend describes his home at the foot of San Diego Bay, where all of the houses have docks. The speed limit in the bay is five knots. Once in a while, some cowboy rips through the area and rocks all of the boats, knocking them up against the docks. […]