Key points:
In today’s rapidly changing world, the role of education is more crucial than ever. Our schools must not only impart knowledge to our students, but also equip them with the creativity, empathy, and curiosity necessary to move forward with unwavering confidence toward an unpredictable, yet promising, future.
Preparing our students is built on four core promises: joy, connection, growth and achievement – and the commitment of dedicated educators to putting them into practice. These promises are essential to creating a student-centered, forward-looking environment that truly meets the academic, social, and emotional needs of each learner.
Joy: Cultivating a love of learning
Imagine a school where students look forward to each day, where learning is synonymous with excitement and discovery. This vision underlines the first promise of Joy. By fostering a positive school culture, we create an environment where students and staff feel valued and motivated. A happy school is one where students are not just present but fully engaged, their curiosity sparked by innovative teaching methods and a supportive community. This joy of learning lays the foundation for educational enthusiasm and lifelong resilience.
Concretely, Joy in Schools means integrating creative and interactive activities into the school curriculum, celebrating achievements and creating spaces where students can express themselves safely. It is learn through playeven in high school, to immerse students in class content. And transform schools from simple educational institutions into vibrant communities where learning is an adventure. To spread this joy beyond our school walls, we host the Summer Joy Jam Conference, inviting participants from our region and across the country to join in an event full of joy. At Joy Jam, attendees enjoy personalized touches like candy and snacks tailored to their preferences indicated during registration, a petting zoo, puppies, and much more fun than usually exists at a conference. Additionally, we have assigned a Joy Integration Specialist to our school whose role is to help teachers integrate joy into their daily lessons, ensuring that each classroom experience is meaningful and memorable.
Connection: Building Strong Relationships
The second promise, Connection, aims to ensure that every individual in the school is known and valued. When students feel seen and understood, they are more likely to fully engage in their studies. This promise involves knowing students by name, understanding their strengths and interests, and being aware of their needs and future aspirations.
Building strong relationships within the school community promotes trust and collaboration. Teachers who understand their students can adapt their teaching to each student’s learning style in order to accelerate academic achievement. Students who feel connected to their peers and teachers benefit from a support system fueled by collaborative learning, knowledge sharing and encouragement, which reduce stress and improve results.
To nurture these authentic relationships, schools must develop mentoring programs, personalized learning plans, and activities that promote teamwork and empathy. For example, the high school superintendent and principal meet individually with each junior and high school senior to discuss their future plans. In addition, each middle school and high school student is assigned an advisor who monitors their well-being and academic success and constitutes a privileged contact for their family. The connection also extends to our teaching staff, who receive a “hiring celebration” as part of the onboarding process. This includes a surprise party where family members are invited to celebrate the new teacher joining the Eastern Hancock team.
Growth: continuous learning and development
Education is not just about imparting knowledge; it’s about fostering continued development. The third promise, Growth, highlights the importance of providing high-quality education that is both engaging and challenging. Students should be encouraged to push their limits, learn new things and develop skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. The research revealed that stimulating and quality missions can improve student performance by 46 percentile points on average.
Prioritizing growth involves creating a relevant and dynamic curriculum, integrating technology, and promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. By focusing on growth, we ensure that students don’t just absorb information, they develop the ability to apply their knowledge in the real world. For example, we have identified specific learning outcomes for each subject and class that students must master and determined the criteria by which successful learning will be measured. This foundation allows for professional conversations about the resources and support systems needed to maximize student learning. We have also allocated time to support students who are not yet demonstrating their skills. Additionally, our commitment to growth extends to our teachers. Instead of using a traditional teacher evaluation system, our teachers set individual learning goals and their annual evaluation scores are based on how well they implement their growth plans. These goals align with our framework for effective teaching, ensuring continued development for students and educators.
Success: preparing for the future
Ultimately, the promise of Success is to equip students for life beyond school. Whether a student’s path leads to college, the job market, or other endeavors, schools need to ensure they have the tools they need to succeed. Prioritizing success involves blurring the lines between what students do during school and what they might do after school, giving them opportunities to explore their strengths, interests, values and their professional aspirations.
Practical steps to delivering on this promise include offering career exploration programs, internships and real-world learning experiences. Schools should provide guidance on different post-graduation pathways and help students make informed decisions about their future. For example, about a quarter of our juniors and seniors spend half their day in a workplace, including in fields such as manufacturing, construction, engineering, medicine, education and several others. We have a dedicated employee who serves as the Workplace Learning Coordinator, supporting our students in their first professional steps and assisting employers who may not be accustomed to working with teenage employees. Additionally, we work closely with employers who visit our classrooms to provide practical applications of the content students learn. These employers also organize field trips for our students and even field trips for our teachers, helping them understand how the concepts they teach are applied in real-world settings.
Why the four promises are important
The four promises of joy, connection, growth and success are more relevant than ever in a time of rapid technological advancement and societal change. These are not just ideals but essential elements of a modern educational roadmap that prepares students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st.st century.
Educators, parents and policymakers must recognize the importance of these promises and work collaboratively to implement them. Together, we can transform schools into places of inspiration, innovation and success, where every student is empowered to reach their full potential and every adult is a member of their support system. This transformation goes well beyond simply improving educational outcomes; it’s about nurturing the next generation of thinkers, leaders and innovators who will shape the future.
