The Head of School:

• Guides the direction of the school in cooperation with the Board and in relation to its Mission.
• Cares for all the members of the community.
• Listens to the different constituencies of the school.
• Assures that education is emotional, authentic, and intellectually challenging.
• Builds a positive school culture and community based on universal human values.
• Finds the resources fiscal and human for maintenance of programs and development of new areas.

These verbs identify my primary focuses as an administrator. A head of school is a proactive person who works from a vision of what a good school is. A good school is a place that is safe for all students both emotionally and socially. A good school promotes the values associated with peace and coexistence as a daily practice. A good school recognizes that students hearts have to be won and then their heads.

Whole Child
I am biased towards the Arts, Health and Social Service as essential to each student's school experience. Both as part of the primary building blocks of language, math, science and social science and as individual experiences, these should pervade the school culture and each student's experience.

Modeling
I believe that the adult community in a school has to model the same values and configurations that we want the children to learn. It is not enough to write a mission and educational objectives. The adults in the community have to be dedicated to a set of values that resonate throughout the school.

If we want children to learn about cooperation and teamwork, we need to model it among ourselves. If we want children to be creative thinkers, we need to model creative thinking ourselves. If we want to empower children and hold them responsible, we have to empower the teachers and staff and hold them responsible. If we want children to believe in others then we have to believe in each other ourselves. The actions of the adults speak louder than anything else in a school. Therefore, I value a positive attitude first - an attitude that tells each child that she/he is valued and can learn - an attitude that tells each adult in the community that she/he is valued and can grow. A good school is a community of people who care about each other and share a belief that we are all learners just at different stages of growth.

I believe that all administrators need to teach and to change the focus of that teaching from time to time in order to broaden our understanding of the challenges each developmental age creates.

Change
Since international schools have a high turn over, the challenges of assimilation, placement and motivation are primal to a healthy educational environment. Time and resources committed to this process for new staff and new families from initial contact, through arrival and with continuous intervention makes for a healthy educational community.

I believe professional development based on defined needs. I believe that the implementers of change have to be part of the definition of what are the needs. I believe that people cannot take on much change at a time and integrate it effectively. As with children the learning curve has to be built on previous learning and a defined sense that the new approaches are of value to better education for children.

Finding the members of the school who can act as mentors or change agents and focusing the resources of the institution on these people moves the process forward. Establishing this process and assuring that it operates fairly, builds trust, brings huge satisfaction and impacts on the lives of each constituency. Working on the professional development of the community - teachers, staff, parents and board members - assures a healthy institution. With professional development comes a commitment to share that development within the community. Empowering teachers to be self-reflective and to take on challenges inside and outside the classroom through the designing of effective in-service programs is cost effective and confirming to the people involved.

Educational practices can be evaluated based on current research and developments. The last forty years of brain research have confirmed and expanded on a wealth of good practices. Change should be based on this body of research.

Parents
Parents are active participants in their child's education and need the support to perform that responsibility. A community of learners involves the symbiotic relationship between the parents, children, teachers, administrators and staff of the school. Regular communication with the parents occurs in multiple forms regarding the social, emotional and academic development of the child as well as information and workshops that allow parents to grow in their role as parents. Parents are a valuable resource for the school and deserve to feel it and be used.

Community
A school community is defined by the processes through which it operates and the underlying assumptions about how the experience and facilities shape life for the students, the teachers and the staff. Time is set in a good school for community gatherings to reflect on how we are to become better. The social and community aspects of the school are an integral part of the student's and parent's experience. The coordination of these programs and their inclusion based on the values of the school community are integral to a good school. Too often issues like lockers, toilets, seating arrangements, clubs, food, social service are seen as secondary to the academic program. What we experience continually every day impacts on many aspects of our growth.

Proactive Planning
A good school secures, allocates and manages fiscal and human resources based on strategic planning procedures and quality controls. The planning process and model building are stimulating. Finding links between the school and organizations for financial or academic support helps to assure that the financial resources of the school remain healthy, and that the student experience moves beyond the school into the community. Sound budgetary processes, which anticipate fluctuations, protect the quality of the educational program.

Technology
Lastly, as important as technology is to our future, its role in the school needs to be in relation to the resources both human and financial to support it. Technology is a wonderful tool to broaden the learning experience and to improve efficiencies throughout the school. Like all tools, it needs to be understood by teachers, students and staff as to its real benefit to each role - learner, instructor or administrator. What is important is that schools professionally develop the staff to be on the leading edge of creative reflective learning experiences. Part of that development is to understand how to effectively use technology.