In 1995 - 96, Ms. Sale-Davis organized the school staff into John Goodlad's five cadres: planning, curriculum and instruction, communication, school climate, and staff development. The following year, she added a technology cadre. Everyone except custodians and the lunch staff must serve on the cadres in order to, as Sale-Davis says, "be a part of the solution. No one can sit back and whine." Each cadre chooses a leader and a co-leader by consensus, who in turn constitute the Campus Advisory Team (C.A.T.). This team is comprised of about 24 people, who serve for two years. The C.A.T. is the school's shared decision-making committee and leadership team - or as Sale-Davis says, citing Goodlad, "the spokes on the wheel."

Besides the C.A.T., the department chairs make up "another wheel." In addition, the school is divided into four small tribes or houses, each with its own leader. In her first year, Ms. Sale-Davis selected all the tribe leaders. In her second year, she chose half of them. In her third year, she gave the tribes autonomy; they now choose their leaders by consensus. The same process occurred with department leaders, who are now chosen by consensus. When the tribe or department chooses its leader, it puts its choice in writing, and each member signs it, a strategy Ms. Sale-Davis adopted from W. Edwards Deming's Total Quality Management.

Ms. Sale-Davis is currently trying for yet another kind of team structure. She has invited the local feeder elementary schools to be on the math department's vertical team, and she is doing the same with the high school. "We don't put up with blaming," she says. When the high school achieved exemplary TAAS status, its principal visited Freeport to praise the staff: "Look at what you do! Look at what you are sending us!" "We were crying," Ms. Sale-Davis acknowledges, but we are also very competitive. If they are going to be 'exemplary,' we are too." The high school math department also praises Freeport math teachers. The high school has reduced its remedial math classes from 10 to 2. Freeport math teachers say, "We feel a part of that school. Those are our kids. Those are our babies."

The school has implemented A/B block scheduling. On "A" schedule days, interdisciplinary teams have time to meet. On "B" days, meeting time is for departments. In addition, every teacher has one 90-minute planning period daily. While Ms. Sale-Davis usually does not attend, she receives agendas for each of the meetings, which she reads carefully. The teachers frequently try to trick her by putting her on the agenda, and, as she says, "I'd better show up!" Special education teachers are part of the tribe meetings as well, and some related arts teachers also make it a point to attend.

How are teacher teams selected? According to the teachers, when there is a position open in the team, they will interview and hire someone. The principal will intervene only if she is asked for her input or if there is a conflict. In this way, teacher teams can hire someone whom they feel will fit in with the culture, work ethic, and personality of the group.

District Supports and Political Savvy

The school has one half-time and two full-time counselors. The half-time counselor does scheduling, checks demographics on state tests, and takes care of other paperwork, including clerical minutiae. This frees the other two to counsel. How did Ms. Sale-Davis manage to get this level of staffing? She cut a program that did not have the outcomes she wanted, thereby saving the district some money. Then, says Ms. Sale-Davis, "I begged my superintendent, and he was very generous."

When she was an elementary school principal, Ms. Sale-Davis wanted a school nurse on site. Her students had to go to a neighboring school to see the nurse. The superintendent denied her request. She asked her teachers to log the lost instructional time caused by kids leaving the building for medical care-and she got her nurse.

According to Ms. Sale-Davis, the superintendent "opens doors of opportunities, like applying for the Schools to Watch Program and inviting visitors to the school, which validates the teachers." In the district, all Title I money goes to the elementary school reading program. The school also receives funds for migrant education. The director of special programs, who is in charge of Title I, is also the head of migrant programs. Her only question is, 'How is it going to help our students?' Otherwise, there are no questions asked. (She sends tutors two times a week to help with the migrant population.) At Freeport, 8 percent of migrant students regularly pass the TAAS and the school has received awards from the state for its work with migrant students.

Ms. Sale-Davis says that "major support" comes from the curriculum director, the secondary principals' director, and the director of special education, who challenge her to think outside the box. For instance, the director of special education urged her to rethink the design of the new school building so that special education students would not be isolated. In general, Ms. Sale-Davis says, "I'm the youngest principal in the district, and I feel people have taken me under their wings to teach me what they know. They help me grow."

Org. Structures - NEXT

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