The Transparency Files: Evaluation of Self

Although the weather outside is only finally warming up, it is actually June and we have reached our final month of this amazing 2019-2020 school year!  It is hard to believe how much has happened this year and how much we still have on tap for the final weeks!  Circumstances led me to switch up the order of my annual series of closing “Transparency Files” blog posts.  This year, I began with the results of the Annual Parent Survey and the results of the Annual Faculty Survey (shared directly with Faculty), am now moving here to my self-evaluation, and will finish with a discussion of next year’s new initiatives and conclude with an introduction of the 2019-2020 OJCS Faculty.

So let’s lean in…

We are in that “evaluation” time of year!  As Head of School, I have the responsibility for performing the evaluation of staff and faculty each year.  Fittingly, they have an opportunity to do the same of me.  Our Annual Faculty Survey presents current teachers and staff with the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback of my performance as Head of School.  Please know that I have already shared the results and analysis with the faculty and have sent the full unedited results to our Board’s Head Support & Evaluation Committee as part of their data collection for my evaluation.

You are welcome to review last year’s self-evaluation post before moving onto this year’s…

This year’s self-evaluation is based on goals created for this year (which was done at the beginning of the year in consultation with that same Head Support & Evaluation Committee).  You will not find a complete laundry list of my day-to-day responsibilities.  [I am focusing here on more of my “principal’s” responsibilities, not as much on my “head of school’s” (i.e. fundraising, marketing, budgeting, etc.)]  You will find selected components [there are more goals in each area than I am highlighting here] for the 2018-2019 OJCS academic year:

Establish steady and measurable growth of the student population

1. Establish and drive a recruitment plan to promote the school and attract new students.
   1. Develop a recruitment strategy with the Admissions Director by December 1st.
   2. Review and track recruitment effectiveness and make adjustments as required (ongoing, but December – April is the key period).
2. Design and execute a retention strategy and plan.
   1. Develop a “moves management” database for all current families and launch weekly retention meetings with Admissions Director by first week in December.
   2. Annual Parent Survey is taken each May, shared with families and utilized in plans for the following years (when appropriate).
   3. Complete exit interviews/surveys with students and parents to better understand reasons for leaving are done as decisions become final in the Spring.
   4. Parent Ambassador for all new OJCS families to launch the first week of school.
3. Strengthen pipeline with Ganon & Early Beginnings.
   1. Meet with directors to share updates and solicit feedback twice-yearly (December & May).
   2. Schedule engagement opportunities for Ganon and Early Beginnings JKs w/OJCS K for November.
   3. Develop a plan for the ongoing transition of Ganon’s JK to OJCS by February.
4. Deepen relationships with synagogues.
   1. Re-launch the Rabbinic Advisory Committee in November with a goal of identifying concrete engagement opportunities for OJCS and each synagogue.
   2. Meet with each Rabbi by January to identify a specific engagement opportunity for Jon (speaking, Shabbat dinner, etc) and a select group of prospective parents.

OJCS is a school of excellence (through our work with NoTosh we aspire to be “the best school in Ottawa”)

1. Translating our “North Stars” (“The OJCS Way”) into a strategy document.
   1. Work with NoTosh to revise final strategy document by December 1st.
   2. Translate the strategy document into a slide-deck for presentation to teachers/board/parents by January.
   3. Create parent collateral to help drive external identification of “The OJCS Way” with “excellence”.
2. Connecting the dots between our work with NoTosh and our work with Silvia Tolisano.
   1. Meet with members of the NoTosh Design Team and the Silvia Cohort to keep everyone on the same page (ongoing).
   2. Encourage at least 10-15 prototypes through the prototype protocol.
3. Clarify what role the CAT-4 plays in evaluating academic “excellence”.
   1. Analyze CAT-4 results with teachers to evaluate how useful they are in shaping instruction.
   2. Based on data and “The OJCS Way” blog out results while holding individual parent meetings (as needed).
4. Create a technology plan for teachers, students and school.
   1. Work with Technology Director to develop plans for current and desire technology in the school.
   2. Work with teachers – and then parents – to decide which devices students will need to have (both in school and at home) in which grades.
5. Develop a comprehensive Professional Development (PD) plan.
   1. Ensure that each teacher has a signed Professional Growth Plan (PGP) by November.
   2. Work with new Coordinators to see what common themes arise from PGPs and decide where and how to address over the course of the year (PD days, faculty meetings, conferences, resources, etc.).
6. (Constantly) improve faculty morale.
   1. Launched “Positive Notes” prototype in January
   2. Results from the Annual Faculty Survey indicate success.

OJCS inspires Jewish journeys in its students, families and community.

1. Deepen and develop personal relationships with holiday and Shabbat experiences.
   1. Invite children’s classes to house for Sukkot (September).
   2. Begin rotating families through for Shabbat dinners.
   3. Prototype at least one holiday workshop with PTA.
2. Expand holiday family experiences.
   1. Make sure each grade has at least two Kabbalat Shabbat experiences at school.
   2. Grow our annual Chanukah and Passover celebrations to deepen family engagement.
   3. Coach a few teachers who have family engagement as part of their PGP to maximize their prototypes.
3. Thought-leadership.
   1. Make sure blog has appropriate balance, including connections between the way Judaism is lived in school and how it could be lived at home.
   2. Work with local synagogues on Shabbat and holiday programming.

I am pleased to say that we managed to hit many of the above goals and are on our way to hitting the rest!  Here are some things to focus in on…

…we just recently met with our friends at the SJCC and Ganon Preschool to deliver preliminary plans for the next two years of transition of JK from Ganon to OJCS and we are holding meetings this month between JK and SK teachers to launch new initiatives in 2019-2020.

…we are pleased to be cosponsoring a Shavuot program this week with Congregation Beit Tikvah and co-facilitating a Shavuot program with Kehillat Beth Israel.

…we are meeting with PTA leadership this week to pass along feedback from the Annual Parent Survey and to explore ways to engage more parents in holiday workshops or other parent education opportunities.  This is an area we are desperate to improve in next year.

…we have drafted a BYOD (bring your own device) policy for Grades 4-8, which will be sent to parents later on this month.

…the schedule kinda got away from us, but we do have a final K-5 Kabbalat Shabbat on June 21st at 3:00 PM!

Those are just some highlights!  As always, your feedback – whether publicly commented here, privately shared with me through email or social media, or directly shared through conversation – is greatly appreciated.  As I told our teachers, I look forward to getting better at my job and I am thankful for the feedback I receive that allows me to try.