If these walls could speak…

I believe that the physical space of a school speaks volumes about the mission, vision, and values of a school.  It is often overlooked but it sets the tone and climate of a school in powerful ways.  I was inspired by a session at #nassp14 in which the principal showed pictures of his 21st century school.  I came back to my school thinking I should share out what we have going on at our school.  While I wouldn’t compare the work that we have done with schools on the forefront of the 21st century movement, I am proud of the work we’ve intentionally done to set a specific tone in our building.

The hallways in our building highlight all different kinds of student work.  There are pictures of students, there are recognition walls for awards, there are art projects, and there are classroom work displayed all over the building.

We have been intentional about branding in our school.  Our school VIRTUEs formed from our work in the PBIS model are found throughout the school.  There are banners in the hallways, there are words in the lunchroom, there are quotes on the walls.

Our lunchroom is called a cafetorium because it is our largest assembly space with a stage and is our everyday cafeteria.  We have listed our VIRTUEs on the wall in big, bold letters because they define us!  V is for Values, I: Integrity, R: Respect/Responsibility, U: Understanding, and E: Excellence.

Even our quiet room is motivational and communicates our expectations:

I believe that if our walls could speak that they would clearly communicate that we believe in kids, that we have set an intentional climate and tone with the color choice and student work visible and that we are focused on our VIRTUEs.  I think that our walls speak loudly for who we are and what we do at Valley View.