Giving Compass' Take:

· Shawna De La Rosa explains how relevancy, authenticity, and agency are key to creating a positive school culture with support from the community. Having students at the forefront of this effort is an effective way to make a change and gain support. 

· How does school culture impact student individually? How does it affect teachers? 

· Read more about building a positive school culture. 

School culture is important, but it can be difficult for administrators to control. Culture can impact student attendance, learning and test scores. It can even affect teacher retention. Once created, a culture is difficult to change since it's reflective of student and educator attitudes. Administrators can create a plan for change, but it ultimately has to have buy-in from the school community.

Students are capable, however, and can do amazing things when given the opportunity and support. When given the chance to work on and create these changes, students are learning social-emotional skills like problem-solving and collaboration.

Also key to these efforts is authenticity from administrators. Those wanting to change culture can start by interacting with students in relatable ways. Hamish Brewer, principal of Fred Lynn Middle School in Virginia, creates a welcoming culture by skateboarding down school halls that are adorned with positive-message graffiti murals — but the key to his approach is that it's authentic to who he is, because students know when something is or isn't a gimmick.

Read the full article about school culture by Shawna De La Rosa at Education Dive.