On March 18, 2010, as president of our association, I had the good fortune to speak at the Lino Lakes Elementary Minnesota School of Excellence celebration. Principal Jan Masterson and the school staff created a lovely celebration that included tours of the building, punch and cookies, and a lively presentation from the students. I had a chance to meet wonderful parents and teachers, even some that I taught with when I was in the Forest Lake district.

In 2000, during my fourth year as principal of Washburn Elementary in Bloomington, we were looking for ways to affirm the great work that teachers, parents, and students were doing in our school. The Minnesota School of Excellence Program provided a structured, researched, and proven process that helped us accomplish our goal.

Perhaps you have been intrigued by the thought of trying the MESPA Minnesota School of Excellence Program at your school. Involvement with this school improvement process is one of the best decisions I have made as a principal. Let me share some insights from my experience going through the validation process twice and being the state chairperson for the Minnesota School of Excellence Committee for four years.

Early in my career, I always thought it was impressive to see a school sign that identified a community of learners who had received Minnesota School of Excellence endorsement. What I didn’t realize then was the strength of a school improvement program that examined the entire school community, as opposed to making decisions based solely on students’ assessment data. With this program, grounded in national research on high performing schools, MESPA has created the premier opportunity in the state for validating the greatness of your school.

Now to the good part…

The major components of the Minnesota School application are: a school self-study using national standards to reveals strengths and weaknesses in your school; and a narrative that documents how you have successfully built on strengths and addressed weaknesses determined in the self-study. Our final document was approximately fifty pages with lots of charts and examples of data.

This is a group process and you need to develop a strong school-wide team. If you are interested, Matt Dorschner, chair of the state Minnesota School of Excellence Committee, or your division representative on the committee will be willing to help you with strategies and filters that can encourage the process to go smoothly in your school.

Once the application is submitted to the Minnesota School of Excellence Committee and validated – and don’t be discouraged if you are asked to expand your improvement process before you receive validation, you will begin thinking about your school-wide celebration.  The celebration may be as elaborate or as subtle as you wish. The key is to create an experience that reflects your school’s signature.

The results...

The Minnesota School of Excellence validation status for your school brings benefits that you might not think of as you are going through the process.

In my experience…

Teachers in the school are proud to be in a Minnesota School of Excellence and hold themselves to a higher standard because of it.

Parents in the school realize the benefits of their volunteering and involvement and participate more because of Minnesota School of Excellence.

We realize fewer incidents of misbehavior and disruption because students are proud of being a Minnesota School of Excellence.

Families that are school shopping notice our Minnesota School of Excellence plaques and banners in the school and choose to enroll their children because they believe we are an exceptional school.

Business partners are more readily willing to affiliate their images with us because of our Minnesota School of Excellence status.

It is easier to encourage students to take pride in our school while taking annual assessments seriously and “Do their best” because of our Minnesota School of Excellence status.

I can assure you without a doubt that the benefits and recognition for your teachers, parents and students are well worth the energy it takes to become a Minnesota School of Excellence. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Matt Dorschner at 952-556-6710; dorschnerm@district112.org. Enjoy the journey to excellence!