What makes a school is a real school in itself?

Linda Cliatt-Wayman, a new female principle of Strawberry Mansion High School, with strong ambition, she set up a series of forceful rules and expectations to her students and teaching faculty when the first day she stepped into her new school. However, when she soaked herself in planning a great future for the school, a girl named Ashley in the back of the auditorium said “"Miss! Miss! Why do you keep calling this a school? This is not a school."  The innocent but honest expression made her realized that only a school need to be a school in itself will make those expectations realistic.

Although she knew this low-performing and persistently dangerous school need to be transformed, but she did not make any effective progress in the first three years. The bleak situation did beat her but did not kill her. And in fact, she learned the experience and changed her attitude in the fourth year; she is determined to lead the students and teachers to win the battle. 

The first thing she did is to call up all the top-notch leadership team who believed in the possibility of all the children. And second, what they made things changed little by little by redecorating the schools; like resetting every single locker combination by hand so that every student could have a secure locker. They decorated every bulletin board in that building with bright, colorful, and positive messages, which is a very brilliant and effective solution in my eyes. They also took the chains off the front doors of the school and got the light bulbs replaced, and cleaned every classroom to its core, recycling every, every textbook that was not needed, and discarded thousands of old materials and furniture. 

Before her governance, Strawberry Mansion High School was on the list of persistently dangerous school in USA. And after all of these unusual efforts, Strawberry Mansion was removed from the Persistently Dangerous List.

Besides the physical changes, the principal also cared about her students’ physiological growth as well. Most of her students have problems: social, emotional and economic problems you could never imagine. Some of them are parents themselves, and some are completely alone.The principle knew they need love. So she spared time with them , listen to them , care them and truly believed that they are special and can fulfill their potentials with decent education and proper guidance. What she believed reshaped the mindset of these young people and they started to feel they are loved by others. 

  What makes a school is a real school in itself? I think it is a place where has  effective leadership , love and dream.