What is the One Schoolhouse strategy and does it work?

School spirit is overrated.

And can unintentionally create divisions and inequity.

Especially in school districts where there are large disparities in income between sub-communities.

How does this happen?

This week on the Engaging Leadership show I sat with Dr. Greg Baker, Harvard graduate and veteran superintendent of Bellingham Public Schools, to better understand his perspective and the rationale behind his One Schoolhouse Strategy within the district.

Bellingham Public Schools is located in Bellingham, Washington, and was established way back in 1884 serving the city and Whatcom County.

It has an enrollment of about 12,000 students, across 25 schools. 30% of students identify as minorities, and 21% qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

He noticed that there were vast differences in the abilities of each of his schools to raise funds for themselves.

This was heavily dependent on the average income in the neighborhood of each school: the richer the neighborhood, (unsurprisingly) the more funds the school was able to raise.

He was moved by mission of the Bellingham Promise:

This led to a campaign to see the district as “One Schoolhouse” - one school building, with 25 ‘classrooms’.

Imagine: convincing donations from parents with kids in one school to fund programs in another.

Through the Bellingham Public Schools Foundation, Dr. Baker enabled this program and has successfully managed to redistribute funds across the district to support programs in schools that wouldn’t otherwise have the means.

In doing so, closing the gap in opportunities between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ within the district.

Besides this, in this week’s episode of the Engaging Leadership show Dr. Baker and I talked about:

• Strategic Planning and Community Engagement: The Bellingham Promise serves as a North Star for the district, bringing clarity and alignment to its mission and core values.
• Early Childhood Investment: Emphasizing the importance of early education from prenatal stages through third grade to ensure long-term student success and overall school district improvement.
• Leadership Development: Dr. Greg Baker’s leadership journey highlights the importance of mentorship, diverse administrative experiences, and professional growth programs.
• Quantitative and Qualitative Data Integration: Effective use of both quantitative metrics and qualitative storytelling to assess and communicate student outcomes and district-wide progress.

Read more and listen to the full interview at the link below.

Have a great week ahead,

Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can help you:

1. Engaging Leadership Show Podcast: If you haven’t already, promote your district to thousands of listeners across the USA on the podcast, and join over 250+ other leaders. Find out more here.

2. Improving staff retention: If you would like to tap into 15 years of organizational psychology experience across multiple industries, and uncover some new ideas about growing your principals, supporting your certified and classified staff, and creating a culture of belonging within your district, I offer a no-obligations whiteboarding session here.

3. Run better surveys: If you’re already running staff surveys but are struggling with extracting value from the insights, or translating them into meaningful action that support your strategic objectives, I can recommend small tweaks that should help almost immediately without massive changes to your process. Book some time here.