Compassionate Leadership, part 2 | New Principal

the new principal
Toy shares a laugh with a teacher
new school, new programs

Beginning with the tabula rasa of a new school was a particularly satisfying challenge for Toy, after principalships at two other schools. She hand-picked a dynamic team of talented, experienced staff and enthusiastic new recruits. All share her credo: children come first.

"The emotional, psychological, and educational needs of children are not the same as they were 50 years ago, so why are we using the same school structure?" asks Toy. "We must create new ways to teach children if we're all in agreement they have changed."

One important structural idea Toy and her team implemented at Trail Wind is what they call the Accelerated Learning Center (ALC). It's designed to serve all special-needs students — low readers, learning disabled, gifted — plus those "in-between" who don't quite make the test scores that designate them as special-needs kids.

"Kids uniformly hate to be labeled," says Toy, "whether gifted or challenged. So what we did here was take away all labeling of children, teachers, and spaces. We don't call anyone a special-ed teacher, or reading specialist, or gifted-and-talented teacher, although they do have training in these areas. Instead we have, simply, ALC educators, and each gets to work with a range of children, from challenged to gifted. We put the teachers and three assistants in one big room, with their six desks jammed together in the middle, where everyone can talk, plan, and collaborate." Portable walls divide the room into activity areas.

At the request of a classroom teacher, or as indicated by test scores, any Trail Wind student can receive individualized remediation or enrichment. This year, 360 out of 655 students have been served by the ALC. "For the teachers, their days get filled with a variety of students and teaching experiences, which keeps things interesting," says Toy. "My special-ed teacher said she feels she's died and gone to heaven. She's never felt so loved."

The ALC team also serves the collective needs of Trail Wind. Last year the team analyzed schoolwide test scores and targeted first-grade reading as an area of concern. A reading program was designed to support the entire first grade, and test scores rose dramatically.

Initiated as a pilot program three years ago, the ALC is now a regular part of life at Trail Wind. "This has become such a positive place," says Laurie Wolf, (non-labeled) reading specialist, "that students stand outside the door and ask, 'When is it our turn to come in?'"

1:30 p.m. The school secretary, Peggy Mobberley, reminds Toy that it's time to interview the first of several candidates for the custodian's job. A hesitant, middle-aged man comes into Toy's homey office and settles onto the edge of an upholstered chair.

"As head custodian, what would be your vision for Trail Wind School?" Toy startles the applicant with her question. After a long moment staring at the floor, he looks up with a hopeful answer: "To keep it clean?"

Attention to every detail of her building is a Toy trademark. She has her hand in everything, from the posters and art prints in the hallways, to the baffles being installed in the lunchroom to reduce noise, to the care she takes in hiring a custodian with a "vision." Toy knows that the physical environment of a school is key to a positive and peaceful learning climate.

"For some of the 27 percent of our children who come from trailer park families, or live in the back of trucks and don't have homes, this is their home and they take pride in it. In three years, we've had two incidents of vandalism," Toy says.

Students at Trail Wind have other reasons to feel proud of their school. Beyond the double doors at the end of the central hallway, one can see the winter contours of an outdoor classroom. When it was suggested by a parent who had seen similar classrooms in Europe, Toy and her team enthusiastically embraced the idea of creating a living laboratory to teach kids about science and environment.

The project is a study in community involvement. Local partners such as Micron Technology, Barber Hills Nursery, and Boise State University helped design and plan the project. The developers of the ever-expanding Columbia Village donated soil from construction sites and large landscape rocks. The PTA provided funds to retool the school sprinkler system to route water to the site, and students earned enough money through a "math-a-thon" to fence the area and buy trees, shrubs, and plants.

Still a work in progress, the one-third acre project will include six raised beds for vegetable gardens — one for each grade — an orchard, wetland area with a small pond, weather station, bird-watching area, a desert area, and a small amphitheater.

"Debbie has tremendous skills for bringing in outside resources," says school counselor Judy Harper, who initiated Toy's nomination as principal of the year. "I see her as a natural leader who enhances everything around her to make it work for the better good."

2 p.m. "We have a positive, we have a positive!" announces Mobberley, coming into the resource room where Toy is chatting with a parent volunteer. "And it's Jennie!"

"Oh my gosh," says Toy, rushing down the hall toward her office, explaining in a low voice that Jennie is the first-grader who was the subject of the meeting with Health and Welfare the day before. "We've almost never had an opportunity to praise her before."

"Jennie, what have you got there?" Toy squats down to talk to the child. Her teacher stands proudly behind her.

"I wrote an essay, Mrs. Toy. It's about Christmas."

"Oh, let me read it. Look how well you've written in cursive! You must show this to your mom and dad."

"It's my daddy who needs to learn his cursive letters," Jennie remarks as her teacher leads her away.

Toy's biggest challenge as an educator is keeping parents tied to their children. "No matter how good your school, or how great your staff," she says, "if children don't have a sense of love and belonging at home, they are not as ready to learn when they come to school."

As a parent and stepparent (Toy has two grown children from her first marriage and two younger stepchildren from her current marriage), Toy has made parental involvement her crusade.

"I think in the past we parents did a better job of making sure that our children's basic needs were met," she says. "Now we're seeing the results of generations of poor parenting as we deal with parents whose own parents did not do a good job. So we as educators are having to put a lot of extra energy into bringing children up to where they are able and ready to learn."

Educating parents on their rights and responsibilities is the holy grail of Toy's crusade. "She wants parents to have the best of everything the school has to offer," says Harper, the school counselor, "and she wants them involved in the process." Through the PTA, Toy invites psychologists and school counselor trainees from Boise State University to meet monthly with parents and share parenting practices that make a difference as children mature.

A parent resource library has been established within the children's library at Trail Wind, and any parent in the neighborhood can check out books. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk and Parents' Book About Divorce have flown off the shelves. Says Toy: "We've asked parents to write little reviews of the books they've read so we can include them in the newsletter that goes home with every child on Fridays. Parents are more apt to listen to other parents than to school officials."

Toy lays the groundwork for a parent meeting like a skilled diplomat. Briefing two teachers and an aide about a child who probably should not be at Trail Wind, she begins a recent meeting by stating her unequivocal support for her staff. The child, a second-grader with learning disabilities, was doing well in a self-contained program at another school before his parents insisted he be transferred to Trail Wind to be with his siblings. The parents are unhappy with the services the school is providing. Toy outlines for her staff the school's legal position, and suggests responses to anticipated questions and complaints.

"With some parents," Toy concludes, "we must emphasize the hope and not the reality."

3 p.m. Toy finds a moment to phone a teacher who recently had surgery. "Hello Nina. This is Debbie — Mother Toy — calling to see how you're doing. We miss you, but the sub is doing a good job and all your kids are great. You're coming to the Christmas party? Awesome! I don't think you should drive yet. Shall I pick you up?"

When Toy calls herself a "cheerleader" for her staff, her metaphor is apt, although "coach" might be closer to the truth. She is an outstanding team builder who surrounds herself with positive, energetic people and then gives them the close attention they need to maintain a collective focus. "I am not a power person," she says. "My style is more nurturing. I feel my critical role, if there's any one thing I can do, is to be in tune with my teachers, to be always aware of where their stress is. I am there to be a sounding board and a positive thinker."

Staff solidarity is palpable at Trail Wind. In the easy camaraderie of the teachers' lunchroom, an informal survey on Toy's leadership qualities brings comments like, "she sets a tone of cohesiveness ... a family feeling," "her leadership is compassionate," and, "Debbie's passion is contagious."

Toy invites schoolwide communication with her quarterly principal's "chat sessions," when Trail Wind staff are given the opportunity to share what's going well, and what's not. "She makes it safe to share concerns," says Paula Bell, Vice Principal, "and works to deal with problems."

Continues Bell: "I have been at five or six elementary schools in my career, and I've never been at a school like Trail Wind. The ambiance here is unique, and I think it's because of Debbie. You certainly feel that she's driving the ship, but she also empowers people to take the initiative. And the sky's the limit in terms of innovative, educational efforts. Last year a fifth-grade teacher was interested in Legos, so with the help of other staff she wrote a successful grant to the Lego Corporation for $38,000. Now every classroom has a Lego Lab."

Among the many letters written in support of Debbie Toy's nomination for Distinguished Principal was one from Janet Orndorff, Boise School District Trustee, who wrote: "The Boise School District has many excellent principals. Debbie Toy is a shining star among them."

4:30 p.m. Toy prepares to leave for the day. She's heading home to start baking for a holiday lunch she's hosting for 20 PTA board and committee members.

"My husband and my mother laughed when they heard," she says. "I'm no cook — just a Campbell Soup kind of person. I asked my mother to help me out, but she said it was time I learned to cook now that I was 50. She gave me recipes, and I went to the store and bought things I've never seen before. I'm going to cook that lunch!"