EDA 611 MODULE 3
Eastmont PreK-6 is one of 17 elementary buildings in Dayton Public Schools. Their mascot is the cardinal and it is home to an average daily enrollment of 430 students, of which 100% are economically disadvantaged and receive free breakfast and lunch. The 430 students’ ethnicities are comprised of 306 white, 73 black, 28 Hispanic, 22 multiracial, and 1 American Indian. Thirteen students are English Language Learners and 111 students have disabilities. A mission is the compass for a school according to Goldring & Berends (2009). They also say it provides a snapshot of what the school community values; it tells everyone what the school has set out to accomplish; and it sets the direction for where the school is headed (2009). I interviewed two teachers, Michael VanTine and Amy Gray, the principal, Celeste Hoerner, and the Associate Director for Gifted Services, Hindy Gruber, who additionally is Eastmont’s former assistant principal, about Eastmont’s mission statement. After talking with the principal, C. Hoerner, I learned Eastmont PreK-6 does not have a mission statement. About five to six years ago the staff…show more content… The idea came from a training in which C. Hoerner participated. The training took place at the grocery store Whole Foods. She said as soon as you walk in they have their values on the wall. Everything they do goes back to those beliefs. The idea of values and beliefs stuck with her and she felt it would mean more if her staff created principles based on their values and beliefs instead of a mission statement which means nothing. C. Hoerner’s feelings of what principles would do for her building instead of mission statement is similar to what Morphew & Hartley (2006) feel. Mission statements are viewed as a collection of stock phrases which are excessively vague or unrealistically aspirational. They are normative in that they exist because they are expected to
