Setting and Context

When walking through the halls of Olathe Middle/High School (OMHS) for the first
time, something you are bound to notice right is the respectful and cheerful greetings that you
receive from all of the students. According to Principal Scot Brown, the culture of OMHS
revolves around mutual respect, acceptance, and a strong sense of community. I found myself
agreeing with this assessment from day one because I was welcomed in with open arms and even
gratitude that I would choose this school to do my student teaching. I continued to be blown
away by the respect that the students have for each other and for their teachers. Vice Principal
Dan Rosentreter expanded on this sense of community by letting me know that while their
school is a low socioeconomic population and about 50%/50% Hispanic and Caucasian, they
have very few fights or ostracizing of different students. While different clicks of students are
visible in the hallways and gathering areas, there is very clearly no enmity between groups and
virtually no racial tension or exclusion of what would generally be considered outsiders.
Much of this mindset in the school is built from a long history of pride in tradition,
family, and community togetherness. OMHS has been a strong presence in this area since the
early 1900s and has a dedicated backing from the community. Agriculture is a large part of the
tradition and future for OMHS and many of the students have what I can only describe as an
upbringing in a polite, small farming town that has taught them well to be respectful of people,
animals, the land, and their tradition. In fact, OMHSs mission statement is tradition, pride, and
excellence which is very clear in the actions and attitudes of the students, instructors, and
administrators.
There is a general expectation of good behavior that permeates through the building that I
have only rarely seen the need to enforce in one way or another. As is true with many other
schools, there is a zero tolerance policy for violence, drugs, and bullying, though Principal
Brown made it clear that there have been very few infractions of this policy over the years.
Added to this is the support available for struggling students or those with special needs, IEPs, or
504s. While this percentage of the population is small, teachers and administrators offer many
opportunities for students to get one on one help, improve content understanding, and take
responsibility for their learning. One such program is called intervention which gives time
during the middle of the school day for struggling students to come in for additional help. I have
personally worked with these students and their gratitude is only rivaled by the enjoyment I get
from watching them come to understand the material and become more confident in their
learning.
One struggle for this school is in the standardized testing arena. Vice Principal
Rosentreter puts forth his opinion that it is difficult to encourage and instruct students in
standardized testing when the measuring stick keeps changing with every shift in state laws.
This attitude is prevalent with the teachers as well and the frustration and slow feedback with
standardized testing has had a negative impact for OMHS students. In the past several years, the
percentage of students who have opted out of testing is incredibly high. Principal Brown decided
to highly discourage opting out this year in the hope of improving their testing rates and
dedicated himself to meeting in person with students and parents who want to opt out. The
results of this policy were a resounding success seen through nearly 95% attendance rate and
generally good effort from the students all around. There is hope amongst the staff that testing
policy changes coming up could help to change the standardized testing atmosphere and catalyze
a continuing increase in scores and attendance. There is also hope that changes in these policies,
attitudes, and administrative actions can help improve OMHSs graduation rates and the
percentage of students going into post-secondary institutions. Many actions are being taken to
encourage students to graduate and investigate their options for after graduation. Personally, I
feel very lucky to be involved in these big changes in the school to help students build a future
for themselves. I have learned a lot about what goes on in the inner workings of the school in
terms of building goals and what actions to take to meet those goals.
A final part of the culture of OMHS that I think is incredible is the supportive nature of
the staff. The entire administration staff and all of the teachers are all dedicated not only to the
students but to each other as well. There is an amazing sense of camaraderie amongst the
teachers and they all feel that they are supported by the administration in anything they need.
Principal Brown and Vice Principal Rosentreter are constantly seen walking the hallways and
interacting with students and teachers, as well as poking their heads into the classrooms every
once in a while to see how everything is going. Teacher evaluations are conducted three times a
year, with two informal and one formal observation made by either the Principal or the Vice
Principal. However, what I found fantastic was that there is no negativity about these
evaluations. To the teachers, it is an opportunity to get feedback and support from their
administrators, and to the administrators, it is an opportunity to touch base with their teachers
and help them with whatever they need. I am not sure if this is a normal attitude in most schools,
but I find it incredibly encouraging to see this level of team work, mutual respect, and support
between every member of the staff of OMHS. This is an attitude that I would hope to carry with
me wherever I end up teaching.
Overall, I have felt welcomed and encouraged by everyone at OMHS and it is clear that
this is an attitude that prevails through the entire school and much of the community. Their
strong sense of tradition and respect has created an environment that builds up every individual
and offers great opportunities. I look forward to experiencing and helping the staff meet their
goals and I will always hold the same sense of support and encouragement for the students that
they have shared with me.