The Greater Dayton School with AJ Stich Transformative Principal 391

Feb 28, 2021

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Adam J. Stich (A.J.) is the founding principal of The Greater Dayton School. Prior to starting in this role, he spent nearly seven years as a principal in Chicago Public Schools, where he drove strong outcomes for students and teachers. Under A.J.’s leadership, Rufus M. Hitch Elementary achieved the district’s highest school quality rating for five consecutive years (2014–19).

Ultimately, A.J. is motivated by the opportunity to impact kids and change the trajectory of their academic careers. He believes his leadership should be grounded in decency, humility, and high standards, and he strives to achieve this when serving his students, school and community. AJ and his wife Kendra (also a TFA alum) have three kids and a rescue dog. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with family, running, reading, and cheering on the Green Bay Packers.

How are they going to spend $30,000 per kid per year?
Over $250,000 per student invested in the students’ k–8 career.
Larry Connor - the founder
Holistic focus on education.
What must be essential if we are going to really change kids’ lives
Age 27 goals:
Successful by their own definition
Physically and mentally healthy
Living lives of character and integrity
Financially independent
Established in a career
Wrap-around services
Clinic embedded in the school.
Backward map these goals.
Financially independent what does it look like when they are 23, 18, 12, 6?
What kind of teachers are you looking for?
Having a research partner really helps.
Great advisors in the education space and business space.
If this school looks like this in one year, we have a problem!
Change has to be a part of our DNA.
I came in thinking this is going to be simple.
Are you just trying to recreate what has been done?
Going to the status quo just isn’t going to cut it.
Hired first cohort of teachers - It starts and ends with teacher!
They need to have flexibility of mind. Traditional school model just isn’t what we are doing.
How do you capture a student’s thought process?
Competency-based - jumpstart
How to be a transformative principal? Start with strategic planning - Don’t get too technical. Start mapping out what you can do down to the day!
if you don’t do the strategic mapping, you find yourself responding and reacting to everything.

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