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At my opening staff meeting after being named a first-time principal in May 2019, I asked, 鈥淲hat makes a family a family?鈥�

Staff members at Old Quarry Middle School in Lemont, Ill., responded with loyalty, trustworthiness, love, respect and honesty. After we read through the responses together, I said to the staff, 鈥淐ongratulations, you just normed us as a staff!鈥� From that point on, we referred to ourselves as the #OQFamily and took it seriously. Within months, our school was named a national School to Watch by Illinois Horizon Schools.

In any work environment, culture and climate drive everything. They are the most important components of an organization鈥檚 success. Staff need to feel valued, appreciated, safe and loved in their work environment. As administrators, we should not fear using the word 鈥渓ove鈥� with our people, so long as we use it sincerely.

I conducted personal meetings with every staff member to listen and learn about their hopes, dreams, challenges and opportunities. That鈥檚 where building a sense of family all began.

The past nine months have put all of that to the test.

A Jarring Moment

There are some days you never forget as a first-year principal. One was March 12, 2020, when we were informed our school district in an outer Chicago suburb was headed into remote learning, likely for the rest of the school year, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

鈥淲ait a minute,鈥� I thought to myself at the news. 鈥淲e still have so much to accomplish. If students aren鈥檛 in the building, how are we going to meet their needs?鈥�

At this point, I realized the relationships that we established and the culture we were building based on family and love would be put to every test within moments. How do you replicate collaboration and support if you aren鈥檛 physically in the same space with your staff and students?

Sustained Support

We began the 2020-21 school year with a theme: 鈥淩ow the Boat.鈥� Time after time, our staff demonstrates the capacity to be flexible and shares that 鈥渢ogether we can achieve more鈥� mentality. A boat will only go as far as the people who are rowing will take it.

We are proving that building a supportive learning environment through a global pandemic is possible. We鈥檙e living it daily.

Our school operations have been in full remote and hybrid modes this year. As we observed staff teaching remotely, I realized it was up to me as the building leader to sustain the family-like environment. We鈥檝e staged ice cream socials and Food Truck Fridays and delivered snacks to staff as simple measures to ensure staff members feel connected. It鈥檚 the small things that go a long way with our work.

I鈥檝e been substituting daily to help my staff with the load. I鈥檝e been meeting individually with staff to talk about their needs. We call parents periodically to learn how we can better support them. Most importantly, we continue to make connections with our students through daily check-ins and pop-ins to remote classes.

It鈥檚 all about listening, learning and adapting to whatever challenges our family faces.

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that relationships matter and will always be the heart and soul of our profession. The foundation we built last year has enabled our success this year. It may look different and feel different, but we will forever remain 鈥�#OQFamily STRONG.鈥�

JOSEPH SWEENEY is principal of Old Quarry Middle School in Lemont, Ill.