Teachers Leading Teachers
By Katherine Romano, Associate Editor

The Valley Crossing student on this month's cover reviews some breaking news at the anchor desk in the school's broadcasting studio.

This story began like many of our others. A teacher – in this case, Kristine Black – felt her school, Valley Crossing Community School in Woodbury, MN, was like no other in the country. And luckily, she felt we might be just the people who'd like to learn more about it. Boy, was she ever right.

Laying the groundwork. Planning for Valley Crossing began in 1994 as a labor of love. As Woodbury and its surrounding communities experienced a surge of new development, it became clear there was a need for an elementary school which encompassed three districts. Local school officials, teachers and community leaders eagerly fell in line to research and discuss the latest successes in education and use their findings to lay the groundwork for their new school. Right from the start, it was evident to everyone involved that Valley Crossing was destined to become a very special place.

With that in mind, Valley Crossing's foundation was carefully constructed – it would be a site-based K-6 school for about 850 students with Basic School ideals practiced in multi-aged classrooms. A top-of-the-line staff, performance-based assessment, high parental involvement, business partnerships, cutting-edge technology, special education inclusion and all-day kindergarten (as an option) would also be set in place. What was going to be key to this ambitious project's success was the teachers – the committee agreed that the teachers had to be nothing short of extraordinary. And from what we saw on our visit last February, Valley Crossing got much more than what it hoped for.

Principal Bill Bjorum (left) was determine that the Basic School ideals would be firmly in place by the time Valley Crossing (above right) opened its doors in 1996.

Hello, neighbor. As soon as we walked in the front door, we could tell there was something very different about this school. For one thing, the layout was unlike any other school we've seen. Valley Crossing was planned quite literally with Dr. Ernest Boyer's book, The Basic School: A Community for Learning (Jossey-Bass, 1996), in hand. Boyer emphasized that learning begins in the family and in the neighborhood – small, stable places in which kids can learn as they grow. Implementing this idea of community, the school is divided into three separate K-6 "neighborhoods." Students remain in the same neighborhood during their time at Valley Crossing and siblings join the same neighborhood in order to strengthen the family bond.

Within each neighborhood, there are three open class areas for K-1, 2-3 and 4-6 that serve as multi-purpose gathering places. And for the teachers, each neighborhood is outfitted with a huge team planning room where they can go to work or just to relax. Neighborhood teachers also hold daily team-planning sessions in these rooms. And no, that wasn't a typo. Valley Crossing's teachers meet daily and every team member is involved in the decision-making for a wide range of issues. Amazing, but true. We eavesdropped on a planning meeting where teachers were discussing a unit on a winter pond study that would tie in with a sixth-grade class' science camp experiences. There was deep discussion and debate but eventually the team of K-6 teachers arrived at a consensus. "How can this process work so smoothly for every teacher, every day?" we wondered. Well, that's where the Lead Teachers come in.

Follow the leader. In all three of Valley Crossing's neighborhoods, there is a Lead Teacher (in addition to Kristine Black, Barbara Borer and Lela Olson round out the team) who oversees day-to-day operations, spending about half of her time on administrative issues and the other half working with neighborhood teachers, assisting with lessons or with students who need extra attention or help.

What we also noticed was that not only are teachers working side-by-side professionally, but the teaching community of Valley Crossing is clearly also personally attached and supportive of one another. When we visited one of the team planning rooms in a neighborhood in the morning, we saw that a sign-up sheet had been put out for preparing dinner for a teacher who had experienced a medical emergency in her family. By the time we had left in the afternoon, the sheet had been completely filled out. "We believe that how we treat each other is as important as what we teach the children," said Kristine Black.

Leading by example. The school has also implemented a mentor program for all non-tenured teachers. It's important to note that this program was initiated and is operated entirely by the teachers themselves. Each non-tenured teacher has an individual mentor who supports, guides and shares information with their "mentee." The mentor and mentee meet at the beginning of the year and then meet on a weekly basis for three months and bi-weekly thereafter. The team is also granted one release day during the year to work together, observe other teachers, attend workshops or spend the day in any useful way they see fit.

Teachers who are not included in the mentor program are part of a triad. A triad is formed by grouping three teachers from different wings of the building. These teachers are given time to meet regularly before school and are also given one release day per year to observe, peer coach, research a topic or attend workshops.
Thanks to all this impressive leadership among their teachers, Valley Crossing Community School has just recently received some well-deserved validation – the school was awarded the 2003 Best Practices Award for Teacher Leadership from the Boyer Center.

Students review the schedule for their morning meeting.

Parents as partners. Valley Crossing's teachers are also quick to mention that they would be nowhere without the support of their principal, Bill Bjorum, and the help of some very special parents. Just last year alone, over 10,000 hours of volunteer time were clocked – and that's not counting any time put in after-hours! An example of this winning partnership is the school's Peace Garden. Each year, students grow plants from seed in their classrooms to later plant in the Peace Garden. Parents assist every step of the way and are largely responsible for the maintenance of the garden's arbor, benches and table, dry creek bed, birdhouses and flower beds. Parents also take part in interviewing and hiring new teachers as well as reviewing the school's curriculum which, as you can guess, is written by Valley Crossing's teachers and meets the Minnesota State Standards.

Deb Rindo and student Monica Clifford (right) caught in a teachable moment.

As we concluded our visit to Valley Crossing Community School, we found ourselves ruminating on what Kristine Black had said about how the teachers feel that treating each other well is just as important as teaching well. We saw the school as a haven of sorts – where teachers are helped to come into their own, where teacher leadership is fostered and where teachers are encouraged to express themselves and to teach creatively. To Valley Crossing's teachers, it's a place just short of paradise.

August/Septmber 2003, Vol.34, No.1