Kortni Stafford: Principal, Kelly Miller Middle School
During National Principals Month, Flamboyan Foundation is taking a moment to acknowledge some of the principals and school leaders who have partnered with us to lead the charge in family engagement. We know that when principals, school leaders, and educators engage families as partners, strong trusting relationships among teachers and families are built and student performance improves. Without a doubt, our partner principals have a number of competing priorities. Yet, they remain committed to creating a school culture that improves student outcomes through high-impact family engagement strategies.
In this Q&A, Kortni Stafford, Principal at Kelly Miller Middle School opens up about why family engagement is important.
FF:
As school principal, there must be a lot of competing priorities that you manage daily and strategically. Tell us more about why family engagement is one of those top priorities and why you’re committed to it.
Ms. Stafford:
Family engagement is a priority for Kelly Miller because I believe that parents, teachers, and staff should have a great relationship and work together to educate our scholars.
FF:
Give an example of how you’ve personally seen the impact of family engagement benefit a teacher-parent relationship? How did the student benefit?
Ms. Stafford:
This year, we have started restorative justice at Kelly Miller. A growing practice at schools, restorative justice empowers students to resolve conflicts on their own and in small groups or ‘circles.’ In one of our first circles we invited the parents of the two scholars that were having issues with each other. Both parents left the circle feeling like the staff at Kelly Miller had such a valued interest in the scholars that they made comments about how the experience of the circle for themselves have helped them with talking to their children at home.
FF:
Specifically, what family engagement high-impact strategy/strategies do you think are having a lasting impact in your school community and why? Home visits? Student-Led Conferences? Ongoing Communication? Academic Parent-Teacher Teams? Parent-Teacher Conferences?
Ms. Stafford:
Home visits and ongoing communication used together have had a high impact on the Kelly Miller community. Home visits help to build relationships with parents and the ongoing communication that parents receive helps to develop and strengthen parent/teacher relationships.
FF:
We know that family engagement is most effective when the whole school believes in its impact and connection to student achievement. How do you get every member of the faculty and staff excited about and motivated to do family engagement? Tell us more about how you make it part of the school culture.
Ms. Stafford:
We have a number of teachers that have many testimonies about the positive effects of visiting homes. Parents also have testimonies about how they feel when they have received a home visit. As we welcome new teachers to the Kelly Miller family, our Family Engagement Leadership Team (FELT), a cohort of teachers that work closely with coaches at Flamboyan, always invites them on a home visit so they can see how it’s done and understand the power of developing relationships with students and parents.
FF:
What would you tell a principal who’s on the fence about implementing family engagement high-impact strategies within his/her school? How would you get him/her on board?
Ms. Stafford:
I would tell them that it takes a village to raise and educate a child. When you have purposefully engaged parents in how you will help their scholars and how they can help you with their scholars, it makes it much easier to get a student to buy into their education because their families are on the same page as the school.
FF:
What are your long-term goals for Kelly Miller and what elements of family engagement will help you achieve those goals and why?
Ms. Stafford:
My long term goals are to have all students and families engaged in their learning and the Kelly Miller community. This year we have started to plan and do Student-Led Conferences (SLCs) school wide. I think this is a healthy next step to doing home visits because it involves parents and requires students to advocate for themselves and reflect on their academic and behavioral performance as scholars.
FF:
In reflecting on National Principals’ Month, tell us a little about your journey to a school leader and how you’ve navigated the education sector.
Ms. Stafford:
Before taking on the role as Principal of Kelly Miller Middle School in Washington, DC, I served as the Assistant Principal at McKinley Technology High School. I completed the Mary Jane Patterson Fellowship, an intensive 18-month program to build DCPS leaders into extraordinary principals, and did my principal residences at West Education Campus and Columbia Heights Education Campus during the 2013-2014 school year. Prior to being a Mary Jane Patterson Fellow, I was an Assistant Principal at Ballou Senior High School. At Ballou, I managed the Freshman Success Academy, which works to boost school retention and promotion rates, and I led Ballou’s academic leadership team in the creation and implementation of a school-wide literacy plan. I have also served as the District Director for the AVID Program (Advancement Via Individual Determination) at Perry Street Preparatory Public Charter School, and I was selected to participate in the ASCD Emerging Leaders program, which prepares promising leaders on a national level. I also taught science for seven years in Maryland and California.
