Discover how Vickery Elementary transformed its culture from good to great with a House System.
Many of you are leading schools that are doing good work. Your students do OK academically. Your parents are complacent with the results. Your culture is fine.
With all of the problems in modern education, why shouldn’t you be happy with a good school culture? Because good is the enemy of great. An OK culture will lead to OK results and in many ways that situation is harder to improve than a school with glaring obstacles to learning.
The urgency isn’t there. So who decides when good isn’t good enough anymore? The staff. The signal that your school is ready to go from good to great comes from teachers. That’s where it came from at Vickery Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas.
When Principal Adam Gray arrived at Vickery, the teachers were ready to take the leap from good to great and with his leadership the team chose to implement a House System to help get them there…and it worked!
They have created a universal system for rewarding and celebrating the actions they wanted to see more of from their students. Staff and student connections have never been stronger, and students are benefitting in countless ways from the great system they’ve built.
Many of you are leading schools that are doing good work. Your students do OK academically. Your parents are complacent with the results. Your culture is fine.
With all of the problems in modern education, why shouldn’t you be happy with a good school culture? Because good is the enemy of great. An OK culture will lead to OK results and in many ways that situation is harder to improve than a school with glaring obstacles to learning.
The urgency isn’t there. So who decides when good isn’t good enough anymore? The staff. The signal that your school is ready to go from good to great comes from teachers. That’s where it came from at Vickery Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas.
When Principal Adam Gray arrived at Vickery, the teachers were ready to take the leap from good to great and with his leadership the team chose to implement a House System to help get them there…and it worked!
They have created a universal system for rewarding and celebrating the actions they wanted to see more of from their students. Staff and student connections have never been stronger, and students are benefitting in countless ways from the great system they’ve built.
Before we jump into the House system, let’s discuss the culture that Principal Gray found when he came to Vickery. Vickery Elementary School, in Lewisville Independent School District, is a K-5 Dual Language campus. 80% of the students at Vickery are classified as Free and Reduced Lunch.
It’s a Title 1 school with many of the same problems you are probably seeing on your campus, no matter where you’re located. The school had strong teachers and a nurturing culture, but lacked a consistent K-5 approach that could unify the entire campus.
That inconsistency wasn’t a giant, glaring issue. Your culture is likely inconsistent as well. Particularly when it comes to behavior, if you don’t have a centralized system then some teachers and staff will naturally handle disruptions better than others.
That variance isn’t without consequences. When some of your staff are leading with relationship-based discipline and some are leading with more traditional punitive methods that is going to have an effect on your students.
At Vickery, the data showed that 75% of discipline referrals were going to male students. Things were good, but they weren’t great. Particularly for boys. Adam and the staff at VES determined that the best thing for all students was to cultivate a culture that emphasized community.
When your school is only a school, students can feel disconnected during their time there. This leads to underperforming students academically and sometimes can lead to behavior disruptions as students rebel the culture that they don’t feel a part of.
Adam and his team wanted to create a community of belonging and they wanted to shift behavior management away from punitive measures and lead those conversations with empathy. The team decided to implement House Points to address both.
House Points is part of a behavior management strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points for positive behavior, support each other, and compete against other Houses or earn rewards.
At Vickery, the idea to move towards a House system was brought forth by the teachers. But that doesn’t mean that everyone was immediately on board. Just as with any initiative in your school, you need to address teacher and student buy-in for success to be possible.
Principal Gray knew this could be the accelerant that takes the culture at Vickery to greatness. But it wasn’t going to work if everyone wasn’t onboard. Adam started the process by identifying those that were ready for a change. They were his “coalition of the willing”.
This group was empowered to name Houses and choose all of the identifying details that make up the culture of a House. Things like colors, flags, chants, and hand gestures. But most importantly, he didn’t ask these teachers to do this on their own time.
The team at Vickery carved out dedicated time during their mandatory in-service days for teachers to put their stamp on the House system in their school. This allowed teachers a chance to be involved and more importantly a chance to take ownership of the system.
In school, time is precious. You signal what you value by where you dedicate time. This small gesture told the staff at Vickery that the culture at their school mattered. Good was no longer good enough.
Getting students excited was the easy part. The students at Vickery love the culture of camaraderie and competition that Houses have created. The staff builds the schedule around events and competitions that students can look forward to.
At Vickery, the staff is always looking for unique ways to include Houses in the culture of their school.
“Is there something that we already doing that could be incorporated into our House System?”-Principal Adam Gray
Let’s take a peek at a few ways they are able to keep the excitement going all year round:
Students are “sorted” into Houses just like Harry Potter was at Hogwarts. They pull names out of a sorting hat and everyone finds out at the same time.
Staff and students who are returning from the previous year wear House gear and cheer on their House mates as they are announced.
Vickery recommends keeping tabs on departing students as often transient students will leave and then move back into the district - and they’ll want to rejoin their House when they do!
Vickery holds some epic pep rallies. Students participate in one every 6 weeks. They wear House colors and swag. Students sit by House and shout out their House chants.
Each rally has it’s own minute-to-win-it style games and they award a parent, student or staff member with the most spirit the rally cone for their House.
When students from the other grades are in Rocket Rallies, the other grades meet in House Meetings. The House Committee provides activities students can do together during the meetings like practice their chants.
A House Meeting is a time for the House to come together and build relationships. There is typically an agenda but it’s important that the main goal is to give students the opportunity to connect with each other.
Meetings have also become a way to incorporate student leadership opportunities into the culture at Vickery.
The competitions go year round and the points add up. At the end of every 9 weeks, the winning House is anointed as the House Cup Champion and they are rewarded with extra recess time - and Chick-Fil-A!
Vickery has a giant wheel of awesomeness. Each week the students take turns spinning the wheel with a chance to earn points for their Houses. Who doesn’t love spinning a wheel with a chance to win prizes?
LiveSchool is the tool that makes it all work at Vickery. LiveSchool allows schools to choose teams, customize Houses, assign House colors, and align everything with a custom behavior rubric.
“What’s most important is that we can align the LiveSchool rubric with what we value the most as a school.” -Principal Adam Gray
Inspired by Vickery Elementary's success? Your school could be next. Beyond boosting morale, it's a smart recruitment strategy, attracting teachers to your inclusive, vibrant community.
Teachers do their homework when choosing a school to work in. When your school is known for a great culture that attracts great teachers. When you recruit well, your entire school community grows stronger and the result is a flywheel of success for your students.
By adopting a similar approach, you can create a culture that fosters strong connections between students and staff. Imagine the impact of students and teachers rallying behind a shared vision, united by House pride and a collective sense of purpose.
The House System provides a framework for recognizing and rewarding positive behaviors, instilling a sense of school pride that will permeate every aspect of campus life.
Jordan resides in Lexington, Kentucky. He has experience in Public Education as an Administrator, Science Teacher, and as a Coach. He has extensive experience with School Discipline, PBIS, SEL, Restorative Practices, MTSS, and Trauma-Informed Care.
Many of you are leading schools that are doing good work. Your students do OK academically. Your parents are complacent with the results. Your culture is fine.
With all of the problems in modern education, why shouldn’t you be happy with a good school culture? Because good is the enemy of great. An OK culture will lead to OK results and in many ways that situation is harder to improve than a school with glaring obstacles to learning.
The urgency isn’t there. So who decides when good isn’t good enough anymore? The staff. The signal that your school is ready to go from good to great comes from teachers. That’s where it came from at Vickery Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas.
When Principal Adam Gray arrived at Vickery, the teachers were ready to take the leap from good to great and with his leadership the team chose to implement a House System to help get them there…and it worked!
They have created a universal system for rewarding and celebrating the actions they wanted to see more of from their students. Staff and student connections have never been stronger, and students are benefitting in countless ways from the great system they’ve built.
Many of you are leading schools that are doing good work. Your students do OK academically. Your parents are complacent with the results. Your culture is fine.
With all of the problems in modern education, why shouldn’t you be happy with a good school culture? Because good is the enemy of great. An OK culture will lead to OK results and in many ways that situation is harder to improve than a school with glaring obstacles to learning.
The urgency isn’t there. So who decides when good isn’t good enough anymore? The staff. The signal that your school is ready to go from good to great comes from teachers. That’s where it came from at Vickery Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas.
When Principal Adam Gray arrived at Vickery, the teachers were ready to take the leap from good to great and with his leadership the team chose to implement a House System to help get them there…and it worked!
They have created a universal system for rewarding and celebrating the actions they wanted to see more of from their students. Staff and student connections have never been stronger, and students are benefitting in countless ways from the great system they’ve built.
When is good not good enough?
Many of you are leading schools that are doing good work. Your students do OK academically. Your parents are complacent with the results. Your culture is fine.
With all of the problems in modern education, why shouldn’t you be happy with a good school culture? Because good is the enemy of great. An OK culture will lead to OK results and in many ways that situation is harder to improve than a school with glaring obstacles to learning.
The urgency isn’t there. So who decides when good isn’t good enough anymore? The staff. The signal that your school is ready to go from good to great comes from teachers. That’s where it came from at Vickery Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas.
When Principal Adam Gray arrived at Vickery, the teachers were ready to take the leap from good to great and with his leadership the team chose to implement a House System to help get them there…and it worked!
They have created a universal system for rewarding and celebrating the actions they wanted to see more of from their students. Staff and student connections have never been stronger, and students are benefitting in countless ways from the great system they’ve built.
When is good not good enough?
Many of you are leading schools that are doing good work. Your students do OK academically. Your parents are complacent with the results. Your culture is fine.
With all of the problems in modern education, why shouldn’t you be happy with a good school culture? Because good is the enemy of great. An OK culture will lead to OK results and in many ways that situation is harder to improve than a school with glaring obstacles to learning.
The urgency isn’t there. So who decides when good isn’t good enough anymore? The staff. The signal that your school is ready to go from good to great comes from teachers. That’s where it came from at Vickery Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas.
When Principal Adam Gray arrived at Vickery, the teachers were ready to take the leap from good to great and with his leadership the team chose to implement a House System to help get them there…and it worked!
They have created a universal system for rewarding and celebrating the actions they wanted to see more of from their students. Staff and student connections have never been stronger, and students are benefitting in countless ways from the great system they’ve built.
Every day, the LiveSchool Vision becomes reality.
