Modesto's Enochs starts new year with a new mission

Eddy the Eagle was perched atop his inflatable arch Monday morning, as usual welcoming teens to the first day of the school year at Enochs High. But he had a lot of company this year, as the marching band played and rows of cheerleaders and school faculty and staff also greeted new and returning students.

All the extra attention was a walk-up to the announcement a bit later in the morning of a new mission statement, which boils down to “Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful.” The full version is: “The mission of EHS is to develop successful students by providing top-quality instruction within a safe, responsible, respectful culture.”

Principal Deborah Rowe acknowledged that when the word “safe” is used, it can raise the question: Were things not safe before?

That’s not the case with Enochs, she said. The mission simply is trying to better address the concerns that countless students at all schools have had: Where do I fit in, where will I be accepted?

Rowe, whose first career was as a nurse, said she knows the importance of taking care of students’ basic needs. “If you care for children and they feel cared for, they’re going to produce their best selves more often.” As examples, she said, Enochs has a family therapist on campus and also has peer mental health counseling available.

“In Modesto City Schools, one of the charges we’ve been given by the superintendent is to have Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports,” Rowe said. “Instead of making discipline the first go-to for student behavior issues, what other interventions could we use to support them?” Enochs staff believes its mission supports that PBIS.

PBIS “is one of many tools that we are using to proactively address student behavior,” Modesto City Schools Superintendent told The Bee in an email. “Schools are tailoring their PBIS plans to focus on needs specific to their campus. I look forward to seeing our suspension and expulsion rates continue to drop as our schools implement their customized plans.”

The matrix

As Enochs’ 2,400 or so students learned of the new mission Monday, they were introduced to the school’s Positive Behavior Matrix, to help them understand how to be safe, respectful and responsible in a range of settings: in the classroom, at lunch, in hallways/bathrooms, in the parking lot, at school activities and when using social media.

In the latter, students were reminded to protect their privacy and that of others (be safe) and to “think before you post” (be responsible). An example of respectful classroom behavior: “Follow directions the first time.” A classroom safety example also included a reminder of the school’s zero-tolerance policy on drugs, alcohol, violence and bullying.

Enochs has five teams of teachers and staff – about 20 on each – that have their own focus areas and meet monthly. The “school culture” team led the development of the new mission statement. Rowe said that’s one big reason she’s excited about what the school is doing: “It’s grass roots, not top down.”

“The driving force was that staff didn’t feel like were were all on same page as far as discipline and how teachers run their classrooms,” said work experience counselor Jimme Sevick, head of the school culture team.

Scraping the plate clean

It wasn’t so much that anyone was doing anything the wrong way, Rowe said. There simply were too many ways. One meeting was held around Thanksgiving, and an analogy of a Thanksgiving meal was used. If everybody brings something to the table, it’s easy to end up with a plate that’s too full, Rowe said. “We wanted to scrape the plate clean and replace everything with just three items” – safety, responsibility and respect.

Team members talked with other teachers, staff and students to determine the areas most important to address. “The staff all felt we needed to pare down our focus and have a mission statement to reflect that,” Rowe said.

In second period Monday, students were shown a video produced to introduce the mission. Rowe said it’s important to share the message with parents, too, so the video will be posted on the school’s website.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve developed. Now (that school is under way), we’ll know how it works,” enjoying Monday morning’s welcoming celebration, she observed that the school was off to a good start. “Last week at a faculty meeting, we talked about how you get just one chance to make a first impression.”

Looking about Monday, Rowe agreed, and said working on the mission has been good for staff as much as students. “I like the camaraderie I see.”

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Modesto's Enochs starts new year with a new mission."