In our Transformational Leadership work with schools, we see a variety of challenges that schools are facing in virtual learning, teaching, and leading. Virtual and hybrid models are in flux and school leaders are struggling to stay on top of a myriad of potential issues. Through all of this, two… Read more

Dear Fellow Educators, We, at the Santa Fe Center for Transformational School Leadership want each of you to know that we are thinking of you during this challenging and turbulent moment.  We know that you have the daunting task of working to transition to an online learning model, all the while… Read more

Click here to see the complete TLI Convening 2020 Program  Read more

Here is a reposting of one of Elena Aguilar blogs we find very helpful.  Many of our clients have attended her training sessions on our recommendation. We hope this is useful in your work. In a series of blogs, Aguilar explored five components to an equity-centered coaching approach: 1) What… Read more

The following paper suggesting a way forward for education in New Mexico was written by Linda Henke, Director of the Santa Fe Center, and Alan Webber, recently elected mayor of Santa Fe.

Education is at least two things at the same time. It is one of the most critical determinants of how each of us does in life. Read more

We at the Santa Fe Center are excited to announce an exciting new partnership that has emerged from our work the last two years in St. Louis. Beginning in July, 2018, we will be establishing a formal hub in the St. Louis region known as the St. Louis Transformational Leadership… Read more

Kevin Grawer, Principal of Maplewood Richmond Heights School District in St. Louis In order to create a more responsive learning environment for our students and staff, we designed our high school schedule strategically to meet the challenge of consistently providing high quality, personalized programming for a diverse student body. We… Read more

Susie Morice, Santa Fe Center for Transformational School Leadership In the Ferguson-Florissant School District in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, more than a dozen schools are engaging in the processes of action research. The Santa Fe Center for TransformationalSchool Leadership is partnering with Washington University to support the district as they tackle challenges… Read more

Transformational leaders eschew the “fix it” focus of reform. Transformational leaders are NOT “turn-around teams.” Instead, transformational leaders seek to dig deep into the culture of a school or district and bring about positive change through systemic shifts that allow students to engage more fully in learning. Historically, American educators… Read more

Transformation of our schools will require leaders who are prepared to repurpose and reimagine schools rather than simply reform them. (Phil Schlechty, p. 8) At the Maplewood-Richmond Heights school district(MRH) in planning sessions with teachers, parents, and board members, we developed our focus for an MRH education: inspiring and preparing students… Read more

For the last two years I have had the opportunity to work with the outstanding teachers and administrators at Grand Center Arts Academy, a young 6-12 charter school in the city of St Louis. Grand is a wonderful success story, attracting a diverse student body from across the metro area… Read more

     A story is a fundamental way that humans organize and store information.Jane Friedman (Friedman) Indigenous people the world over have long recognized the power of story to give their lives coherence and purpose. Across geography and cultures, rich story captures history, cultural mores, and identity. Steve Denning, who… Read more

  “You think because you understand one you must understand two because one and one makes two. But you must also understand and.” -Ancient Sufi teaching   Collaboration “I wrote a poem. Would you like to illustrate it? We could turn it into a book.” And so the project began.… Read more

Recently we reviewed Bonnie Davis’s newest book, Cultural Literacy for the Common Core. What follows is an interview of Bonnie discussing her new book with Dr. Robert Jarvis, Outreach Director of the Delaware Valley Consortium for Excellence and Equity.      https://youtu.be/-wyNefN0IKk  Note – Video is unavailable KW Read more

We believe that we human beings are suspended in webs of significance that we ourselves have spun. (Bennis and Nanus, 1985, 112) One of the most powerful tools a transformational leader has at her disposal is language. Our use of language shapes to a large extent the way people see us,… Read more

Three of the Center’s consultants have recently published or are in the process of bringing to press books reflecting their newest thinking on their work. Bonnie Davis, has recently published her fourth book on cultural literacy, Cultural Literacy for the Common Core             (Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree… Read more

Patrick Lencioni’s book The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business is one of our recommended resources for transformational school leaders this month. Lencioni defines a healthy organization as one “that is whole, consistent, and complete—that is when management, operations, strategy and culture fit together and make sense.” [1] This… Read more

Time for a bit of summer reflection… Are you building an organization that innovates? The June issue of Harvard Business Review includes a provocative article by the authors of a new book, Collective Genius: the Art and Practice of Leading Innovation. In a clear-eyed discussion of what makes some organizations capable of consistent innovation… Read more

July 2014 has been marked on our calendar for over a year now—the date we set to launch the Center. And here we are: the website is up, the LLC formed, and we are now officially a consulting company! While we have been busy designing our organization, we have also… Read more