Kevin: Really appreciate you allowing me to come in here. I know it’s been a very busy time, but now I’ve had Lucas for six weeks.

Kevin: Because we do home visits, we have a level of trust with our parents, students and staff and Administration here. And it’s work. it’s time. It’s an investment. But the payoff is clearly worth it.

Kevin: Do you get to check his grades and homework?

Kathy: We actually daily go through it together.

Kevin: And how’s that working for you?

Lucas: Oh, pretty good. [laughter]

Kevin: The mission for us has always been just helping students reach their potential. So we say to students, “You know, we have a genuine concern for your well-being.” We do home visits with every new student, incoming freshman, or transfer. It develops trust. It breeds kindness. It creates empathy. We start that tone from Day 1. And we kind of create our culture on that home visit.

Andrew: I think it was Advisory teacher, they just came in, kind of went through kind of like transition from middle school to high school, because that’s kind of a big jump.

Sydney: It was just one of my teachers coming to make sure that I was prepared, and that if I had any questions, so that you’re not confused. You’re like you already know someone on your first day.

Kevin: I have a team of my Assistant Principals and Counselors, as well as teachers. we break down the list of incoming students and say, “I’m going to do these ten. You’ll do these ten.”

Robert: It’s important for me to get out and meet the incoming freshman. It gives you insight into that kid’s world, and it helps you build understanding. You can learn a lot by walking into somebody’s front door.

Kevin: The challenging part is just setting up that visit time. Making numerous calls, emails.

Ryan: Any time you get a call from the Principal, its’s like you almost want to drop the phone. [laughs] But he immediately said, “Nobody’s in trouble.”

Kevin: I really appreciate you guys open up your home.

Kevin: The family, they had been in transition. You know, they left California, come back to Saint Louis. Typically, I get there, then I’ll talk about something personal.

Kevin: In class, you’re making friends?

Lucas: Yeah.

Kevin: And outside of class, what are you doing to keep yourself busy?

Lucas: Hanging out with my friend, Blake, who lives up the street.

Kevin: Okay, and I see you running through the streets, so what does that mean?

Lucas: I’m doing cross-country.

Kevin: Yes!

Kevin: We look at their schedule, and I often bring last year’s grades with me.

Kevin: And Chemistry is obviously a challenging course for a lot of kids.

Kevin: And then I’ll ask, “What do you think a successful year will look like for you?” And so we’re trying to set some goals.

Lucas: Homework load is not– it’s a little different than last year. But here I have more time to do it, I think.

Kevin: Right.

Lucas: Dr. Grawer just asked questions about the school, and how I’m liking it. And it didn’t seem as weird as I thought it would be.

Kathy: I think it’s all going really great, and the adjustment’s been easy.

Kevin: That’s good. So he actually talks about his school, then?

Kathy: Oh, yeah.

Kevin: We develop a handout of all the information we want the families to be aware of. How to contact us, how to follow our school. All those little details we try to go over. And just ease people’s anxieties about coming to a new school.

Kevin: All the ways we communicate at school, whether it’s Twitter, YouTube.

Kevin: When I’m done with that, “Hey, thanks for your time. It’s been a pleasure to be here,” I give them my card, “Call me, email me anytime you want.”

Kevin: Lucas, I’ll see you tomorrow?

Lucas: Yep.

Kevin: Thank you very much!

Kevin: After the home visit, what we have is a form we create, which has some of the notes from the visit. You know, “This person really enjoys volleyball,” or, “This student has a 504 and an IEP, and here’s one of the things mom says will be really helpful for in the classroom setting.”

Jamie: No, I didn’t know, oh, what that meant.

Jamie: It was interesting to know that Lucas is transitioning from one home to the next, and he’s still in a new school, and it makes me want to know that information about each of my students.

Kathy: I think it’s a really great thing that they do. It makes us feel a little bit more involved. It helps connect the kids on a different level.

Kevin: And what it is is just, “Let’s get to know who we’re working with here, and let’s get some buy-in and trust.” And when you have that as your baseline, I mean, you can really take the school to some pretty cool places.

Schools That Work

Maplewood Richmond Heights High School