J. Evans Middle School & An Organizational Profile

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An organizational profile (Baldrige 2007) is being constructed of J. Evans Middle School (JEMS) which is located in Greeley Colorado. JEMS is one of 7 middle schools in Greeley. This paper will focus on the organization culture of JEMS. An organization culture is “… an attempt to get at the feel, sense, atmosphere, character, or image of an organization” (Hoy & Miskel, 2008, p. 177). This information was obtained by interviewing Dawn Hillman. Dawn is the principal of JEMS and this is her first year as principal. The last two years she was the assistant principal. In this paper the writer will focus on the culture of JEMS. First the writer will talk about what a toxic culture is and will describe the culture of JEMS. Second the writer will reflect on the experience of conducting an organizational profile.

Culture of JEMS

Does JEMS have a toxic culture? Before we answer this question we need to define what a toxic school is. To do this lets start by discussing what a positive culture is. Small Schools Project states a positive culture is were shared sense of purpose and values that all staff have buy in, all staff is focused on continuous learning and school improvement and this norm is reinforced by the group (n.d.). A positive culture is where all staff believes students can learn and teachers are responsible for student learning. The school is a place of collaboration and all staff wants to become a better teacher so staff communication is about reflection and teaching strategy (Small Schools Project, n.d.). A toxic culture is the opposite of a positive culture.

What does a toxic culture look like? According to Small Schools Project a toxic culture is where staff of the school is very frustrated and sad that things are not ...

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