Christopher Mayes, CEO and Superintendent of Beatrice Mayes Institute (BMI) has been in education for 27 years, and it’s personal to him. “I’m serving in the community that I grew up [in], and making an impact is crucial to me.”

His charter school is piloting Region 4 Education Service Center’s Texas Strategic Leadership (TSL) Program. The foundation of the TSL Program is the Effective District Framework, six levers whose framework provides guidance and action plans for improvement and advancement of school districts and their leaders, educators, and students.
 

Filling in the gaps

BMI had a strategic plan in place, but the plan had gaps. Mayes worked with his TSL partner, Region 4, for guidance to bridge the gaps and improve leadership. Dr. Natasha Watson and Dr. Miguel Perez listened to Mayes describe his school’s singular story and challenges. They shared their own relatable stories that helped Mayes gain insight into his school’s specific leadership needs.

“That part of it was really mind blowing,” Mayes shared. “We were able to share personal experiences about what it’s like to be the leader.” The personalization of the program struck a chord with Mayes, “I know that they were working with other schools, but I never felt like we were an addition to [other schools]. It felt like that experience was solely around us. It felt really customized, catered to where we are, and the accessibility [to the Region 4 TSL team] was phenomenal.”

Mayes explained that an unexpected benefit of working with the Region 4 TSL team was the buy-in from members of BMI’s leadership. He specifically called attention to how BMI principals are incorporating the TSL strategic actions by being more intentional about their walkthroughs. Prior to the TSL work, the walkthroughs were about observation, “but now they’re more specific in that ‘This is what I’m looking for when I’m walking through.’ This action is connected to this goal [of accountability],” says Mayes.
 

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Each district and charter school has unique challenges and needs. Their leaders need expert, customized support to pinpoint the distinct challenges and build strategic plans to set and achieve organizational goals.

The District Advancement Champions of Region 4’s TSL department are uniquely qualified to help superintendents guide a course to actionable solutions to improve the number of high-performing campuses in their districts.

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