Summer is for Strategy: Setting Clear Goals Before the School Year Begins

It’s summertime — and for school leaders, that means opportunity.

While the pace of the school year slows, summer offers rare and valuable space to reflect,

plan, and put key systems in place before the fall rush begins. In my experience as a teacher,

a school leader, and now as a consultant, I’ve come to see the rhythm of the school year in

four phases:

- Summer = Planning

- Fall = Implementing

- Winter = Assessing & Tweaking

- Spring = Resetting & Looking Ahead

Right now — in the summer — is the time to plant the seeds of your biggest goals for the

next school year. So, let’s start with one.

What is one meaningful instructional or cultural goal you have for your school next

year?

Start there. Just one. Jot it down. Think about why it matters. What would success look like?

What data would show you you’re on the right path? Who needs to be on board for it to

succeed? Who stands to benefit the most?

You don’t need a detailed rollout plan today — that comes next. But summer is the moment

to clarify where you’re headed and why.

A Real Example: Rethinking What Success Looks Like

At one of the schools I’ve supported, leaders noticed something troubling: students were

performing well on classroom assignments and teacher-created assessments, but when it

came time for interim assessments and state tests, results dropped off sharply.

Now, we can (and should) question the validity and cultural biases of state testing. But

when there’s a consistent gap between internal and external measures, it’s worth digging in.

So we did. The data revealed that students were struggling not just on state tests, but also

on other higher-cognitive, cumulative tasks. They weren’t retaining or applying knowledge

the way we thought they were — and teachers were frustrated, too. They felt like they were

teaching their hearts out, but something wasn’t clicking.

This is the kind of insight that *can* come during the school year, but rarely gets addressed

fully until summer, when there’s time to think and collaborate. And it starts with setting

clear, actionable goals.

Ask Yourself:

- What will it look like when we’ve achieved this goal?

- How will we measure it?

- Whose support will we need to be successful?

- Who benefits most if we get this right?

Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue this series with the steps to take your goal from

idea to action. But first: write it down. One goal. One priority. One vision.

Let this be the summer where your strategy takes root.

———

Nina Mauceri, PhD at Mauceri Education works elbow-to-elbow with school leaders and teachers to build systems, shift practice, and bring clarity and coherence to your goals.

Learn more at: www.maucerieducation.org

*Written by Nina Mauceri, PhD, with editorial support from AI.

Nina Mauceri, PhD at Mauceri Education works elbow-to-elbow with school leaders and teachers to build systems, shift practice, and bring clarity and coherence to your goals.