When you hear “school culture”, what do you think of?

According to the Glossary of Education Reform, school culture is “the beliefs, perceptions, relationships, attitudes, and written and unwritten rules that shape and influence every aspect of how a school functions.”

School culture, therefore, is the environment that is created by the students and staff at a particular school. It is created when everyone is empowered to do what’s right for the school and others, and it is about taking ownership and protecting your school.

“A good school culture embraces diversity, and people are able to find a home in it,” the Village School head, Katherine Brewer, said. “People with different worldviews get exposed to each other and to the world. This makes for a beautiful exchange of ideas and a building of character. This is what I believe our school has, and this is defining for what it means to be a Viking.”                  

Our high school is very new, and it takes time to foster a school culture. To take the next step of establishing a permanent Viking culture and finding our collective identity, more people need to showcase their individuality and take risks.

“People need to have more open and honest conversations with each other,” Brewer, says. “Talk to new people, learn about new perspectives and just put yourself out there. A caring mindset needs to be developed where if one person is struggling, everyone takes it upon themselves to make it their problem and help that person solve their issue.”

As our school culture continues to grow and develop, it is important to take note of what direction our school is headed in and what our collective strengths and weaknesses are.

“The question that we should be asking ourselves every day when we walk into school is how can we make somebody else’s day,” the Village High School director, Carl Newman, said. “What can you do to make the humans’ lives around you better? Students should be looking after each other and laughing and smiling. We need to discover the balance between having fun and being productive.”

Our efforts must continue in attempting to build a positive school culture and in looking out for each other. The groundwork has been laid, through functions such as Diversity Day, Viking Day, and more recently, a Day of Silence held at our school for ALS awareness. However, it is time to start the construction of the full building. Everyone has their own unique way of expressing what a true Viking is; it’s a matter of embracing it and accepting it.

“For me, being a Viking means being a scholar who is accepting of everyone in the community, and who is able to understand that we are all able to contribute to a dialogue, despite our social and cultural differences,” said junior Divyesh Kumar Khatri. “In fact, the unique ability to say that in your classroom you have a kid from Iran, or from Nigeria, or Brazil, or even Korea contributes to an understanding of the world and people’s cultures that truly makes everyone so willing to accommodate. And this extra effort put into helping each other out seems to translate to the classroom.”

One Nation. One Team. We are all Vikings and we stand United!