Back to Programs Main
Page
Sanford N. McDonnell
Leadership Academy for Character Education
Academy Goals
Curriculum
Successes
How to Apply
Since 1998,
the
leadership academy has helped school leaders develop the knowledge, skills and
attitudes necessary to create, implement and evaluate programs and
process that make their schools true learning communities in which
character education is a vital part of the curriculum and culture.
The leadership
academy recognizes that each student’s moral development is as
essential to the school mission as academic learning. Character
education is more than just an add-on to the school day. It is
integrating positive values into every aspect of school life,
from discipline policies to curricula to after-school
activities.
The leadership academy helps principals deepen their understanding
of character education, and shows them how to include character
education in every aspect of a student’s school day. Principals
learn to involve not just students, but teachers, parents and
community members in the character building process. Through
sustained learning, conversation, study and writing,
participants create a community of school leaders dedicated to
character education and school change. Academy participants
share a commitment to character education, and help one another
build lasting programs that have a positive, long-term impact on
students’ lives.Over the past decade, character education has
been successfully incorporated in schools across the nation,
producing positive results in student behavior, development, and
academic performance. Creating and maintaining such a meaningful
approach to character education requires strong leadership and a
principal with the vision to see the importance of developing
morally responsible students.
In the St. Louis metropolitan area this
leadership and vision for character education can only expand
and enrich the 12-year history of CHARACTERplus, a
community initiative in character education involving more than
30 school districts, 400 schools, 20,000 teachers and 250,000
students.
The Leadership
Academy in Character Education has a demonstrable record of success.
This can be seen, for example, in the number of leaders whose schools
have won independent recognition for excellence in character education.
Each year, the Character Education Partnership (CEP), based on a rigorous set of
criteria, recognizes approximately 10 public and private schools and
school districts in the United States as models of effective character
education. As part of their National Schools of Character program, CEP
also awards "Promising Practices" citations to schools and districts in
the United States and elsewhere for implementing unique and effective
strategies in character education. St. Louis region schools have
received a large number of these awards, with most recipient schools
having principals and other leaders who attended the Leadership Academy.
Academy benefits include a full year of no-cost
training in character education, a starter library in character education for the school, peer networking, free
attendance to the largest character education conference in the
United States, free workshops by national
experts, and guided development of a character education plan.
The program is designed for
local participants. To replicate the Leadership Academy in other
areas, please see "Designing
and Implementing a Leadership Academy in
Character Education" offered by CEP.