Leaders want schools to be happy places, where students cannot wait to arrive in the morning and see teachers, friends, staff and administrators all smiling and where families take comfort in knowing their children are happy and safe.
Happy school communities share an understanding that every individual is valued and that challenges will be met collectively. These communities find joy in shared effort, especially in the absence of corrosive or constraining anxieties—such communities set tones of what the Coalition of Essential Schools calls “unanxious expectation.”
School communities need leaders who know themselves and their schools and who seek joy and freely express pleasure in their work, even in the face of challenges that come with administration at the school and district levels. Today these can include chronic absenteeism, teacher shortages, post-pandemic learning deficits and media-fed concerns about technologies and violence.
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Principals and district leaders are schools’ public faces and set a tone not just by policies but by presence and demeanor. If these faces smile, schools will be happier places. Leaders cannot be happy all the time, but good nature and humor promote positive relationships with staff, students and families.
Principals, especially, play a crucial role in teacher and staff happiness. Acknowledging hard work, dedication and challenges can create environments where all feel valued, supported and motivated. Sending thank-you notes, modeling open communication and offering appropriate personal support can have a great positive effect on schools’ professional cultures.
As teachers are always watching and evaluating their leaders and how they handle themselves, it is important for principals to project happiness, even in difficult situations. Principals must actively engage in such situations, demonstrating empathy and working to understand how individuals are faring; when people feel understood, they are happier.
From academic pressures to bullying to personal struggles outside of school, student unhappiness is ever present. Experiences that make students happy include participation in activities, rewards, success and social relationships, and schools must develop and actively support programs that engage students and acknowledge their successes.
A school leader can build positive relationships with students by walking the halls, the cafeteria and even the bus stop—not as a stern monitor but as a relaxed and genial presence. The more the leader is seen, especially wearing a smile, the more connected and cheerful others will feel. Students who appear isolated can be noted and perhaps referred to counseling or activities in which they will not feel alone or shunned.
Some schools have professional learning communities whose charge encompasses all aspects of student life—from advising to discipline to student activities. These teams meet regularly to discuss institutional and individual issues and concerns and to strategize ways to support students and reduce bullying, alienation and other problematic behaviors or trends.
A leader must find out from unhappy parents and guardians what is important to the family; active engagement can help frustrated adult family members take heart from having an ally in resolving issues. Even in an unpleasant situation, the leader must engage directly and show that a happy result is the goal.
Aristotle wrote that happiness is about a good spirit, and maintaining such a spirit will inspire staff, students and families. Pervasive and palpable happiness can counter the negative effects of “downers” like anxiety, bullying, mistrust, academic stress, depression and suicidal ideation—issues that can affect an entire school community. Not every crisis can be averted, but issues can be reduced.
A school leader’s “classroom” is the entire community, and a community looks to its leader—in the hallway, at lunch, in public meetings, at games or plays or concerts, and even in the grocery store. A happy, confident leader who knows and is known by the community is a gift—a model of positivity and optimism that radiates through the hallways and into the hearts of members.
