Introduction

Welcome to School House Strategies!  My name is Kathy House, Founder of School House Strategies.  School House Strategies was founded as a means to support general instructional infrastructure through tailored professional learning modules, performance coaching, strategic planning and resource development for private, public and home school educators.  More to come on that, but for now, let me just tell you a small bit about the founder of School House Strategies.

Throughout my 30 years of service, I’ve served in many capacities and in different educational settings, all of which provided opportunities to grow and shape me as an educator.  Some of the positions I have held are GE/SE dual certified teacher, SE administrator, building administrator, and district administrator.  For the first half of my career as a teacher, I sought out relevant and meaningful professional learning to bolster my skillset as an instructional leader in the classroom (and as a homeschooling mom) with the primary goal of creating the best ecosystem to support exceptional outcomes for learning.  I understood I may have found a solid instructional path when the students placed in my “self-contained” classroom not only met the same bar as their peers in general education settings, but some surpassed reaching that bar, leading to less time in a more restrictive environment.  I found such satisfaction observing this class of students engaging in, and taking ownership of, their learning by setting academic and personal goals and asking questions about the IEP goals that had been developed for them.  It occurred to me that perhaps they had not ever been asked about their learning, and what their hopes and dreams were for their life after K12 school.  After I began intentionally asking my students about their academic and personal goals, their performance started to climb.  I may not have understood there was a science behind this strategy, but I had evidence it was moving the needle.  This set my trajectory, my goal as an educator, and solidified what I wanted to offer all students.

This intentional work paved the way to becoming a strong transformational (building and district) leader and change agent with a knack for developing self-efficacy among both teachers and students.  This next scaffolded step, the first as a building principal, provided an opportunity to test this process school-wide rather than just in a single classroom.  The shift in the culture, instructional practices, teacher engagement and rigor catapulted our large school from a failing grade (as per ESSA) up into the “A” range within a 3-year span of time.  We moved from an overall average of proficiency in both reading and math from 33% up to an average of 77% within 3 full academic years.  Our students who were learning English or who received Special Education services were not exempt from this learning, and their growth mirrored that of their peers.

My passion, and the foundation for School House Strategies, is to come alongside others who are public, private and homeschooling educators, and provide tailored support, so that they enjoy some of the same positive outcomes for the learners in front of them.  Stay tuned for upcoming blogs, live events and how to request services tailored to your specific needs