Mr. Salazar elaborates on the philosophy behind urgency at NCSH.
At NCSH we pride ourselves on having a razor-sharp focus on academic rigor and student achievement, so that we can ensure that our scholars receive the best education possible. One of the fundamental pillars in our school that drives our commitment to providing our students with the best education possible is the tone we set each and every day. This tone is defined by our urgency! Our goal is for our scholars and our families to feel the sense of urgency in the school from the moment our scholars walk into our schools to the moment they leave. This is done in the manner by which we greet our parents, welcome our scholars, and model the level of urgency we want our scholars to exhibit.
Urgency in our school means that we understand that the time to push our scholars towards excellence is now. The time to close the achievement gap is now, and if is not us, then who? If not now, then when? This is a motto that we should think about when we plan our lessons, when we execute our plans, and when we greet and speak to our scholars. Our commitment to our scholars is to ensure their success in the years after they leave our school.
When we opened our doors back in 2012, we promised our parents that their experience in our school would be different than the norm. We promised them that our scholars would reach the highest benchmarks. These promises can only be met by a clear focus on what is important and with urgency. Time is the independent variable in our mission. It doesn’t care how much of its value you waste. However, when we accomplish our goals in a timely, urgent manner, and budget our time well ,we can rest assured that our goals were met because we were urgent.
