School Mission Statements: The 2019 Guide [+ 6 Writing Tips]
All Posts- What a school mission statement is
- How school mission and vision statements work together
- 6 steps for writing your own mission statement
- Common problems with school mission statements
- Why school mission statements are important
- How Prodigy can help you support your school mission statement
What are school mission statements?

School vision and mission statements
If your school is a car and your mission statement is the engine, the school vision statement is the GPS system. Vision statements aren’t the same as mission statements, but they are closely related. To create a mission statement, you should first have a vision for where you want to see your school in the future.John C. Gabriel and Paul C. Farmer, authors of How to Help Your School Thrive Without Breaking the Bank, write:“A vision is your school’s goal — where you hope to see it in the future. The mission provides an overview of the steps planned to achieve that future. A vision is concise and easy to recall, whereas a mission is lengthier and more explanatory in nature.”The vision statement provides a glimpse at your school’s ideal future. Everyone — students, faculty and staff — in your school should be able to recite your school vision statement.
How to write a school mission statement
1. Gather stakeholders
To start, consult students, parents, teachers, staff and any other members of the school community with insights to offer.Put together a small group that reflects all your stakeholders, and get them brainstorming. Where do they think the school is now? Where do they see it in the future? What part of the school’s identity should be emphasized? Working with different members from your school community has several benefits:District 100 teacher leaders met yesterday after school to help craft the new district belief statements. The vision, mission and belief statements will be presented to the BOE at their January regular meeting. Thanks to all stakeholder groups for their input. pic.twitter.com/V9B7eWOrQb
— Berwyn District 100 (@BerwynSouth100) December 20, 2017
- It reduces the fear of change — It’s natural to be apprehensive when school culture starts changing. Opening a dialogue now will help smooth out any tension.
- It improves buy-in — When teachers are consulted on changes to the school’s mission statement, they’re more likely to support it in the classroom and throughout the day-to-day operations of your building.
- It makes your mission better — Teachers, parents, staff and students all have unique perspectives. Use their feedback to build a comprehensive school mission statement that recognizes the diversity of opinions found in the school community.
2. Look at your school

- Socio-economic status of students
- Urban versus rural schools
- Diversity in the classroom
- ESL or multilingual students
- Graduation rates
- Common discipline problems
- Attendance rates
- Staff turnover
- Staff assessment results
- Special needs students
- Student extracurriculars
- Standardized test results
- Student achievement
- Special communities (military families, immigrant populations, international students)
3. Look at the future

- What’s already in place to help us move forward?
- How do we envision our school growing?
- What needs to be changed?
- What characteristics should we emphasize?
- What changes do we see happening in the future?
4. Write your first draft
You’ve answered the questions and gathered the data. Now it’s time for the hard part — putting it all down into words.It might seem like a daunting task to create an articulate, comprehensive and inspiring plan for your school’s future. Just start with a draft -- it doesn’t have to be perfect. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to revise it over the next few steps.If you’d like, ask stakeholders with a talent for writing to give you a hand, but keep the group limited to two or three people.
- Avoid cliches — Global citizenship, 21st century skills and a nurturing environment are all important aspects of an effective school, but they’ve been overused to the point of meaninglessness.
- Get specific — Take those cliches and make them fit your school, not the other way around. In your school, global citizenship could be a focus on second language literacy, or learning about other cultures through the lens of different subjects.
- Be authentic — Keep your school and community in mind at all times as you’re writing, and speak to the real needs they’re seeing.

- They’re happy with the priorities you’ve laid out
- They have no major concerns about any of the school characteristics you’ve highlighted
- The school mission statement is a true representation of how they want the school to grow
5. Give the school mission statement to the community

- The concerns of the majority of stakeholders have been met
- The mission statement compliments the vision of the school, as well as any other messaging materials
- Stakeholders agree the school mission statement is an accurate representation of current and future school growth
6. Put your school mission statement into action
Congratulations! You’ve written your school mission statement.Now for the hardest part — using it! All the hard work you put into your school mission statement is useless if you put it up on your website and forget about it. Put the vision and mission statement everywhere: on the wall, in your office, in your weekly newsletter, on your website. Make sure it’s visible to the entire community.This is also a great opportunity to run a professional development session on how to effectively use school mission statements in the classroom. Go over why it’s important, how it reflects the school’s priorities and how it should be used to guide classroom decisions.Make sure parents and students know what the mission statement means, and tell potential students why it’s so important to you school. It’s also a good idea to revisit the mission statement at the beginning and end of every year. Is it still relevant? Has anything major changed? Are you still actively working to achieve your vision? If there are changes, it’s time to re-align your goals and priorities.Schools are not defined by the mission statement on the wall; they are defined by what actually goes on in classrooms.
— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) November 12, 2017
Common problems with school mission statements
It can be difficult to write school mission statements well. Common problems include:- Too vague
- Too broad
- Too narrow
- Insincere, generic language
- No staff or community buy-in
Why school mission statements are important
Guides community growth

Guides decision-making and priorities

“Once written, the mission statement must become a living document that informs all day-to-day practices of the administration, teachers and students. Too often mission statements exist only on paper rather than being a lived philosophy and commitment to the ongoing development of an effective education institution.”This means school mission statements have serious implications for the priorities and goals of your school, including how money, time, and other resources are allocated. Use your vision and mission to effectively use all available resources.
Gives weight to the learning process

How Prodigy can help implement school mission statements
It’s almost inevitable your school mission statement will prioritize academic excellence. Math competency is a key component of academic excellence, but it’s also a subject many students struggle with. Here at Prodigy, our mission is simple: to help every child in the world love learning. Prodigy encourages math fluency through a daily math practice that keeps students engaged and motivated. Our unique game-based design challenges students to complete quests, explore new worlds and collect points while answering curriculum-aligned math questions.

- How to use Prodigy to reinforce in-class lessons
- How to use Prodigy for formative assessments
- 3 steps to use Prodigy as an RTI tool
Next steps for developing school mission statements
Use your school mission statement to drive learning and empower your teachers, students, and community! Your school community will benefit from a clear plan for growth, and students will thrive. As Gabriel and Farmer write, “the collective force and talent of the faculty is more likely to be realized when there is a common understanding of a shared vision.”Imagine what an entire community can do when it’s united through a shared vision. Get started today on a school mission statement to harness your school community’s potential.Create or log in to your school leader account on Prodigy – a free, game-based learning platform for math that’s easy to use for educators and students alike. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it’s loved by more than a million teachers and 50 million students.
