At Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, principal Kathleen Hurstell Riedlinger works closely with a team of classroom teachers and arts specialists on curriculum and policy decisions. She sees the group as an effective way to strengthen and protect the school's mission and commitment to arts-based learning.

In this program, you will sit in on a Leadership Team meeting as they discuss the day’s diverse agenda.

In their classrooms, Leadership Team members reflect on the benefits of serving — for the school as a whole and for their own teaching practice.

Riedlinger says: “I call the Leadership Team in on almost every decision I make that deals with things that will really impact policy. ... There is not one person running the show. Everyone begins to say, ‘I feel good about voicing my opinion.’”