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A Student-Centered Approach at KMS

Teacher facing classroom of students listening intently

Kennett Middle School opens staff meetings with a powerful quote to remind faculty to remain focused on how they treat students and the learning environment they create.

Begun by former middle school principal (now high school principal), Lorenzo DeAngelis, the quote reminds staff of the power they wield to impact their students.  The quote from Haim Ginott reads: 

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”