How One Superintendent Built a Shared Identity from the Ground Up

When Dave Parker began his tenure as superintendent of Forest Grove School District, he didn’t have a blueprint. He had curiosity—and a desire to understand the community he’d just stepped into.

OBJECTIVES

Learn how to turn community voice into clear, districtwide direction.
Understand how identity work can align strategy, communication, and culture.
See how early listening and relationship building can strengthen your leadership.

RESOURCES

If Your School Was an Animal

At a chance meeting over coffee, he first heard about using identity‑based engagement to connect with students, staff, and families. The concept was new, but it resonated. Rather than rely solely on traditional strategic planning, he wanted to dig deeper—starting with questions instead of answers.

In that initial conversation with Inflexion, Parker listened as the team walked through the concept of maxims: clear, guiding principles grounded in the lived experiences and beliefs of the community. As examples from other districts surfaced, he leaned in. It wasn’t just the framework—it was the opportunity to tap what mattered most to the people he served.

From that moment, Parker began shaping a path rooted in inclusion and transparency. He brought in his leadership team and shared what he’d learned, inviting dialogue and creating space for shared understanding. He cast a vision: not just to define the district’s values, but to turn them into a shared promise to students, educators, and families. What began as a personal learning journey quickly became a collective endeavor.

What are maxims?

Maxims are statements that act as a school’s core drivers to equip and empower every student to pursue their passion, interests, and aspirations. They are used to highlight the areas of hidden strength already within a school. They can also be used as aspirational statements to reinforce the promises your school makes to the community. Maxims should be displayed widely and built into the daily curriculum, as a whole or in part, to familiarize your students and staff with them and embed them into the school culture.

Centering Identity in Strategic Work

As the process unfolded, the Inflexion team facilitated structured conversations with key district staff. Early meetings focused on how maxims could align with strategic goals and reflect Forest Grove’s unique culture. Through thoughtful facilitation, staff who were initially skeptical began to see the value of grounding decisions in community voice.

This wasn’t about swapping out a mission statement; it was about rethinking what that statement meant. The team introduced reframing mission and belief statements into a district promise. That subtle shift—from statements of belief to commitments of action—moved identity work from the periphery to the center of strategy.

Showing Up and Listening—Everywhere

As identity work began, Parker focused on relationships first. He brought his leaders together, shared what he’d learned about maxims, and modeled curiosity—inviting questions, including from those who were hesitant. With Inflexion’s support, the leadership team experienced the engagement activities themselves so they would understand what staff and families would later be asked to do.

Start with the people, start with what they know.

-Lao Tzu

Parker also showed up in community spaces. He was present at school events and family nights, and he helped host a community barbecue—rolling up his sleeves to cook at the grill, meet people, and listen. That kind of hands-on presence signaled he wasn’t just asking for input—he was invested in knowing students, staff, and families. The steady consistency—being there, hearing people out, and following through—built the trust needed to move from input to districtwide maxims and, ultimately, a shared promise.

Stakeholder outreach was both in‑person and systematic. The district used its standard stakeholder engagement surveys—available in English and Spanish—and paired them with facilitated activities at schools. Parker encouraged teams to document evidence: photos of posters, notes from discussions, and entries recorded in simple Google surveys so nothing was lost. Over time, the district gathered more than 3,000 pieces of feedback from students, families, educators, and staff.

The “If Your School Was An Animal” protocol became a turning point. Some leaders were initially skeptical, but once they saw how the metaphor opened meaningful conversation, participation deepened. Parker noticed the shift as teams leaned in, reflected together, and began to articulate shared values that would inform the district’s maxims.

https://dev.dev.portico.inflexion.org/if-your-school-was-an-animal-understanding-visualizing-school-identity/

Together, these moves grounded the maxims in real relationships—not just responses—so when the language emerged, people could recognize their own priorities in it and feel ownership of where the district was headed.

Moving from Insight to Action

With feedback in hand, Inflexion helped synthesize input into a set of districtwide maxims—short, memorable phrases capturing what the community believes about teaching, learning, and student success. These maxims became the foundation for a district promise: a concise, clear articulation of what Forest Grove stands for and commits to deliver.

Rather than stop at visioning, Parker and his team integrated the maxims into a strategic plan extending through 2028. They adapted messaging for individual schools, customizing visuals to reflect each school’s identity while keeping the core commitments intact. The result: a coherent, values‑driven framework to anchor decision‑making and foster alignment across the system.

The district’s refreshed branding—developed alongside the identity work—echoed its Pacific Northwest roots and community ethos. The redesigned logo and visual materials weren’t cosmetic; they signaled a renewed commitment to clarity, connection, and purpose.

Lessons in Leadership

Parker’s approach offers practical takeaways for superintendents and school leaders:

Start with listening. He arrived with questions, not a finished plan—creating space for others to shape direction.
Engage early and often. Consistent presence at school sites and community events built trust that fueled participation.
Make identity actionable. Shifting from abstract beliefs to a shared promise linked values to real decisions, plans, and practices.
Lead through uncertainty. By modeling curiosity and openness, Parker turned healthy skepticism into ownership.

Today, Forest Grove’s maxims and district promise guide how the district communicates, plans, and engages. They’re visible in buildings, on the website, and in everyday conversations. More importantly, they reflect a community that paused to ask who it is—and what it’s willing to stand for.