--- title: "Make Time, Make It Easy, Make It Visible: Lessons in Faculty Buy-In" description: How Oaks Christian School and Ursuline Academy of Dallas built faculty buy-in and lasting momentum for professional growth with myFolio. image: https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hubfs/Creating%20Buy-In%20and%20Momentum%20with%20Your%20Professional%20Growth%20Process%20%26%20myFolio%20September%202026%20Spark%20Session%20Hero%20Image%20(1).png --- [![Folio Site Logo 250 x 100 px](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Folio%20Site%20Logo%20250%20x%20100%20px.png?width=175&height=70&name=Folio%20Site%20Logo%20250%20x%20100%20px.png "Folio Site Logo 250 x 100 px")](https://foliocollaborative.org/) [![Folio Collaborative company logo](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/Folio_ColoronTrans_Full%20lockup%20horz.png?width=1801&height=1500&name=Folio_ColoronTrans_Full%20lockup%20horz.png "Folio Collaborative company logo")](https://foliocollaborative.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. - [Speak with an expert](https://meetings.hubspot.com/alaena1/consultation-call) - Solutions - [Our Approach](https://foliocollaborative.org/our-approach) - [Platform](https://foliocollaborative.org/solutions) - [Professional Learning](https://foliocollaborative.org/professional-learning) - [Research](https://foliocollaborative.org/the-state-of-faculty-growth-in-independent-schools) - [Events](https://45568612.hs-sites.com/folio-events) - [Resources](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org) - [Newsletter](https://info.foliocollaborative.org/the-folio-quarterly-professional-growth-delivered) - [Members](https://foliocollaborative.org/member-schools) - About - [Board of Directors](https://foliocollaborative.org/board-of-directors) - [Advisory Board](https://foliocollaborative.org/advisory-board) - [Team](https://foliocollaborative.org/team) - [Company](https://foliocollaborative.org/about-2) - [Careers](https://foliocollaborative.org/about-2#careers) - [Contact Us](https://foliocollaborative.org/contact) # Make Time, Make It Easy, Make It Visible: Lessons in Faculty Buy-In by [The Folio Team](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/author/admin)   |   Oct 19, 2026 Content for this piece comes from the September 2026 Folio Spark Session, “Creating Buy-In and Momentum with Your Professional Growth Process & myFolio,” featuring Rachel Morales of Oaks Christian School and Caitlin Rathe of Ursuline Academy of Dallas. ## The Challenge When professional growth becomes a priority, it shapes the culture of an entire school. Goals, observations and reflections stop being deadlines to meet. Instead, they become a shared, ongoing conversation about getting better together. Building that kind of authentic engagement takes intention, and the payoff is a community where educators are invested in their own development and in each other’s. Two different schools show what this looks like in practice. | ![Oaks Christian School Logo](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Oaks%20Christian%20School%20Logo.jpeg?width=75&height=75&name=Oaks%20Christian%20School%20Logo.jpeg) [Oaks Christian School](https://www.oakschristian.org) Westlake Village, California About 2,000 students, TK–12, across multiple campuses, with more than 300 employees. | ![Ursuline Academy Logo (1)](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Ursuline%20Academy%20Logo%20(1).png?width=216&height=75&name=Ursuline%20Academy%20Logo%20(1).png) [Ursuline Academy of Dallas](https://www.ursulinedallas.org) Dallas, Texas An all-girls Catholic high school of more than 900 students and 170 employees. | | --- | --- | ## Oaks Christian School: Making Professional Growth Part of the Rhythm of the Year Rachel Morales, now the inaugural TK–3 Director at Oaks Christian, has overseen their myFolio implementation since the school joined in 2020. Over five years, her team turned it from a pandemic-era launch into a core lever for their professional development program. ### ☑️ Part 1: Build the time into the calendar The academic team maps out every in-service day and weekly late start before the year begins. Each session is labeled in advance: faculty meeting, grade-level meeting, or curriculum planning. In almost every element, there is an opportunity for them to engage with myFolio in different ways. - **Model it live.** At this fall’s in-service, Rachel trained more than 30 new faculty and staff on the new TK–3 campus. Together they set goals, sent their first spotlights and practiced writing notes. - **Do it in the meeting, not after it.** Deadlines for peer observations and reflections are shared up front, and time is set aside in meetings to complete them. - **Document as you go.** Every teacher sets one pedagogy goal each year. On curriculum planning days, teachers use myFolio to capture progress in the moment and continue planning. > “We’re going to stop right now, and we’re going to take time to do this part. And then there is buy-in, because they’re not trying to figure out, when am I going to get this done?” > > — Rachel Morales, Oaks Christian School (CA) ### ☑️ Part 2: Build consistency across your community All faculty and about 40% of staff are on myFolio, so accessibility matters. Rachel writes reminder messages and shares them with every supervisor to forward to their own teams, which keeps the message consistent. Teachers and staff are getting this messaging from multiple people, and discussing it in grade-level meetings, department meetings, and faculty meetings. They are all coming together and making sure they are on the same page. ### ☑️ Part 3: Engage supervisors and lead from the top Supervisor engagement was the biggest hurdle. Administrators have different priorities based on their roles within the school, so Rachel supports them with administrator reports, reminders, tips, and clear expectations. Involved supervisors lead to involved team members. They also understand that making intentional time for this work is critical for success. - An academic cabinet sets school-wide goals at the end of each year and meets again before school starts. - Department chairs now teach one fewer class at full pay, giving them time to observe. As co-chairs, they work across the middle and high school campuses. Observation numbers rose sharply. - Grade-level teams meet at least twice a month to reinforce goals and reflect in myFolio. ### ☑️ Part 4: Give feedback many ways, and celebrate it Oaks Christian built a custom walkthrough note template, so quick feedback lands in myFolio instead of on a sticky note. “They see it every time they log in. It doesn’t go in the trash,” Rachel said. Peer, formal, department chair and curriculum director observations each have their own place. The school set a goal last year to increase total notes and grew them by 316. This year’s focus is on Spotlights and maintaining positive momentum. | 316+ more notes in myFolio after setting a school-wide goal | 30+ new faculty and staff trained live at fall in-service | | --- | --- | ## Ursuline Academy of Dallas: One Goal, Shared Energy, Visible Progress At Ursuline, the core growth cycle was already well established with faculty checking in at least four times a year for goal conversations, mid-cycle check-ins, observation notes and end-of-year reflections. As interim professional learning coordinator, Caitlin Rathe asked a different question: how do we bring people back to myFolio more often, and get them excited when they do? ### ☑️ Part 1: Start with your mission At the first in-service of the year, Caitlin asked faculty to consider how they can connect the professional learning to Ursuline’s broader mission and vision? This is the core work of our school and we’re asking our students to do this kind of learning every day. How can we also be accountable for our own professional development and connection to something bigger? ### ☑️ Part 2: Pick one metric that matters In her first year, Caitlin chose the most fun feature: Spotlights. Using three years of past data, she asked faculty to send 1,000 spotlights. Her challenge later inspired Folio’s member-wide Spotlight Challenge last year. In her second year, she aimed for something deeper: a culture of peer observation. The goal was 100 learning walks, each a 10-minute visit to a colleague’s classroom followed by a short reflection. Teachers noted what they noticed, what surprised them and one thing to start or continue. With Folio’s help, she built a custom note template filed as an observation type, so learning walks showed up separately in reports. ### ☑️ Part 3: Build buy-in from the bottom up > “People don’t want to keep hearing from me why Folio is great. They want to hear from their colleagues.” > > — Caitlin Rathe, Ursuline Academy of Dallas (TX) Learning walks got off to a slow start, with just 11 logged in the first month. So at the January in-service day, she invited three teachers to share what they had gained from participating. One teacher, a 15-year Ursuline veteran, made the point that stuck: off-campus PD has to be adapted for your students, but a colleague down the hall teaches the same students making it easier to bring strategies straight back to your classroom. ### ☑️ Part 4: Share progress Caitlin posted analog trackers in the lunchrooms and outside her office to support their goals. She shared updates in a professional learning Teams channel and revealed monthly numbers at faculty meetings. The school finished with nearly 80 learning walks, a practice that hadn’t existed in myFolio a year earlier. | 1,000 spotlight goal in year one | ~80 learning walks in year two | | --- | --- | ## Lessons For Your School Both schools understand the importance of structure and energy. Buy-in is all-in: it starts at the top and is never one and done. *When the process takes center stage, myFolio stops being one more login and becomes the place where your school’s growth culture lives.* ![four-moves-graphic@2x](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/four-moves-graphic@2x.png?width=714&height=207&name=four-moves-graphic@2x.png) ## Continue Your Learning - **Get the resources:** templates and examples shared by Rachel and Caitlin. - Oaks Christian School - [ES Late Start & In-service Meetings 2026-2027](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M5FKGag6o2e45fV-ZnI_cvg6Yym7puUZ/view?usp=sharing&utm_campaign=myFolio%20Spark%20Sessions&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8z461z1D1dUuSKMaG0RDJzAD8Xnk7v2QiCvWiANsOOrSQM6FZ9BQNKFylejsz5LACJsoVM) - [OCS TK3 Faculty Observations 2026-2027](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hhg8G14m3GyW5Z2rj7Rm7IVJNwyz8I4E/view?usp=sharing&utm_campaign=myFolio%20Spark%20Sessions&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8z461z1D1dUuSKMaG0RDJzAD8Xnk7v2QiCvWiANsOOrSQM6FZ9BQNKFylejsz5LACJsoVM) - Ursuline Academy of Dallas - [How to Enter Goal](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mxVijndCjQkIMbdVUlKDvzL8lgzglh_b/view?usp=sharing&utm_campaign=myFolio%20Spark%20Sessions&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8z461z1D1dUuSKMaG0RDJzAD8Xnk7v2QiCvWiANsOOrSQM6FZ9BQNKFylejsz5LACJsoVM) - [How To Self-Author Mid-Cycle](https://drive.google.com/file/d/19RsHS8fMULfKAynkuqd8aPBwgLzN-04v/view?usp=sharing&utm_campaign=myFolio%20Spark%20Sessions&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8z461z1D1dUuSKMaG0RDJzAD8Xnk7v2QiCvWiANsOOrSQM6FZ9BQNKFylejsz5LACJsoVM) - [Ursuline Academy Learning Walk Template](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1COMn7JK38YmdbxctADiLzFzML0EnkHq9/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109390307265525878662&rtpof=true&sd=true&utm_campaign=myFolio%20Spark%20Sessions&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8z461z1D1dUuSKMaG0RDJzAD8Xnk7v2QiCvWiANsOOrSQM6FZ9BQNKFylejsz5LACJsoVM) - **Join the next live event:** [Visit our Events page.](https://foliocollaborative.org/events) - **Speak with an expert:** start building momentum at your school. [Schedule a consultation.](https://meetings.hubspot.com/alaena1/consultation-call) ## About the Presenters **Rachel Morales** TK–3 Director, Oaks Christian School Rachel serves as the inaugural TK–3 Director for Oaks Christian School’s fall 2026 opening, in an education career that began in 1998. An Oaks Christian leader since 2013, she previously served as Grades 4–8 Academic Dean, Director of Academic Data & Accreditation, and Middle School Dean. Before that, she spent 15 years in San Diego private schools as a teacher, assistant principal and principal. **Caitlin Rathe** Professional Learning Leader, Ursuline Academy of Dallas Caitlin is a social studies educator and professional learning leader in her sixth year at Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She leads mentoring and onboarding programs for new teachers and designs opportunities for meaningful professional growth. She holds a PhD in History from UC Santa Barbara and spent three years in higher education administration focused on process improvement. #### About the author The Folio Team [Follow me on my website](https://foliocollaborative.org/) [Follow me on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/foliocollaborative/) Folio is your partner in facilitating professional growth strategies that last. Our customizable framework empowers school leaders to help their teachers thrive and our platform sustains the process. Originally spun out of McDonogh School and proudly built in Baltimore, Maryland, Folio is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit used by independent schools nationwide. ### Related posts [Make Time, Make It Easy, Make It Visible: Lessons in Faculty Buy-In](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/make-time-make-it-easy-make-it-visible-lessons-in-faculty-buy-in) [Starting Strong with Strategic Professional Growth Setup](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/starting-strong-with-strategic-professional-growth-setup) [Folio Collaborative: Helping Schools Deliver On Their Value Proposition](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/folio-collaborative-helping-schools-deliver-on-their-value-proposition) [Leverage myFolio Reports to Deepen Practice and Institutional Impact](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/leverage-myfolio-reports-to-deepen-practice-and-institutional-impact) [The Lifeline to Why I Love Teaching: How Grace Church School Transformed End-of-Year Conversations](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/the-lifeline-to-why-i-love-teaching-how-grace-church-school-transformed-end-of-year-conversations) [A Unified System for a Unified Mission: Support and Feedback for Faculty and Staff](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/a-unified-system-for-a-unified-mission-support-and-feedback-for-faculty-and-staff) [Five Appreciation Fridays: A Leadership Discipline for Catching People Doing Something Right](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/five-appreciation-fridays-a-leadership-discipline-for-catching-people-doing-something-right) [Making Accreditation Your Blueprint for School Health](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/making-accreditation-your-blueprint-for-school-health) [6 Ways to Elevate Feedback and Well-being with myFolio's Mindful Minute](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/6-ways-to-elevate-feedback-and-well-being-with-myfolios-mindful-minute) ©  2026 COPYRIGHT Folio Collaborative. 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