Laurel Highlands School District: Strengthening School Culture and Empowering Students with 7 Mindsets

Three years ago, Laurel Highlands School District partnered with 7 Mindsets, launching a K–12 implementation through grant support. Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, the district serves about 2,800 students across six buildings (four elementary schools) and supports a diverse community with 57% of students economically disadvantaged districtwide (and higher in some buildings), and 25% receiving special educations services.

Since launching the initiative through grant support, district leaders have focused on embedding mindset-based learning into existing systems and daily routines. By aligning 7 Mindsets with practices like PBIS, student leadership opportunities, and family engagement, Laurel Highlands is building a consistent culture across its K–12 community.

Laurel Highlands SD didn’t want to “try a program.” District leaders wanted a lasting way to strengthen culture, unify expectations, and help students build the life skills to thrive—academically and personally. For Randy Miller, the district’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction, the appeal of 7 Mindsets was both the quality of the content and its potential to create consistent language across schools. “7 Mindsets is an amazing product and I greatly appreciate … the opportunity to bring it to our staff and our students,” Miller shared.

From the start, Laurel Highlands focused on what makes initiatives stick: routines, visibility, and shared ownership. The district built a monthly leadership cadence that includes Miller, school administrators, and Lesley Wilson, the district’s 7 Mindsets customer success manager. These meetings are intentionally “data focused and data centered,” but they’re also a collaboration space—leaders share what’s working, troubleshoot barriers, and quickly adjust implementation to keep momentum moving forward.

That structure matters because educators are balancing multiple initiatives, Miller described. Instead of treating 7 Mindsets as a separate add-on, Laurel Highlands embedded it into what they were already doing. Schools threaded mindset-based learning into existing behavior and culture practices (including PBIS) and, in middle school, integrated mindset concepts into the Ron Clark house system, reinforcing student leadership, community, and positive choices.

Across buildings, staff found creative ways to build buy-in and celebrate progress. Elementary schools launched “Woohoo Wagons” on Mindful Mondays—small, visible moments that recognize staff and reinforce a culture of appreciation. Students took ownership through “Mindset Minute” readings during morning announcements, and principals extended learning by asking students about the featured mindset during classroom walkthroughs (sometimes pairing engagement with fun incentives). Schools also used coloring contests and student work displays to keep the “mindset of the month” present in hallways and classrooms.

Implementation challenges still exist, especially with program buy-in from high school students and teachers in the district. School principals have worked to create 7 Mindsets teams—often a guidance counselor, support staff member, and teacher—that help to identify and push out 7 Mindsets lessons and topics and information to teachers and staff. While there is still work to be done, this approach has shown great success.

Another priority has been family connection. Laurel Highlands uses 7 Mindsets family letters while also embedding the mindset message into broader communications—calendars, welcome-back letters, and ongoing updates—so families stay aligned with what students were learning. Social media amplifies the culture shift, highlighting student success through mindset language like Live to Give, Passion First, and 100% Accountable.

For Miller, the district’s biggest lever has been accountability with support. “Does every principal focus on 7 Mindsets every day? No, they don’t have the time and every minute to be able to do that,” he said candidly. “But when they know I got a meeting coming up … they’re logging into the dashboard … holding them accountable. And I think this process has allowed us to ensure that this initiative is happening in K to 12 and is actually engaging everyone in that entire process.”

Today, Laurel Highlands’ implementation reflects what mindset-based learning is designed to do: create a shared language, elevate student leadership, and build a consistent culture across the K–12 community—one month, one building, and one meaningful practice at a time.