Your core values are the heart of Hilight for your district. Every hilight a staff member sends is tagged with a core value, and they show up throughout the platform, including your Data Dashboards and the Hilight Bulletin feed. Being intentional about these helps make recognition feel more meaningful and gives you cleaner data down the road.
This article will help you determine your core values on Hilight, whether you're starting from an existing district plan or building your values from scratch.
How many core values should we have?
We recommend starting with 4–7 core values. This is enough to capture what matters most to your district without overwhelming staff when they're choosing a value to tag on a hilight. Some districts choose to expand their core values over time, but it's much easier to add values later than to trim a long list once staff have gotten used to it.
Option 1: You already have established core values
If your district plan, strategic plan, or mission/vision documents already spell out core values, you're most of the way there. Here's what we need from you:
- The list of values (ideally 4—7, though we can accommodate more)
- A short description for each one
Descriptions matter more than people expect. They tell staff exactly how to use the value, and we consistently see staff borrow that language directly when writing their hilights, which makes recognition feel more consistent and on-brand across your district. Aim for one sentence, written in an active, "we" voice.
Example:
| Core Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Teamwork | We succeed together by supporting, collaborating, and lifting each other up. |
| Excellence | We strive for growth, high standards, and our best effort every day. |
| Innovation | We embrace creativity, new ideas, and bold solutions to improve our school. |
| Leadership | We lead by example, inspire others, and create a positive impact. |
| Joy | We bring positivity, celebrate wins, and make school a place everyone loves. |
If your existing values don't yet have descriptions, don't worry, we're glad to help you draft them. Just send us the value names and a sentence or two about what each one means to your district, and we'll turn it into Hilight-ready language for your review.
Option 2: You don't have established core values yet
No problem! Many districts use setting up Hilight as the moment to put this into words for the first time. Here are a few prompts to help you and your team land on values that feel authentic:
- What do you already recognize informally? Think about the behaviors or moments your staff already gets celebrated for at meetings, in newsletters, or in hallway conversations. Values that reflect real, lived behavior tend to stick better than aspirational ones pulled from a generic list.
- What's in your strategic plan or mission statement? Even if it's not labeled "core values," district plans often contain language (around collaboration, excellence, equity, innovation, community, etc.) that can be distilled into values.
- What makes your district different? Consider what you'd want a new hire to understand about "how we do things here" in their first month.
- What behaviors do you want to see more of? Values aren't just descriptions of the present. They can also point toward the culture you're building.
- Keep it in staff language, not policy language. A value like "Excellence" paired with a plain-spoken description will get used in hilights far more than a formal policy phrase.
If it's helpful, gather input from a small group (e.g., building leaders, your recognition committee, or even a staff survey) rather than deciding in isolation. Buy-in tends to be higher when staff had a hand in shaping the list.
We're happy to help. If you'd like, share your mission/vision statement, strategic plan, or even just a rough list of ideas, and we'll help you shape them into a clear, hilight-ready set of 4—7 core values with descriptions.
What we need from you
Once you're ready, send us:
- Your core value names (4—7 recommended)
- A one-sentence description for each
We'll load these into your Hilight instance so every hilight sent can be tagged, tracked, and reported on from day one.