Pupil Control Ideology (PCI), a set of beliefs about children’s behavior and discipline, and Mindfulness, a continuous scrutiny of school operations, are two manifestations of the cultural pattern of norms, beliefs, and values that give each school a unique identity. A theory derived from previous research and the characteristics of each concept suggested that the two should be inversely related. PCI describes a continuum from humanistic to custodial beliefs about discipline, and the more custodial the school, the more rigid, formal, and rule-bound the school. Mindful schools, on the other hand, require the informal sharing of information, authentic behavior, and a continuous sensitivity to school operation. From the theory, it was hypothesized that the more custodial the school, the less mindful. A sample of 50 high schools, 25 each from Georgia and Alabama, involving 1,143 teachers was used to test the hypothesis. Analyses of variance show no significant differences in the school in their socioeconomic level (SES), size, or in the research variables. Teachers responded to two surveys, PCI and Mindfulness, at faculty meetings; the school was the unit of analysis. Regression analysis supported the hypothesis that the more custodial the school, the less mindful it was. Both measures had high levels of reliability. SES was a control variable. Confirming the hypothesis lent support to the underlying theory. The study filled a gap in the literature in its finding of a negative relationship between PCI and Mindfulness. The practical implications for administrators suggest the humanistic control behavior, which considers students as individuals capable of a variety of behaviors, is complementary to Mindfulness, which requires a robust flow of information about how the school operates and what difficulties the school might encounter. As schools increasingly customize their programs to meet individual student needs, such as taking classes at local colleges as an addition to the school curriculum or carefully crafting curriculum for a diversity of students, administrators should consider the relationship between ideas of school discipline and ideas of a careful understanding of how the school actually functions.