When you look at the budget for our entire school, $10,000 isn’t a lot of money. But at Reagan High School where I am principal, that money will allow us to help 80 students receive math and reading enrichment this summer so they’re more prepared academically when the new school year begins.
(more…)School of Thought Blog
A Summer Syllabus for School Leaders
For school leaders, summer is the time to relax, recharge, and read. Here, we share our top five picks from the “Syllabus” section of Principal Leadership. Items include books about timely topics in education as well as podcasts that are worth a listen. Be sure to check out new “Syllabus” selections in the September issue of Principal Leadership. In the meantime, happy reading, listening, and learning!
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Best Practices for Implementing a K–12 Math Intervention Program
Set your district up for success with these practical tips
Your school or district has decided to invest in a math intervention solution—or maybe you’re narrowing down your options. Regardless of where you are in your math intervention program journey, a key consideration is implementation. While often overlooked, a robust implementation plan enables the success of any program.
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Social Media Is Essential for Communicating with Students
I have always thought of social media as a place for schools to post school information and archive great memories of student achievement and activities. Like many districts, in recent years, my district has received online threats, and inaccurate information has spread on social media about things allegedly happening in our buildings. Sadly, I have also seen unfounded rumors and falsehoods posted online. On social media, are we guilty until proven innocent? I have spent countless hours responding to posts that have distracted me from the work of supporting the instructional programs in schools. In order to change the narrative on social media for my buildings, I must rethink how we can use social media in our schools positively—as it was intended.
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Why Juneteenth Deserves a More Prominent Place in History Classrooms
On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday—the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983. As we mark the second year of the Juneteenth holiday (short for June 19th), the history behind the day still isn’t widely known. Juneteenth commemorates the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people were freed—two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The news was spread by General George Granger, who read General Order Number 3 on June 19th, 1865.
(more…)An Exceptional Trio of Sisters—and Student Leaders
When triplets Aleena, Alyssa, and Aniyah Butler learned they all were accepted into their high school’s chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS), they breathed a collective sigh of relief.
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A Community Pushes for School Upgrades, Together
Paul Robeson High School for Human Services is a small school in West Philadelphia that, like many others in cities across the country, is housed in a building with inadequate air conditioning that makes it almost impossible to teach and learn because of excess heat in the warmer months. By next school year, however, Robeson will see a number of infrastructure improvements, including adequate air conditioning throughout the school. In this post, teacher leader Dr. Elana M. Evans and student Morgan Eason talk about how a major effort by teachers, parents, and students—including the school’s National Honor Society (NHS) chapter—convinced the school district’s central office to act.
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Celebrating Pride Month Starts with Student Voice
During one school’s election for student body president this year, a candidate was openly gay. He was preparing to give a speech over the intercom during homeroom period. A few minutes before he presented, the school’s principal briefly met with him to discuss the contents of his speech.
(more…)STATEMENT FROM NATIONAL EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONS ON GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION PACKAGE IN SENATE
June 8, 2022 – The 17 organizations below representing the full breadth of the national K-12 education community, including school superintendents, administrators, educators, school mental health providers, school staff and parents, call on Congress to swiftly pass legislation that will address the senseless epidemic of gun violence in this country.
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What’s a PLC Meeting, Anyway?
What Is a PLC?
As I work with schools across the nation and beyond, I often hear statements like these: “Our PLCs are meeting on Tuesday.” “We will be ‘PLCing’ on Wednesday afternoon.” “PLCs happen here every other week.”
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Listening and Learning Tour Features Stops Out West
As the end of the school year approaches, NASSP President Gregg Wieczorek is winding down Leading Forward: The Listening and Learning Tour. The latest tour stops, highlighted below, come from California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
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Three Things to Know About Gen Z’s Mental Health Crisis
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recently declared the mental health crisis in young people a national emergency.
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Employee Assistance Programs Provide Valuable Mental Health Services
With all the concern lately about the mental health of students and school staff, school leaders should make sure they are taking full advantage of what can be a great resource in their districts: employee assistance programs, or EAPs.
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A Homegrown Recruitment Program Helps Ease Staff Shortages
Other schools might be having trouble filling staff vacancies, but that’s not an issue at Haines City High School in Polk County, FL. We’ve been fully staffed since before the pandemic, and I don’t expect that to change.
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Data Rich, Information Poor: Untangling the Web of Student Information
You work in a world that runs short on a lot of things – time, money, staff, resources.
One thing you’re never in short supply of? Data. From student enrollment, attendance, grades, test scores, discipline referrals, and so much more, it can become overwhelming to keep it all straight.
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My “Go-To” Tools for Leading My School
At the Maine Principals’ Association conference last month, I spoke about what I feel are the most important tools in an administrator’s toolbox. These are the tools I’ve relied on in my 28-year career as a school leader. As the school year draws to a close and you take some much-needed time to rest and reflect this summer, I want to share them with you.
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Highlights from Leading Forward: The Listening and Learning Tour
NASSP President Gregg Wieczorek has now visited more than 35 states as part of Leading Forward: The Listening and Learning Tour. In April, he visited schools in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Below are brief highlights from the latest stops.
(more…)Five Highlights from Trailblazing Leadership Week
A week of leadership, learning, and recognition for dedicated school and student leaders ends today. Here we share some of the experiences that made them feel seen and heard as they were honored for blazing trails in education.
(more…)NHS Gala Celebrates Outstanding Student Leaders
For a select group of young people, it was a night to remember in Washington, DC. Inside a hotel ballroom Monday evening, with proud advisers, parents, and principals in attendance, NASSP honored the 25 winners of the 2022 National Honor Society (NHS) scholarships. The event kicked off this year’s National Student Leadership Week, whose theme of “Trailblazing Leadership” was particularly apt given the challenges that students have faced in the wake of the pandemic.
(more…)NASSP Members Tell U.S. Secretary of Education That American Rescue Plan Worked
At a day-long meeting yesterday at the U.S. Department of Education, around 60 school leaders shared their experiences using COVID-relief funding to help their students and offered their perspectives on the challenges that remain. They also participated in workshops on student wellness, equity, and educator burnout, among other topics. The convening kicked off NASSP’s Trailblazing Leadership Week in Washington, D.C., in which nationally recognized school leaders and student leaders are advocating for the needs of students and educators at the national level.
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