When I transitioned from the classroom to administration in January of 2000, I realized that one of the things I was giving up was the direct daily impact on students that I had as a teacher. Sure, I would still have a large impact on students, but not in the same manner that a teacher does. This helped influence how I wanted to treat the teachers who did have that daily direct influence on students. Basically, I was determined to provide my teachers with the support and materials they needed to go out and do their jobs to the best of their ability. That also included making sure that they knew I appreciated their efforts. (more…)
School of Thought Blog
Creating an Environment Where Teachers are Appreciated and Celebrated
Three Creative Uses of the Principal’s Blog
Many principals these days use blogging to reflect, share, and highlight the great things going on in their schools. Blogging is an innovative way to give families and the community even greater insight into a principal’s mindset, priorities, and personality. It helps build even deeper connections. (more…)
Improving Staff Morale: One Simple Note at a Time
After 34 years in the education profession and 15 years at the same junior high school, I continue to be amazed at the fact the staff members still enjoy getting positive notes in their mailboxes about what they do at our school and for the students. Over the course of several years, I have altered or changed the process I have used for this positive messaging and modified how I did these messages to fit the personality or needs of each staff member. When you walk around our school you will see these notes attached or posted in each staff member’s room, by their desk, on the side of their computer monitor, or posted on a board behind their desk. (more…)
Building CultureCollaborative LeadershipCommunicationHuman Capital ManagementLeading LearningRelationships
Moving Your School Toward Restorative and Multitiered Systems of Support
One of the most difficult things to navigate as a school administrator is discipline. How do you help students understand that their behavior is not appropriate? How do you respond so that the teacher who refers a student feels supported? (more…)
Does Time Management for the Principal Exist?
In my six years as principal of Martinsburg High School, I have realized that it does not matter what my plan is when I walk in the door at 7:00 a.m., it is always going to change based on the myriad situations I am faced with throughout the day. If you ever find a professional development session for administrators that starts out with a heading like “time management for administrators in order to get everything done,” you should be very skeptical as to whether this leader has ever worked in a school as an administrator. What normally happens is I spend 80 percent of my day putting out fires and prioritizing which of those fires need my attention and which of those fires can I delegate to an assistant. Which bring me to my question for all of you: How should school leaders manage their time to make the most of their day? (more…)
Building Positive School Culture Through Service Activities
Middle level students are at a crucial age, consciously developing their identities while trying to understand how they fit in with their peers. Teachers, administrators, and staff have the opportunity to provide a compass for students navigating these difficult times. As middle level students develop their sense of self, they often begin looking for ways to make an impact in their community. This materializes in a desire to pursue a cause, do fundraising, and participate in charities. (more…)
5 Ways Principals Can Promote Student Voice and Self-Advocacy
In my time as principal of Aztec High School in New Mexico, one of my main goals has been to promote a culture centered on student voice. I’m proud to say that our school values student voice and actively seeks out input from students to shape our academics, extracurricular programming, and building culture. And when a school shooting took the lives of two students in December 2017, our commitment to student voice became a vital component to our school community’s recovery. (more…)
Announcing the 2nd Quarterly Principal Advocate Champion
Every quarter, the NASSP Policy & Advocacy Center recognizes outstanding volunteer advocates who dedicate their time to advancing the policy and civic priorities of school leaders, public education, and students across America. The Principal Advocate Champion is someone who has made a powerful impact on the direction of public education policy through their personal engagement with state and federal policymakers and their ability to organize grassroots support behind NASSP advocacy initiatives.
The NASSP Policy & Advocacy Center is excited to announce that Jason Mix has been named the second quarterly Principal Advocate Champion of 2019! (more…)
Use the 2019 National Principals Conference to Push Your School Forward
During the 2013–14 school year, I was in my third year as assistant principal/registrar at Dubuque Senior High School. Our principal, Dr. Dan Johnson, was in his first year as principal after serving many years as a counselor and assistant principal at the school. Good things were happening at Dubuque Senior, and school culture was positive. However, we needed a push forward to help make everything come together. The 2014 NASSP Ignite Conference provided that push. (more…)
Meghan Redmond Named 2019 National Assistant Principal of the Year
Being an assistant principal takes dedication, determination, and grit—but it also takes compassion, innovation, and collaboration. All are qualities found in a National Assistant Principal of the Year, and Meghan Redmond, assistant principal at Chief Ivan Blunka School in New Stuyahok, AK, has been honored as this year’s winner. (more…)
Assistant Principals: The Difference Makers
I was an assistant principal for 10 years. Those were some of the hardest but most rewarding years of my career. It seems fitting that April is the month that has been designated to recognize assistant principals. It can often be the craziest month with standardized testing, extracurricular activities, and elevated energy levels in the school building that often accompany the arrival of warmer weather. And assistant principals are invaluable at helping schools navigate the most challenging times. (more…)
Out of the School and Into the Community: Why I Became an Adviser
Guest post by Natasha Schaefer, NHS adviser at Woodcreek High School in Roseville, CA.
When I opened my inbox to find an email from my vice principal, I was relieved that it wasn’t about an upset parent or other administrative tasks. Instead, it was calling for volunteers. Our National Honor Society (NHS) adviser had moved to another school, and the position needed to be filled. While I normally worked with lower-achieving students—a satisfying duty in its own right—I decided I wanted to get to know the kids on the other end of the spectrum. (more…)
Happy National Assistant Principals Week!
Assistant principals work tirelessly to further the academic success and well-being of each student and adult in their learning community—and all week long, we’ll be giving them hard-earned recognition for their dedication. (more…)
How to Reduce After-School Detentions and Make Them Meaningful
Detention has been around for as long as I can remember, and some of us—myself included—have served a detention or two when we were students. When I became principal of Wilson West Middle School, I thought deeply about detention as part of our discipline practice. Do detention policies that have been around for decades work for today’s students? If the same students keep finding themselves in detention, what good do they serve? Are detentions effective and helping students learn from their mistakes or do schools keep them simply because they are so ingrained in our tradition? (more…)
Define a Collective Purpose to Guide Your School’s Culture
As school leaders, it is never too early to plan how you want to begin the next school year. In what manner can you galvanize your staff to start a new year? Many schools have a mission or a vision statement, but I want to challenge that notion. Why change or divert from this philosophy? Many of us in leadership could not recite our specific mission statements by memory. Many of us will have to dust off the document and read it again to refresh our memory. (more…)
Collaborative Practices to Hire for Excellence
A few weeks ago, at Montana’s State Administrator conference, I had the opportunity to listen to Jimmy Casas, author of Start. Right. Now.and Culturize. He asked a question that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind. In talking about the importance of hiring quality teachers, he asked, “How do we train people on hiring committees to hire people for excellence?” (more…)
Advocacy Update: Secretary DeVos Defends the President’s Budget on Capitol Hill
Last week, Secretary Betsy DeVos testified before both the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittees to defend the Department of Education’s (ED) funding proposals in the FY 2020 President’s Budget. Both hearings were somewhat contentious, with Democrats pushing DeVos on many of the unpopular cuts to education programs made in the budget and Republicans praising the majority of the proposal. Overall, some policies and highlights emerged from both hearings: (more…)
Three Steps to Improve Teacher Performance
We have all read or heard research that concludes the teacher in the front of the room has the largest impact on student learning and performance. Therefore, as principals, we should be focused on helping our teachers to grow and improve. At Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools in Nebraska, we have implemented a successful process to do just this. Here are the three steps we take to improve teacher performance: (more…)
Curriculum, Instruction, & AssessmentsLeading LearningOtherPrincipal/Teacher PreparationReflection & GrowthResults-Orientation
Using PPE Data to Advocate for Your School
As principals, you are focused on myriad issues that impact the function of your school on a daily basis; are school buses arriving on time, did the cafeteria receive its delivery, are your students safe. Despite all that you attend to, it’s natural to face some scrutiny from parents, administrators, and community members about how your school is doing. Starting next year, a significant change in available data about school funding could impact questions that you field about your school’s resources, and salaries for teachers, staff, and administrators. (more…)
Building Strong Relationships Within the School Community
It is my privilege to be one of the educational leaders in our rural community with a student enrollment of 400 fabulous kids! There is a magical atmosphere in our school, and though I cannot take all of the credit for our pizazz, I know that my role as a leader contributes to it. To me, the heart and soul of a school district is relationships. How can school leaders cultivate a culture that puts relationships at its center? Here are some of the ways that Timber Lake School promotes strong relationships among our students, staff, families, and the community. (more…)