End of the Year Tips from 2012-13 Principals of the Year
COMMUNICATION: Communicate with your administrative assistant and be sure he/she maintains access to your professional appointment calendar so you are in the right place at the right time! Do not underestimate the assistance of your professional assistant to keep you on top of the game! Paula Valenti, 2012-13 Principal of the Year: New Jersey (Emerson Junior - Senior High School)
Get a final schedule out as soon as possible to students, staff, parents, and the local paper. Include the following: prom, state sporting events, baccalaureate, graduation, senior checkout, final tests, last day of school etc. You may want to add a letter of appreciation with the next year calendar. Gary Miller, High School Principal of the Year: New Mexico (Logan Municipal Schools)
DATA, DATA, DATA: At the end of the year, do one last focus on the numbers and find time to celebrate! Even if test scores are not in, you can report on improved attendance, reduced disciplinary referrals, increased college admission, student and faculty awards, and more! It is a good time to remind the faculty of those critical pieces of data. Those are data points that you have been focused on all year and how now is "crunch time" in showing how all your hard work paid off. Brad Teague, 2012-13 MS POY: North Carolina (East Rutherford Middle School)
FACULTY RECOGNITION: Ice cream is an inexpensive way to say thank you to the faculty. During one of the dreaded after school faculty meetings we always lighten the mood with a little ice cream for the staff. Brad Teague, 2012-13 Middle Level Principal of the Year: North Carolina (East Rutherford Middle School)
FOCUS ON LEARNING: Every school day is a valuable learning day. Keep your expectations high and constant. Avoid falling into the destructive trappings of theories such as, "Well, it is the end of the year so don't expect too much." Or, "Hey, it's Friday let them do what they want." These are theories of poor management. If you follow these then you may also be a believer in the weakened views of, "Hey, it is Monday, the kids are tired." If you let these ideas run your schools your staff are then exhibiting low expectations and your students will match it. If Monday and Friday are not good school days and Tuesday and Wednesday are your speed up and slow down days then Wednesday becomes your only school day? Every school day counts, just as your leadership does. Greg Wohlman: 2012-13 Middle Level Principal of the Year: Alaska (Kalskag Schools Principal)
FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES: My recommendation is to keep finding ways to focus on the positives kids contribute to the culture and climate of the school community and take time to listen and appreciate the student voice. If we want to build and strengthen our school communities, then we have to find ways to bring kids together to recognize and celebrate their talents and listen to their stories, regardless if it is the end, beginning or middle of the school year.
We are planning on taking our student leadership team to all of the elementary schools as part of our celebrating service week. Our students will spend time at the elementary schools in a capacity decided by the elementary principal, including lunch buddies, tutoring, service work, etc. Great way to bring our kids together and spend time with the younger kids in our district. Little ones think it is cool!
We will also have many of our senior students visit the elementary school they went to when they were in elementary school and spend time talking to the kids about the importance of working hard in school and being a good friend to others. Jimmy Casas: 2013 High School Principal of the Year: Iowa (Bettendorf High School), Finalist: 2013 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year
MORE POSITIVES: During the last week of school we redo our schedule and combine our lunches. This allows us to offer one extended lunch, in which we organize a school BBQ. Our DJ Club plays music, kids dance in the quad, the superintendent and principals flip burgers, and everyone enjoys the sun and fun. Teachers stagger their lunches for additional supervision (some the first 30 min. of lunch and others the latter 30 minutes). It’s a great way to create memories and fortify positive relationships with students. Trevor Greene, 2013 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year, 2012 High School Principal of the Year: Washington (Toppenish High School)
NEW FACULTY: Instead of waiting to get your new staff together in August, plan a collaboration day the week after school ends in May or June. Not only do your new teachers feel more at ease with their new assignment and team, it provides a summer focus for everyone on assessment creation and lesson building. Suzanne Kimball, 2013 Middle Level Principal of the Year: Utah (Mapleton Junior High School)
PREVENTING PROBLEMS:
1. You want the last day of school to go well. We assign an exit to all teachers and then dismiss classes by room. Students are made aware that they will not be able to go back to their lockers and have to take everything that is going home to their last class. When the students exit they have to walk on the outside of the building to get to their transportation. Since buses leave at a certain time moving in a timely fashion is critical thus less chance of issues. Also, having to bring everything to the last class causes students to think twice about bringing water balloons, water guns, shaving cream, etc. to class.
2. Have locker clean out two days before the last day of school. This ensures that the excitement of the last day does not result in poor judgement (throwing papers all over the place, messing around, etc.). Students are instructed to only retain key end of year assessments.
3. Plan for normalcy the last week of school. If you are going to have any end of year field trips or assemblies plan them prior to the last week of school. Chuck Hughes, 2012-13 High School Principal of the Year: Michigan (Hartland High School)
SENIOR RECOGNITION: It is a perfect time to empower the seniors. We like to use our seniors as ambassadors to the middle school. We send them out to spread the good news about our high school and also share their college plan. Brad Teague, 2012-13 Middle Level Principal of the Year: North Carolina (East Rutherford Middle School)
SENIOR WALK: On the last day for seniors invite parents to the school (designated areas away from rest of students) and have your seniors do a final walk through these areas. Plan an exit door near the student parking lot where parents can meet their senior outside. This keeps students from making poor choices in the excitement of leaving school for the last time. Chuck Hughes, 2012-13 High School Principal of the Year: Michigan (Hartland High School)
TRANSITIONS: Like many schools, we hold a visitation for current 8th grade students to visit the school and tour the facility during the school day with teachers. This is done after the seniors have graduated, so their “homeroom/advisory” is able to accompany the students. What’s more exciting is that we’ve added a summer 9th grade evening visitation, where parents come with their son/daughter and have a dinner with advisory teachers. Before dinner, the student takes the parent on a tour of the school and classrooms to meet the teachers. We then continue with the evening event and introduce staff and begin to build relationship with the families. Trevor Greene, 2013 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year, 2012 High School Principal of the Year: Washington (Toppenish High School)
VISIBILITY: Every administrator should visit every classroom every week. Visibility makes a big difference now more than ever. Emails can wait. Phone calls can wait. Major disruptions can be avoided by your increased visibility in classrooms and hallways. When students know administrators will be in classrooms and halls often, they are less likely to try mischievous things. Laurie Barron, 2013 MetLife/NASSP National Middle School Principal of the Year, 2012-13 Middle Level Principal of the Year: Georgia (Smokey Road Middle School
One word: VISIBILITY. Do your paperwork later. Spend time with your students in the classrooms in the hallways and in the lunchroom. STAY OUT OF YOUR OFFICE. Kevin Ricker, 2101-2013 High School Principal of the Year: Oregon (Centennial High School)
YEARBOOKS: We locked them up until the last few days of school and distributed to students then. They were so focused on signing them before and after school and during lunch that they were too busy to plan or carry out any mischief. We also did not allow them to be signed during classes: Instruction still mattered and time on task was still valuable. By the way - as principal, have a unique colored pen and pick a specific page/photo and always sign there; the kids love it! Anonymous