As school leaders, we often ask ourselves: How can I be sure that I am meeting the needs of every one of my students? How can I ensure no one is forgotten? The kids who are naturally part of a group such as band, sports teams, Student Government Association, or clubs generally have found their […]
Principal Difference
Peer Mentoring to Build A Culture of Caring
What Have We Learned?
We thought spring of 2020 was going to be our return to normalcy. We spent the fall and winter of the 2019–20 school year in complete crisis. Our school was supposed to be moving into a renovated co-located school building in fall of 2019, and when that project went into turmoil, so did our school. We […]
Purpose and the Assistant Principalship: Four Questions for Reflection
As an associate principal, I find my days filled with constant interactions with students, teachers, and support staff involving day-to-day operational needs, making decisions that affect everyone, acting as a sounding board, listening to various problems, observing and evaluating teachers, helping students and teachers reach their full potential, and doing things that impact our school […]
Building a Restorative Justice Program
There are many types of restorative justice programs in schools, meaning that one size doesn’t fit all. Our motto here at Payson High School is “One Team, Making Today Count.” As a part of “Making Today County,” we encourage our students and staff to take advantage of all positive opportunities, no matter how small or […]
Quarantine Routines: An Educator’s Guide to Surviving a Quarantine
You will have to quarantine. For many educators, these are the words we have lost sleep over, worried about hearing, and struggled to plan for when it does happen. While we are preparing lessons for our students who are at home learning and supporting our colleagues’ classes while they are at home, we are hoping […]
Developing Awareness, Adaptability, and Flexibility as School Leaders
How did you start off this semester? Was it a reset, relaunch, reboot, or redux from the fall? Whatever structures were in place during the first semester as our schools offered in-person learning on campus at reduced capacity, remote or distance learning, or a hybrid of those approaches, we already know more than we did […]
4 Ways All Principals Should Be Leading Digitally
The past year has forced all principals into technology, but true innovative principals are trailblazers who lead the way without the push of the pandemic. These leaders understand that technology can empower students to solve today’s complex problems and to engage with learning in a way that inspires progress and growth. It’s principals like this […]
Therapy Dog Programs: Improving Student and Staff Well-Being
If you’ve ever owned a dog, then you will understand the meaning of “man’s best friend.” Their soothing, fun-loving, and charismatic nature naturally affects the mood of the environment. With just under a year of implementation, our therapy dog program has already made a huge impact on our staff and students’ morale and mental well-being.
Building Relationships With Candidates and Elected Officials
In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, President Abraham Lincoln is described as being the master of setting aside political and personal differences and including opposing voices in his cabinet. In an era of political chaos, that model of leadership is lacking in many arenas of policymaking and discourse, and as public school leaders, we […]
Moving the Needle: Strategies to Increase Academic Achievement in Rural Schools
Six years ago, our middle level/high school in rural Idaho was facing the same problems as many rural schools throughout the United States. Shifts in the local economy and an increase in the number of transient students attending schools in neighboring districts had dropped our high school enrollment to below 50 students, raising concerns about […]