An exciting part of fall is the return of Friday night football. But tragically, many communities across the country have already been shattered by gun violence this school year on far too many Fridays. While school shootings continue to be a painfully regular occurrence, we hope that Americans refuse to become complacent in accepting this […]
Category: School Safety

Ensuring Safety at Football Games and After-school Events

Helping Our School Leaders, Educators, and Students in Maui
Aloha to all our school leader and educator colleagues across the country. As you know, the devastating fires in Lahaina in Maui have shaken all of us here in Hawaii. The entire nation has watched a tragedy unfold, and many of our colleagues have asked us how they can help the Maui schools, educators, students […]
PRN Members Share Their Experiences—and Their Wisdom—in Washington, D.C.
Members of NASSP’s Principal Recovery Network (PRN), a group of current and former school leaders who have experienced gun violence in their buildings, met with federal officials and members of Congress in Washington, D.C. last week to discuss the pressing need to reduce the alarming number of school shootings.

The Power of Collective Efficacy: Accessing Relevant Professional Development to Combat the Impact of COVID-19
On the other side of COVID-19, we continue to experience the ramifications of the pandemic’s effects on students academically and emotionally and on teachers’ skills to address these issues. At Henderson Middle School in Jackson, GA, we quickly realized that it would take collective teacher efficacy to help us face these challenges—and that quality professional […]

NHS Chapter in Ukraine Continues Meeting Despite War
As Russian troops prepared to invade Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv International School moved to online instruction as a precaution. When the invasion took place two weeks later, a large majority of the 800 students—who come from all over the world—enrolled in other schools outside Ukraine, and staff members who were not Ukrainian remained outside […]

Promoting Kindness and Preventing Bullying in Middle School
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and I want to share how I have worked hard over the years to promote kindness in school. It started about 15 years ago, when I first became principal of Colony Middle School in Palmer, AK. At the time, it was pretty apparent that we needed to work on […]
NASSP Survey of Principals and Students Reveals the Extent of Challenges Facing Schools
Last month, NASSP released results from the NASSP Survey of America’s School Leaders and High School Students. Designed by school leaders and students, this nationally representative survey explores their opinions on the challenges of leading and learning at school as well as their thoughts on mental health, school safety, and how to better meet the […]
New Guide Helps School Leaders Who Experience Gun Violence
Twenty-three years ago, 13 people were killed at Columbine High School in one of the first mass school shootings in the United States. Since then, there have been at least 943 incidents of gunfire on school grounds that have resulted in 321 deaths and 652 injuries.

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.

Why Student Protests Are a Valuable Learning Opportunity
At Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, CO, you could say we’re victims of our own success when it comes to student protests. One thing we emphasize in our school is that students need to have a voice. In the grand scheme of things, the school is their school. It’s not my school, it’s not […]