New Principals Network

New Principals Network Facilitators

Upcoming Network Meetings

Wednesday

Jul 02

2:30 pm ET

Middle Level Network Meeting

Networking and Collaboration

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Calling middle school leaders! Connect with like-minded educators, engage in dynamic discussions, and gain valuable insights where you’ll empower yourself to navigate the middle school landscape with confidence. You must be registered for this Leadership Network to attend the meeting. When you join you will receive an email with the monthly meeting link. Join here. […]

For Principals, Attitude Is Everything

“Do you like your job?” That’s a question I’ve been asked several times by students and even teachers over the course of my nine years as a secondary school principal. It’s a valid question and one that people who are contemplating their position in life probably think about more than say out loud, but it’s one I shouldn’t have to answer.

New Principals Network

Four Ways to Strengthen School Culture This Year

Recently, NASSP members have made headlines for their innovative ways to create and sustain a strong school culture. Check out these stories—and take your school culture to the next level this year.

New Principals Network

Moving From Good to Great This Year

With the start of the school year just around the corner, I want to share a note of encouragement with my colleagues around the country. First off, I want to acknowledge how hard you work in such a difficult job. The responsibilities of a school leader are staggering. In my first several years as an administrator, I had a poster on my wall that showed the exponential increase in school leadership duties from the common school movement to today. It is mind-blowing in its complexity. And yet, we still have the same 168 hours in a week. In 2017, pre-pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education shared an example of “A Day in the Life of a High School Principal” for a glimpse into today’s realities.

New Principals Network

Leading From a Place of Yes

I am honored and truly humbled to be named Massachusetts Principal of the Year. As we all know, it is a collective effort to create dynamic learning experiences in schools, and I could not accomplish anything without the incredibly talented educators I work with, who equally deserve this award. As I reflect on this recognition, I want to share how a few pivotal moments during my career have shaped who I am as a leader.

New Principals Network

Quick Tips to Ensure Graduation Runs Smoothly

Graduation is one of the most important occasions on a school leader’s calendar. This milestone signifies both an ending and a beginning–a fond farewell to years of student growth and learning at your school, and an exciting introduction to life’s next chapter. Follow the advice below from three school leaders on how to make the most of this moment.

New Principals Network

Bearing bad news: A Tough but Necessary Part of the Job

My school, Indio High School in Indio, CA, has faced many challenges over these past two years. Throughout the pandemic, we have lost members of our school community: a beloved student, a coach, a teacher, and a teacher’s spouse. Many of our students live in intergenerational homes, where COVID-19 spread and led to the death of parents and grandparents. In the past two years, I’ve officiated 11 funerals in the community. Beyond these losses, I’ve been communicating messages about school closures, remote learning, and mask mandates, like school leaders across the country.

New Principals Network

My School's History of Honoring Black History

This year marks the fourth year of my principalship at Atholton High School (AHS) in Columbia, MD, where I began my career as a teacher over 20 years ago. Back then, to celebrate Black History Month (BHM), I remember the whole school would gather for an assembly where students stepped, rapped, danced, and sang to honor Black history. While the assembly was fun, lighthearted, and the Black students had an opportunity to showcase their talents, I thought to myself, “We can do much better than this.” In some ways, this was a turning point for me; I wanted to become a principal so that I had more say in what happened at whichever school that I served.

New Principals Network

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 who are leveraging technology to close the equity divide, engage with all stakeholders in creative new ways, and work to cast a vision on how education and technology can converge to bring about the transformational change our education system needs.

New Principals Network

Let National Principals Month Begin

National Principals Month has officially started, and NASSP, the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) are excited to share the upcoming opportunities we have for the education community to celebrate, advocate, and collaborate on behalf of principals everywhere.

New Principals Network

Making Principal Preparation a Priority

As a newly minted school leader, one of the first challenges Mark Anderson faced didn’t involve teaching strategies or staff issues. Instead, students spilled water on the gym floor during a pep rally.

New Principals Network

New Principals Network