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School Leaders of Color Network

Meeting the unique needs of School Leaders of Color and providing a safe space for networking, while elevating the importance of diversity in education and in NASSP.

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Latest School Leaders of Color Network News

Out-of-the-Box Solutions for Hiring During a Teacher Shortage

Twenty days before teachers return to our school this September, in the sweltering heat of the hottest summer in 120,000 years, at 5:01pm on the final day of the official deadline for teachers to notify principals of transfers, I received yet another teacher resignation. The Great Resignation continues, and education has turned into the Serengeti following the seasonal rains, like watching the wildebeest migration in real life.

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School Leaders of Color Network

Taking Pride in Ethnic Studies

In honor of Pride Month, I want to share my experience advocating for Ethnic Studies, an interdisciplinary field that empowers diverse and often marginalized voices. At a time when America is increasingly polarized, the field of Ethnic Studies has become a contentious topic that often pulls apart communities. As education leaders, our role is to persevere and to explain that it is not Ethnic Studies that is dividing us but a lack of empathy and understanding. The antidote to this division is Intersectional Ethnic Studies.

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School Leaders of Color Network

Reflecting on AAPI Heritage Month

In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, NASSP CEO Ronn Nozoe and Managing Director of Leadership Development Robyn Hamasaki—both born and raised in Hawaii—talk about their backgrounds and issues related to Asian American educators and students in our schools. Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy Link Email More

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School Leaders of Color Network

Honoring Our Humanity with AAPI Heritage Month

It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. In China, when walking past banners promoting women’s rights and elevating the people’s voice, my father would always comment on the fact that celebration or slogan is only needed when pride or circumstances are lacking. I think the same applies to AAPI Month.

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School Leaders of Color Network

NHS Students Reach Out to Help Native Neighbors

Many of us take for granted that on cold nights we can get warm inside from our central heating. That privilege is not shared by thousands of our Navajo and Hopi Nation neighbors here in Arizona. Many of them—the most recent figures say as many as one-third—lack adequate access to reliable heating. Share via: Facebook […]

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School Leaders of Color Network

What Black History Month Means to Me

I believe that Black History Month is not just a time to remember the history of African Americans but a time to understand the importance of three things: advocacy, activism, and societal progress. Over the years, advocacy in particular has changed our world for the better. As students, my peers and I are aware of […]

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School Leaders of Color Network

Recruitment and Retention Strategies to Increase School Leader Diversity

“Everywhere I looked, leadership didn’t look like me. But our students did,” says Danielle Edwards, a school leader and Spelman College alumna who sought school leadership opportunities in her school community. In the absence of guidelines and a career pathway, she relied on her network of Spelman sisters and like-minded colleagues to help her navigate her leadership journey.

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School Leaders of Color Network

Weaving Black History Throughout Our School

Some schools celebrate Black History Month with a big event that focuses on prominent leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. The problem is that students already know about those leaders, partly because they are so well known and partly because students learn about them in their American history courses.

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School Leaders of Color Network

How Serving as a Principal and Colonel Made Me a Better Leader

In honor of Veterans Day, we asked NASSP’s Director of Leading and Learning Robyn Hamasaki to share how serving as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a PK-8 principal simultaneously made her a better leader. Thank you, Robyn, for your service. Happy Veterans Day to all!

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School Leaders of Color Network

The Growing Need for Latino School Leaders

As our schools see increasing enrollments of Latino students, one thing many of those students aren’t seeing is school leaders who look like them. Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy Link Email More

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School Leaders of Color Network

Why Juneteenth Deserves a More Prominent Place in History Classrooms

On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday—the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983. As we mark the second year of the Juneteenth holiday (short for June 19th), the history behind the day still isn’t widely known. Juneteenth commemorates the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people were freed—two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The news was spread by General George Granger, who read General Order Number 3 on June 19th, 1865.

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School Leaders of Color Network

Six Inclusive Practices for School Leadership

According to cognitive scientists, we make most of our decisions without even consciously thinking about them. As a result, it’s important to take note of biases that may be negatively influencing our decision-making. Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy Link Email More

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School Leaders of Color 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 […]

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School Leaders of Color Network

Equity and the Educator Pipeline: Making Our Voices Heard

Across the country, staff shortages in schools are leaving children—the beating heart of our profession—in the lurch. School leaders can’t find enough substitutes, bus drivers, and other personnel to staff schools, and many principals are themselves having to teach classes and drive buses. News accounts report almost daily that educators are stretched too thin and […]

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School Leaders of Color Network

10 Steps School Leaders Can Take to Support ELL Success in 2020–21

What are some steps that school leaders can take to help English-language learners (ELLs) succeed in the coming year? These tips are based on feedback that ELL educators shared with Colorín Colorado, the nation’s leading ELL website, during the spring and summer of 2020. Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy Link Email More

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School Leaders of Color Network

Building Community and Literacy: One Book, One School Program

Guest post by Maureen Doyle Kemmett Compelled to increase literacy skills in students and build a stronger school culture, our leadership team at Furnace Brook Middle School (FBMS) in Marshfield, MA, initiated a One Book, One School (OBOS) program in 2013. After spending the better part of a school year forming a literacy committee, researching […]

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School Leaders of Color Network

‘Flatten the Walls’: Communicating During the Pandemic

When we shut our doors in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my inbox almost became unmanageable with the flood of questions from parents. Being the senior class assistant principal, you can only imagine the number of questions about graduation. We quickly developed a blog as a means of sending out information about graduation and […]

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School Leaders of Color Network

What’s a PLC Meeting, Anyway?

What Is a PLC? As I work with schools across the nation and beyond, I often hear statements like these: “Our PLCs are meeting on Tuesday.” “We will be ‘PLCing’ on Wednesday afternoon.” “PLCs happen here every other week.” Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy Link Email More

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School Leaders of Color Network