I’m the principal of a small public charter school with a STEM focus, so technology is a big part of our work. But emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, my teachers and I started to feel that technology had completely overwhelmed teaching and learning.  We were one-to-one with Chromebooks with an “off and away phone policy,”, […]

At the end of my first year as a middle school principal, I thought I’d done an amazing job. It was May 2020, and I felt like I was on my way to the Principalship Hall of Fame: leading through pandemic conditions none of us had ever experienced before, putting structures in place for student […]

In my first year as an Associate Principal several years ago, we had a school policy around hats and hoods. Students had a lot of valid questions around this policy and how it impacted their day-to-day experience. A group of students approached our building leadership, drafted up their questions and reasoning to change the policy, […]

Leaders like you often lead from your core values – with guiding principles shaping your work. For leader Peg Grafwallner, an important piece of school leadership is inviting teachers to identify and celebrate their own guiding principles. Her process, carried out over a staff meeting or two, can strengthen your team’s shared foundation.

In our building, we have a commitment to honoring the experiences of all our students and families. We have students from all over the world with rich and diverse histories and cultures, and we want each and every child and the adults in their lives to feel like they belong. What’s more is that we […]

Here’s a situation your fellow leaders have shared: You’re welcoming new English language learners and immigrant students into your building, and your team has questions about how to support their success.  Longtime ESL educator and district facilitator Valentina Gonzalez knows this challenge well, too. Here’s the No. 1 strategy she recommends to school leaders like […]

Collaboration is one of the most essential pillars of teacher and student success. Authentic collaboration sparks a natural curiosity of how we can best impact student achievement and move learning forward. When I was a teacher, I felt most successful during the years that my Professional Learning Community engaged in authentic collaboration. We implemented nearly […]

More than 23 years ago, my journey in education began as a kindergarten teacher, where I discovered my passion for teaching young children to read. Right from the start, I noticed the diverse reading abilities among my students – some were just learning their letters while others could already decode words. At that time, the […]

Picture this: You’re a first-year math educator and your students are struggling with fractions. During your planning period, you decide to drop in on a fellow teacher’s classroom. When you arrive, their students are working independently on fractions in stations. Your class might not be ready for that, but you can see the students are […]

My team and I are working toward big, multi-year learning goals for our elementary students. Last year, our teachers embraced professional growth, elevated our instruction and promoted so much student progress. We’ll keep pushing toward those goals this fall and embark on new professional learning journeys. As a principal, I can’t wait to jump in […]