What I Learned as a First-Year Principal

Last week, I read an article from a principal that just finished their first year leading a school campus. The principal shared what she learned from her first-year experience. Here’s what she learned:

“Have a goal; adjust as necessary; stay the course.”

“Take time to build relationships.”

“Share your goals. Repeat, repeat, repeat.”

“Find a mentor.”

I guess these are all well and good, but this principal’s learnings got me thinking about what I learned as a first-year school leader. Here’s what I learned:

Many adults who work in schools, think those schools were built for them.

I was shocked, during my first year, to find out how many decisions made in schools are made by adults for adults. I sort of knew this when I served as a high school assistant principal before I received my first middle school principal appointment, but I had no idea how pervasive it was.

I remember meeting with the faculty advisory committee once a month on a Friday morning. Those meetings were brutal. I had been picked to lead one of the lowest achieving middle schools in the district and all these teachers could talk about were topics important to them – parking lots, teacher lounges, duty schedules, and stipend amounts for extra duties – to name a few.

That committee had convinced themselves of something that many adults working in schools have bought into – that if adults are happy, then they will do good things for kids.

Clearly, on this campus, given their low-performing status, that belief was wrong.

When I left that campus after five years, the adults who worked in the school understood that every decision made would first start with what was in the best interest of the children, and then the adults would be asked to adjust. I’ve got to believe that shift was a big reason why our campus went from low-performing to high-performing within those five years.

Schools are filled with inequities, especially when it comes to black, brown, and poor young learners.

When I first arrived at the middle school where I would serve as principal for five years, the school was split between students learning advanced subjects, with talented teachers, and students learning basic information with novice instructors and teachers in need of assistance. If you pay attention to how most schools are organized regarding teaching and learning, this setup is not unusual.

The first thing I did was change the school’s master schedule, where all students had the opportunity to take advanced subjects and draw a mix of teachers. When the teachers found out what I intended to do, a letter was drafted and sent to my boss asking for my removal as principal. Thanks to a supportive district superintendent, I stayed at that school and watched a more equitable distribution of teaching and learning transform the campus for low-performing to a top-performing and state recognized school.

As long as adults stand by and allow inequity to happen, it will continue to happen. Kids don’t get to make decisions regarding who teaches what and what students receive a fair schedule – at least in most schools. So it takes adults to change the teaching and learning system, but sadly, many choose not to.

All learning organizations are based on safety and security, academic excellence, and a comfortable school climate.

I was lucky enough to get every job I went after when I worked in public education. And the reason I got those jobs was these three imperatives – safety and security for everyone, academic excellence for all, and a comfortable school climate – resonated with all most everyone who served on a selection committee. If kids don’t feel safe, they won’t learn. If you can’t show academic excellence in your students, then your campus is only a “wannabe” school. If kids feel comfortable in their learning environment, including the activities they choose to participate in outside of the classroom, then you will see a positive and achieving campus forming.

Kids like to learn.

Kids like to learn, but they like to have a say in what they are learning. We built numerous student feedback groups while we turned the middle school around, and we listened to these groups and enacted many of the ideas shared by the students. The times when kids don’t like to learn is when they feel they aren’t given choice in what they are learning, and when they are constantly labeled a failure by the learning organization they desperately want to be a part of.

That’s it.

Many adults who work in schools, think those schools were built for them.

Schools are filled with inequities, especially when it comes to black, brown, and poor young learners.

All learning organizations are based on safety and security, academic excellence, and a comfortable school climate.

Kids like to learn.

I wonder how many schools could fix themselves if everyone committed to acting on these four lessons?

Til tomorrow. SVB