National Principals Conference

Three Principles for Improving Practice

Posted by NASSP on October 8, 2019

My school, long rated as top-performing, was this year given a rating of “targeted” for underperformance among student subgroups—including African-American, free and reduced-price lunch, and special education students. Though this is understandably not an ideal rating, I look at it as a blessing in disguise. We now have a very clear mandate to look at the performance of these subgroups and make immediate improvements. To me, this gives us an opportunity that will ultimately benefit all students, depending on the measures we put in place and the kinds of practices we implement. As an instructional leader, I am reminded that this work starts with me. (more…)

The First 140 Characters

Posted by NASSP on July 24, 2019

I was recently a guest on Lead the Way, a podcast for school leaders hosted by Bill Ziegler, and we got to talking about how I challenged my staff at Cedar Crest Middle School (CCMS) to begin telling the story of our school on social media at the start of the 2017–18 school year. But my own path down the road of social media technology isn’t very typical for a Digital Principal of the Year. It actually started with a single tweet. (more…)

Congratulations to the 2019 DPOY Winners

Posted by NASSP on June 3, 2019

In today’s connected world, the importance of leveraging technology in education cannot be underestimated. Through the Digital Principals of the Year (DPOY) program, NASSP honors principals who exhibit bold, creative leadership in their drive to harness the potential of new technologies to further learning goals. (more…)

Use the 2019 National Principals Conference to Push Your School Forward

Posted by NASSP on April 11, 2019

During the 2013–14 school year, I was in my third year as assistant principal/registrar at Dubuque Senior High School. Our principal, Dr. Dan Johnson, was in his first year as principal after serving many years as a counselor and assistant principal at the school. Good things were happening at Dubuque Senior, and school culture was positive. However, we needed a push forward to help make everything come together. The 2014 NASSP Ignite Conference provided that push. (more…)

Meghan Redmond Named 2019 National Assistant Principal of the Year

Posted by NASSP on April 10, 2019

Being an assistant principal takes dedication, determination, and grit—but it also takes compassion, innovation, and collaboration. All are qualities found in a National Assistant Principal of the Year, and Meghan Redmond, assistant principal at Chief Ivan Blunka School in New Stuyahok, AK, has been honored as this year’s winner. (more…)

School Leaders Share How They Create Supportive and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ Students

Posted by NASSP on March 11, 2019

In September 2018, NASSP and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced a partnership to highlight the important role that principals have in striving for educational equity, with a focus on safety and inclusion for LGBTQ students. As part of this work, Dr. Beverly Hutton, NASSP’s deputy executive director for programs and services, led a team of four school leaders to the sixth annual Time to THRIVE Conference in February, where they had an opportunity to build awareness and cultural competency, learn current and emerging best practices, and gather resources from leading experts and other national organizations in the field. (more…)

National Principals Conference 2018: A Forum for National Problem-Solving

Posted by NASSP on June 5, 2018

Guest post by Amber Schroering

After the recent Parkland shooting in Florida, I found myself sitting in church and couldn’t bring myself to sing. I just stood there, almost feeling numb, wondering how I could make a difference. I began to feel the same feelings creep in as I read and saw the extent to which our country is still divided over race and gender inequality. My hopelessness continued when a seventh-grade student came into my office because her dad had been arrested the night before after his inebriated girlfriend called the police and claimed domestic violence. The student said her father was punched in the nose, handcuffed, and arrested. And my feelings of despair hit rock bottom when Deputy Jake Pickett was shot and killed in the line of duty. His wife teaches at one of our elementary schools and he was a 2002 graduate of Brownsburg High School. (more…)

Solutions for Singletons: Building a Professional Learning Network

Posted by NASSP on April 13, 2018

Guest post by Abbey Duggins and Amber Schroering

If you’ve spent any amount of time building a high school master schedule, you are familiar with the dreaded “singleton.” A singleton happens when just enough students sign up to create one section of a course—usually an AP or obscure world language—and it throws a major wrench into scheduling every other aspect of the student’s day. A singleton is a scheduling nightmare, but it is also a necessary part of education.

Many positions in instructional leadership can feel like a singleton: there is one superintendent, one principal, one coach. These positions are often lonely, lacking the camaraderie that classroom teachers develop among their peers through the common bonds of students, lesson planning, grading, shared hallways moments, and outside-of-school fun.

So what is a singleton to do? (more…)

The Happiness Advantage: Promoting Positivity in Schools

Posted by NASSP on March 29, 2018

Guest post by Bart Peery

In January 2014, while shopping in our local Walmart, I received a voice mail from the county sheriff’s office. Assuming that it had to do with our school, I went to the school to call them back. When I returned the call, my life was forever changed. The officer told me that one of my students had taken her life. I remember sitting alone in my office sobbing, not knowing what to do next. (more…)

Grow Teacher Leaders to Cultivate a Collaborative Climate: Tools to Use Today

Posted by NASSP on December 22, 2017

Guest post by Brent Rowland

Do you have a handful of rock star teachers who are your go-to people, so you keep going to them over, and over, and over?

Imagine finding that just-right leadership spot for all of your teachers—that place where school needs match teacher interest. What would that do to connect them to the school’s mission, distribute leadership, and develop teacher capacity?

(more…)