Leader 2 Leader

HAVE, DO, BE: A Shared Visioning Activity for School Leaders Have you been hired as the new principal? Are you thinking making an adjustment to your school’s vision and mission? This cooperative process can assist you in ensuring that all stakeholders have the opportunity to share in what they want your school to acquire, to accomplish, and to be acknowledged for. Four years ago, I stepped into a building that had just undergone the Differentiated Accountability (DA) process with the State and had lost approximately half the Staff, due to related stressors. With the new school letter grade designation of a “B” from the previous year’s “D”, it was time for our school to rebrand itself! I gathered the Staff to meet in our media center during the preservice week, with a goal of learning about how the staff felt about the school. The dedicated employees that remained, after the mass exodus, had much to say about how they were tired of being “looked down upon”, as they worked hard...

By: Kyle Dresback, Associate Superintendent for Student Support Services, St. Johns County Schools Over the last twenty months, it has been hard on educators. Whether you are the bus driver, food service worker, teacher, principal, or district administrator, we have all gone through challenging times. However, one thing to remember is so have our students and families. Education is a very complex business. We do not make “widgets” or manufacture items. Most mission statements include creating students who will be positive contributing members of society. To that end, education requires that principals need to see the value of people. When I was the principal at a high school, I would ask my faculty and staff to close their eyes and think about their favorite teacher. I would wait a minute then ask them to open their eyes. I then asked, “Tell me your favorite teacher’s best lesson plan, content of the lesson, differentiation for the class needs, etc.” No hands would go up and no com...

 Highly effective instructional leaders are intentional in their school improvement efforts. They employ a systems-thinking approach to problem-solving and exercise strategic planning skills to support increased student performance outcomes. Successful leaders ascribe to do the following.   Align curricula, state standards, instructional practices, and assessments to meet student learning needs and collaborate with a team to develop a cohesive plan. Never be the expert in the room! Utilize the strengths of your academic coaches, teacher leaders, and support service providers to create an action plan that addresses the school’s areas of need, identified through thorough data analysis. Be sure to designate who is responsible for student performance data collection, but always assume ultimate accountability. Meet regularly to assess progress toward the goal(s) and amend the plan! An effective leader seeks forward progress and will take action to improve instructi...

The FASA Diversity discussion for October focused on how principals can move equity, diversity, and inclusion forward in our schools and districts. We want to thank our guest speakers:  •    David Watkins, Director of the Department of Equity & Diversity, Broward County •    Chandra Hall, Director for Equity and Diversity Management, Polk County •    Dr. Kyra Schafte, Coordinator of Equity, Indian River County •    Steve Chatman, Equity Officer, Okaloosa County A few takeaways from this meeting were that equity, diversity, and inclusion need to be intentionally monitored. Change will come fastest when it becomes a community conversation. Schools cannot work in isolation to tackle these topics.  Communities can start by looking at what policies are already in place and improve upon them by being intentional. Mr. Chatman encourages schools to use disparity data such as the percentage of minority students in accelera...

  Personal Excellence in a Caring Place Eric Basilo, Ed.D, Assistant Principal, Seminole County Public Schools “Leadership today is based on relationships built with trust, hope. Love. And encouragement.” - Billy Cox, bassist I will never forget my introduction to teaching.  I was 22, fresh out of college, and excited to teach Math.  I was walking into Winter Park High School at the ideal time (the middle of January – HA!) taking over for a beloved teacher who was taking over higher Math courses.  I had some of the toughest students on campus and was afforded the task of ensuring some would be ready for graduation in May.  Not a problem for someone facing a slew of health challenges that would take my ability to speak about halfway through the semester. Thank God I was a newly made wildcat - the school whose motto was, “Personal excellence in a caring place.”  What was unique about the school was each member of the community including students, pare...

111 Points to an “A”: A Student Achievement Success Story Emphasizing When Student Learning is Prioritized, Results Come by Heidi L. Keegan, M. Ed Principal Charlotte County Public Schools The ultimate goal of any educational leader is to ensure that their students achieve academic success. To do so, they must prioritize student learning through leadership actions that build and support a learning organization focused on student achievement. Below are the steps taken by an elementary school principal—and her team of educators—that led to increasing the school’s letter grade to just 10 points shy of an “A”, despite being 100% Title I and the challenges of a pandemic. Step 1: Make Sure EVERYONE Knows the Goal(s) I mean EVERYONE. Exceptional educational leaders will analyze trend data, look at growth and proficiency, and acknowledge strengths and gaps in achievement. They will dissect details for subgroups, study cohorts, and collaborate with teacher leaders to set goals. None of this wil...

Bonsai Trees, Wildflowers and Personalized Learning To many people in the gardening and plant world, bonsais are among the most impressive trees.  Bonsai is seen as a blend of gardening and art--a way to create living sculptures.  A gardener might spend decades pruning the tree, little by little, year over year, so that it grows to the gardener’s exact vision.  For example, A Coast Redwood tree that, in the wild might grow to 100’-200’, may only grow to 1’ under the curated care of the gardener over many decades.  Recently I was listening to a  podcast , where Julie Lythcott-Haims (author of best selling books on helping young people become healthy and happy adults, and former Dean of Freshmen and Undergraduate Advising at Stanford University) applied the concept of bonsai trees to the way parents raise their children.  She shared: “We treat our kids like they are our bonsai trees… The bonsai is such an exquisite creation of the gardener...

October Blog By. Christina Cornwell  Like many principals, I spent the summer planning for a “normal” student return. I quickly found many of the same difficulties and a handful of different trials waiting for the 21/22 school year. Almost all of the 20/21 Covid-19 protocols are still in place as the Delta variant continues to take its toll. Covid-19 difficulties are exacerbating educator shortages with problems seen nationwide.  Many school districts are continuing to deal with obscene absences of both employees and students. For a school to run smoothly we need everyone in place. Custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, support staff, teachers and students. How does instruction move forward without all of these symbiotic pieces in place? This is the trial that is bearing down on education. As a principal I have cleaned rooms, served food, registered students, ran the clinic and taught classes all in the same day. I have watched teachers cover 4 classes at the same time an...