There are few occupations more challenging yet impactful than being a school leader.
Over the last 30 years, the job has changed dramatically in terms of the complexity and variety of competing responsibilities, with improving student learning moving to the top of the list. Unfortunately, in numerous studies, school leaders report finding time to lead these improvement efforts as one of the key challenges of leadership.2 In addition, changes in responsibilities along with world-wide events have also led to increased job-induced stress in school leaders. Results from the 2022 State of the American Teacher and State of American Principal Surveys indicate that 85% of principals reported experiencing frequent job-related stress, and 48% reported experiencing burnout.3
Fortunately, studies are showing that school leaders who can manage their time are able to focus more of their energies on activities that build the culture, systems, and learning of their schools.4 Furthermore, researchers have found a key to managing job-induced stress is strong time-management skills, which leads to perceived time control, which leads to less professional stress.5
To assist you in managing your time more effectively and help you stay focused, organized, and growing — critical attributes of any school leader — the Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) in partnership with the members of the School Leader Collaborative (see back cover) have developed the School Leader Calendar. This robust resource provides you with monthly lists of essential responsibilities, dates to remember (some just for fun), critical professional development opportunities, and timely advice on key leadership topics. While the School Leader Calendar is comprehensive, it is not exhaustive. Also, the calendar is not delineated by grade level but provides responsibilities for each. You are encouraged to edit and customize it to meet your context.
We hope you find the School Leader Calendar a useful tool to help you on your leadership journey. Please call us at 317-891-4933 or email tbarrett@iasp.org if we can assist you in any way.
Learning Leader
A leader who uses personal, social, and systems intelligences to transform a school into a learning organization through a mindset of growth, service, and cultural responsiveness.
Learning Organization
An organization that uses ongoing cycles of inquiry to drive a student-centered culture, vision- and mission-focused systems, and reflective learning practices that result in producing equitable opportunities and outcomes for students and adults.
The School Leader Paradigm
School leadership provides vast opportunities for you to positively impact and influence the lives of many, especially young people. Schools, though, are dynamic organizations which require dynamic leadership. The IASP in partnership with the School Leader Collaborative created the School Leader Paradigm to provide you a comprehensive leadership framework that accounts for both how you must be growing, or becoming, as a school leader and the work you and those in your learning organization must be doing to be effective. Or simply, becoming while doing.
A copy of the Paradigm with a complete overview can be downloaded by visiting the Indiana Association of School Principals website at iasp.org. As you review the Paradigm, you will be challenged with the leadership intelligences needed for you to self-actualize (becoming) as a learning leader while simultaneously focusing your work of building and sustaining culture, systems, and learning (doing) in your learning organization. Further, the Paradigm describes a cycle of inquiry (plan -> implement -> assess -> reflect) meant to drive your efforts for both your own growth and the growth of your school. Lastly, the Paradigm discusses the important role context plays in your leadership and details four contextual areas (individual, school, community, and political) you must consider to lead your learning organization effectively.
The contents of the School Leader Calendar are aligned to the Paradigm to support your efforts to self-actualize as a school leader and move your learning organization forward so ALL your students are served well. The calendar is focused on the doing domains —
Culture, Systems, and Learning. Each domain is broken into seven leadership dimensions which are further delineated by essential behaviors which clearly outline the specific actions school leaders should consider adopting to be effective.
The School Leader Calendar provides you with monthly lists of essential responsibilities aligned to the School Leader Paradigm. You will also notice that we have included two monthly challenges found under the Culture Domain. Research consistently indicates the strong correlation between a positive school culture and student achievement.6 It is the foundation for school improvement.
The first challenge focuses on building relationships within the school community — the first dimension in the Paradigm’s Culture Domain. As Michael Fullan said, “the single factor common to successful change is that relationships improve. If relationships improve, schools get better. If relationships remain the same or get worse, ground is lost.”7 The monthly building relationships challenge offers thoughts for building those relationships with all stakeholders – inside and outside the walls of your schools.
The second challenge centers around equity issues. As a school leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to ensure ALL your students are afforded equitable opportunities to meet their potential. The monthly equity challenge provides you with ideas for how you can keep equity as a critical focal point of your leadership.
Probably the most important — and the most difficult — job of an instructional leader is to change the prevailing culture of a school.
The school’s culture dictates, in no uncertain terms, “the way we do things around here.” A school’s culture has far more influence on life and learning in the schoolhouse than the president of the country, the state department of education, the superintendent, the school board, or even the principal, teachers, and parents can ever have. One cannot, of course, change a school culture alone. But one can provide forms of leadership that invite others to join as observers of the old and architects of the new. The effect must be to transform what we did last September into what we would like to do next September.8 — Roland
Growth Mindset Humble Reflective Intentional Accountable Self-Management Organized Balanced Way of Being Self-Confident Innovation Creative Adaptive Resilient Courageous
PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE Service Empathetic Trustworthy Generous Protective Community Building Relational Collaborative Connective Conciliatory Capacity Building Empowering Guiding Resourceful Facilitative Influence Attentive Communicative Motivational Catalytic
Operations and Management Responsible Transformative Responsive Methodical
Teaching and Learning Diagnostic Knowledgeable Pedagogic Evaluative
CULTURE DOMAIN SYSTEMS DOMAIN
Cultural Responsiveness Visible Affiliative Advocative Global Relationships Student Centeredness Wellness Equity Traditions/Celebrations Ethics Global Mindedness
2. What are your Leadership Intelligences? How do these intelligences impact your ability to lead?
3. How aware are you of the contexts in which you lead? How does your leadership intelligence impact your contextual effectiveness?
4. How effective are you in leading constant Cycles of Inquiry? What attributes make you more or less effective?
“Doing” Guiding Questions:
Vision/Mission Communication Collaborative Leadership Data Literacy Strategic Management Safety Operations
LEARNING DOMAIN
Reflection and Growth Result-Orientation Curriculum Instruction Assessment Innovation Human Capital Management
1. How are you leading the learning of your learning organization?
2. What are you doing to create culture with your students, staff, and school community? What attributes increase your effectiveness at leading culture?
3. What systems are supporting and/or eroding your culture and what are you doing to be a systems leader? What attributes make you an effective systems leader?
4. How are you pushing on leading learning for all stakeholders? What attributes make you an effective “Lead Learner”?
Building your calendar ...
Plan to Plan
Creating space in your calendar for reflection, planning, and thinking helps you identify ways to get better, manage activities and tasks in the present, and vision cast for the future. This allows you to be proactive versus reactive. Dr. John Maxwell writes poignantly about this in his book Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work. 9
As part of your planning process, share and get input from your significant others, colleagues, and close friends. Take a few minutes each month, week, and day to review your calendars, get feedback, and discuss work-life balance. Look for opportunities to incorporate work activities with leisure, social, or fitness activities. For example, most school leaders like to be visible during passing periods which is an excellent time to get steps in. When you are required to be at school for special events, consider including family. Review tasks to see if you can delegate items to free up personal or professional time (see October — Delegation is a critical resource). Some districts rotate supervision responsibilities with their leaders, so they can have more time at home during the week. For you to improve as a leader, stay on top of your work, and move your organization forward, consider the following tools.
Master Calendar
Begin by reviewing the master calendar for your school with all scheduled events for the year. If your school does not have a master calendar, consider creating one. This is a task that can be delegated to an administrative assistant to put together. Start the development as soon as dates become available for the next school year (spring). Keep in mind that this is a working document that will change throughout the year as things are canceled and rescheduled. An electronic copy that can be easily viewed and distributed allows for easy edits and updates. Some leaders prefer to have an in-house master calendar with everything, and an edited version of the same calendar for public distribution. This calendar should include:
Important dates from the district master calendar.
Regularly scheduled meetings (school board, school committees, PTA, etc.).
Athletic events (home and away).
Fine arts events.
Testing dates.
Regularly scheduled field trips.
Grade-reporting periods, progress reports, report card distribution days.
Final & AP exams.
Deadlines for state reports.
Holidays, vacation days, in-service days, etc.
Special events (award ceremonies, dances, Open House, Parent/Guardian and Teacher conferences, etc.).
Compliance dates and deadlines from the IDOE calendar.
Professional Yearly Calendar
The master calendar becomes the building block for your professional calendar. Once it is created, copy it and begin creating your own yearly calendar. Block out a day or two every summer to get out of the office (by yourself) and map out the year ahead. For your planning, include your professional development goals, your school’s strategic plan, your school’s master calendar, and tasks to be completed each month. For tasks to be done, the School Leader’s Calendar could prove useful as a starting point.
We highly recommend creating this electronically to allow for easy editing. Some leaders color-code items on the calendar to identify their responsibilities. For example, they may color-code supervision activities differently than events they are responsible for leading. Some choose to code by priorities. You may wish to include personal and family obligations in your calendar, so that everything is all in one place. Whatever you do, you must create a system that works for you!
Monthly Calendar
From your professional calendar, begin creating your monthly calendar by adding in your monthly lists of essential responsibilities and legal requirements. Every month, designate a time to plan for the following month.
The School Leader Calendar provides you with a sample list of monthly recurring tasks. Responsibilities specific to a particular month follow. Your previous year’s calendar and meeting agendas from each month are also useful tools for this task.
Daily Calendar
Your monthly calendar drives the development of your daily calendar. Begin building your daily calendar by answering these questions:
What times of the day must you be in the halls, lunchroom, or visible in the building?
What are other daily responsibilities that must be scheduled?
What time of the day do you work best?
What are your priorities for the day?
With this information, create a template daily schedule. Then, select times to:
Return phone calls and emails.
Work your priorities list. Schedule this during your best work time.
Eat lunch.
Observe in classrooms, take care of referrals, etc.
Vary these times day to day to ensure your presence at scheduled meetings and classroom observations. You don’t need to fill every hour of your day. You’ll need time to schedule meetings, appointments, and have down time.
Arrive 15-20 minutes early each morning to plan what you would like to accomplish that day. Reflect for 15-20 minutes at the end of each day to identify what went well, recognize possible improvements, and note a good starting point for the next day.
Stick to your daily schedule as much as possible. Although there will always be emergencies and situations that need your immediate attention, your goal is to minimize interruptions, to focus on what’s important. By taking ownership of your time, you can increase your efficiency and productivity, achieve your professional and school’s goals, reduce stress, and improve your work-life balance.
The School Leader Calendar
DATES TO REMEMBER
You will find legal holidays and those which may bring some enjoyment to your day (i.e., Talk Like a Pirate Day). There is also an area to record important dates relevant to your school and/or district.
RESPONSIBILITIES
These tasks offer you a comprehensive list of work you should consider throughout the year. To help with your organization, the tasks are organized by Paradigm Domains — Culture, Systems, and Learning, and then by specific dimensions of that domain. Every dimension will not have a task assigned every month. There are recurring monthly tasks as well as month-specific tasks.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS AND EQUITY CHALLENGES
The monthly building relationships challenge offers ideas for building relationships with all stakeholders — inside and outside the walls of your schools. The monthly Equity Challenge provides ideas on how to keep equity a critical focal point of your leadership to ensure ALL students in your learning organization are served well.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, AND RESOURCES
This section provides information about the continuous improvement process through a Cycle of Inquiry, professional learning opportunities, and suggestions for growing your leadership knowledge and skills. Don’t forget the IASP offers a wide range of professional development and resources.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”10
— Michael Altshuler
RECURRING TASKS
There are several monthly recurring tasks that are important to remember. These tasks are not considered daily tasks, unless otherwise noted.
= CULTURE DOMAIN
= SYSTEMS DOMAIN
= LEARNING DOMAIN
Relationships
Complete Building Relationships challenge.
Conduct daily check-ins with office staff, guidance counselors, etc.
Conduct daily check-ins with new teachers, struggling staff members, and students.
Be visible in the building throughout the day.
Acknowledge student and staff birthdays.
Meet with external stakeholders to develop relationships (service organizations such as Rotary, medical professionals that work closely with the school, local police, religious leaders, community leaders, local businesses, etc.).
Meet and greet parents and students at student activities. Consider attending on nights when multiple events happen simultaneously for maximum exposure and relationship building. Remember to take pictures for social media networks, website, and hallway bulletin boards. Provide morning inspirational message to staff (quote, funny story, good news, etc.) 2-3 times a week.
Attend PTA/PTO/PTSA meetings.
Incorporate “climate/culture builders” into faculty/staff meetings.
Supervise school activities.
Student Centeredness
Meet regularly with student groups such as Student Council to share ideas and get feedback.
Wellness
Engage in daily professional planning, assessing, and reflecting to improve effectiveness.
Connect (be present) with loved ones (significant other, children, parents, siblings, friends, etc.) on a daily basis. Engage in daily wellness activities (physical, mental, social). Promote faculty and staff wellness activities (physical, social, emotional).
Equity
Complete monthly Equity Challenge.
Traditions/Celebrations
Acknowledge faculty and staff accomplishments.
Acknowledge student accomplishments. Acknowledge school accomplishments.
Global Mindedness
Pursue partnerships and community connections that promote a global-minded perspective.
Vision/Mission & Strategic Management
Engage in ongoing organizational planning, assessing, and reflecting.
Communication
Respond to mail, emails, phone calls, etc. in a timely manner. Monitor and regularly post on school social media platforms.
Communicate with appropriate stakeholders using various communication mechanisms.
Create and distribute a weekly notice (e.g., newsletter, email, etc.) for staff highlights from the week, important reminders for the next week, upcoming events, teaching tips, birthdays, etc.
Provide regular updates to students and parents using newsletters, videos, and social media. Highlight the incredible things happening in your school along with upcoming important dates to remember.
Conduct monthly staff meeting. Incorporate recognitions, morale boosters, and professional development. Attend monthly board meetings.
Collaborative Leadership and Data Literacy
Delegate tasks to other individuals and monitor progress.
Meet with administrative leadership team (weekly).
Meet with teams (grade level/subject area/departments, etc.) on a regular basis to plan, assess, and reflect on current school goals to determine next steps utilizing collected data.
Meet with the following individuals/groups to share good news, plan for upcoming events, and address areas of concern: non-teaching staff (administrative assistants, head of maintenance, food program director, nurse, counselors, social worker, psychologists, director of transportation, etc.)
student leaders and advisors
Special Education Administrator office staff
paraprofessionals
cafeteria staff parent and community organizations key community leaders
Safety
Monitor school facility and safety (daily). Supervise lunchroom, passing periods, extra-curricular activities, bus drop-off and pick-up, etc. (daily).
Working with tech staff, regularly review school website and social media outlets to ensure they are up-to-date and secure. Conduct required emergency drills, complete necessary paperwork, and notify parents, central office, and local authorities.
Operations
Conduct regular building walkthroughs with head custodian to identify areas of concern and plan accordingly. Assess and monitor physical plant/building/school operations. Assess and monitor fiscal and non-fiscal resources.
Check student eligibility (weekly).
Update school’s master calendar as needed. Keep an extra copy of the student and staff handbooks at your desk. Label each “Changes.” If you find an error or something that needs to be modified or added for the next year, highlight it and make a note of the recommended change(s).
Reflection and Growth & Human Capital Management
Conduct scheduled teacher evaluations.
Establish and commit to a specified number of walkthrough observations per week, each month. If applicable, include assistant principals. Regularly review the data collected from these walkthroughs to determine schoolwide and individual professional development needs.
Engage faculty and staff in cycles of inquiry for professional growth by setting goals, developing and implementing plans for meeting those goals, assessing progress, and reflecting and determining next steps.
Provide data-driven, individual professional development (workshops, mentoring/coaching) as needed to meet growth goals.
Provide an induction and year-long mentoring program for new teachers.
Communicate with district office any concerns regarding teacher performance to ensure compliance with district and state laws.
Monitor and reflect on professional growth and your school’s growth using the cycle of inquiry process. Monitor the status of your own evaluation process. Collect artifacts. Check-in with your supervisor.
Review state assessment calendar and check in with ISBE for updates.
Lead staff in regular reviews/discussions of assessment data and school improvement goals.
Conduct classroom walkthroughs.
Participate in scheduled faculty team meetings as needed (grade level, teams, departments, etc.)
Participate in scheduled student meetings as needed (IEP, 504, behavior, etc.).
Work with faculty and staff to identify struggling (academic & behavior) students and develop individual improvement plans (Plan, Implement, Assess, and Reflect), and communicate with parent(s)/guardian(s) as needed.
Respond to student discipline issues.
Provide school-wide, data-driven professional development to improve instruction as needed.
Innovation
Provide opportunities for faculty and staff to explore new ideas through such avenues as professional development, visits to exemplary schools, book reads, etc.
DATES to remember
June 5 World Environment Day
June 6 D-Day
June 14 Flag Day
June 16 Father’s Day
June 17 Eid al-Adha begins (major Islamic holiday; begins at sundown on previous day; may impact student attendance)
June 19 Juneteenth
July 1 First day of the fiscal year
July 4 Independence Day (federal holiday; legal school holiday)
July 8 Al-Hijra (major Islamic holiday; begins at sundown on previous day)
July 28 Parents’ Day
July 28 Milk Chocolate Day
July 31 Conference Proposal Deadline
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge. Conduct daily walkthroughs of summer programs. Meet regularly with summer staff.
Meet personally with new faculty and staff.
Utilize the flexibility of the summer schedule to meet formally and informally with external stakeholders. Meet with local police and fire officials to review policies and procedures and set dates for emergency drills.
Meet with parent/guardian and teacher organization to schedule meetings for the year.
Student Centeredness
Plan for new student orientation.
Develop/revise new student mentoring program and select mentors.
Wellness
Take some time for YOU! Get at least two consecutive weeks out of the office to recharge, spend time with family, and do something you enjoy.
Equity
Equity Challenge.
Traditions/Celebrations
Begin preparation for back-to-school celebration activities.
Ethics
Review licensure information in LVIS to ensure licensure and professional development requirements are current.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
Spend some time getting to know your new faculty and staff. This can be as simple as a phone call or having them stop in for coffee. Create a “Getting to Know Our New Staff” bulletin board/website post/social media posts with individual pictures and information (with their permission) for the first day of school to help everyone become better acquainted.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Take time to personally review the diversity, equity, and inclusion resources made available by the IASP. Read and/or engage with one or more of the resources listed. Consider connecting with a colleague(s) to work through the resource(s) together to support one another’s learning.
Vision/Mission
Develop final report/presentation of progress on school improvement plan.
Continue development of school improvement goals and plans for the next school year.
Communication
Change your building phone message to include summer office hours and/or summer school contact information. Ensure information is posted on the school’s website and social media channels.
Inform parents/guardians of registration information; student medical/vaccination requirements; handbook, acceptable use, academic integrity, and picture policies; and provide a copy of the school calendar.
Evaluate your current communication tools: parent newsletters, weekly staff bulletin, school website, social media, etc. Determine if there is a need to create new communication tools.
Prepare and send faculty and staff a welcome back letter. Include school-opening packet, beginning-of-the-year schedule (institute days, faculty meetings, opening student assemblies, and parent nights), trainings to be completed before the first day, and an introduction to new faculty and staff.
Remind coaches about required IHSAA trainings.
Collaborative Leadership
Meet with the leadership team for annual teambuilding and school improvement plan development.
Conduct facilities walk-through with maintenance staff to ascertain readiness and identify final needs. Review checklists for the year.
Meet regularly with office staff to review summer checklist and continue planning for upcoming school year.
Meet with cafeteria staff to discuss the upcoming year.
Meet with transportation staff to discuss the upcoming year. Review student discipline procedures.
Meet with athletic director to ensure the coaches’ handbook and training sessions have been finalized, fall schedules/contracts with opponents and officials have been verified, and all known
Assessment
Prepare assessment calendar for next school year.
activity dates have been submitted for inclusion on the master school calendar.
Meet with fine arts director and club and class sponsors to ensure all known activity dates have been submitted for inclusion in the master school calendar and fund-raising activities have been approved.
Meet with guidance staff to ensure all known testing and activity dates have been submitted for inclusion in the master school calendar.
Data Literacy
Provide a summary of previous year’s assessments to share with district office and faculty and staff.
Strategic Management
Plan and schedule your new teacher orientation program. Assign mentors and include them in the in-service. If possible, try to schedule the first meeting several weeks before the start of school to allow new teachers time to prepare. Schedule time to meet with other new staff members (i.e., custodians, secretaries, kitchen staff, etc.). Ensure everyone feels welcomed and receives the training they need to be successful. Plan first faculty meeting of the year. Build in team-building time as well as professional development. Set the tone to focus on instructional and academic issues.
Plan beginning of the year institute days. Plan student registration/pictures. Develop/review/revise protocol to distribute textbooks and devices.
Plan for first week of student attendance including opening assemblies and parent nights. Plan and strategize with your administrative assistant(s). Create documents, weekly communication, and meeting templates to be used throughout the year. Create yearly checklists with individual responsibilities identified. Identify operating procedures for answering calls, messages, visitors, etc.
Establish meeting schedules for the upcoming year with your key teams and committees (leadership team, school improvement team, department chairs, grade level teams, PLCs, curriculum committee, etc.).
Plan substitute teacher orientation.
Finalize teacher in-service days/professional development for next school year.
Review report cards and grades.
Curriculum & Instruction
Monitor summer school.
Finalize class lists.
As part of the induction/mentoring program, ensure new teachers meet with mentors/grade-level/department chairs to review the curriculum, the school’s instructional playbook, and lesson plan design to ensure curriculum and instructional alignment.
Prepare internal and external school calendars for the upcoming year.
Create chain-of-command when you are out of the building.
Update general building forms.
Safety
Review new board policies and state and federal requirements.
Update student and staff handbooks and planners.
Verify that student and staff handbooks and planners have been approved by the school board, are printed, and ready for distribution. Create a master list of any changes to distribute at the first staff meeting. Review and include your code of conduct and any other contracts for parents. It is in the school’s best interest to have students and parents acknowledge receipt of the Student Code of Conduct, Acceptable Use Policy, Academic Integrity Agreements, etc. In addition, have parents sign-off for pictures.
Operations
Review new board policies, state statutes, and changes to the collective bargaining agreement if applicable.
Review daily bell schedules and update as needed.
Review purchase orders to make sure materials are present or scheduled for back-to-school delivery. Ensure orders are distributed to the appropriate personnel.
Ensure building facilities (inside and out) are ready to go.
Review master schedule to ensure class sizes are balanced and classroom occupancy is appropriate. Ensure classrooms have adequate number of desks.
Ensure collaboration time for staff and intervention time for students.
Review the master schedule and notify staff of any changes in classroom or teaching assignments. Ensure in compliance with collective bargaining agreement.
To the extent possible, finalize dates and times for field trips and fundraising activities for the year.
Human Capital Management
Review state statute for changes related to teacher evaluation. Review teacher’s contract.
Determine a teacher evaluation schedule to begin the process based on the contract and recent changes in legislation.
Create an evaluation procedure sheet outlining the evaluation process. Complete hiring of staff.
Finalize new teacher and staff induction/mentoring programs including selection and training of mentors.
As part of induction/mentoring program, ensure new teachers understand the evaluation process, the rubric to be used for evaluation, and the roles and responsibilities of those involved.
Starting a new year ...
Onboarding New Staff
“The first days are critical. What you do on the first days of school will determine your success or failure for the rest of the school year.”11
In their classic book, The First Days of School, Harry and Rosemary Wong emphasized the importance of the first days of school. Although the book focused on teachers, their insights also apply to school leaders.
Those first days set the tone for the school year, and investing significant time during June and July to ensure a triumphant start to the new year is vital. In addition to the identified tasks found in the School Leader Calendar, here are a few compiled tips and ideas from your fellow administrators on how to succeed at the start of a new school year.
New teachers can have a tremendous impact on a school, and it is the responsibility of school leaders to ensure they are successful. This is not something you want to leave to chance. Simple things like the placement of new teachers in classrooms or who you select as mentors can have a significant impact on their success. For example, do you want your new teacher’s classroom between your best teachers or your worst? Do you want your most effective teachers mentoring your new teachers or your worst?
Effective induction and mentoring programs are the key to new teachers’ success. In addition to safeguarding the quality of teacher performance, impactful induction and mentoring/coaching programs increase new teachers’ job satisfaction, professional growth and development, and retention. Leaders are encouraged to start the program two to four weeks before the school year begins to allow time for new teachers and mentors to meet and begin working together to ensure a great start to the school year.
Don’t’ forget your other new staff members such as administrative assistants, nurses, custodians, school psychologists, counselors, cafeteria personnel, bus drivers, etc. They can also benefit from induction/ mentoring programs. Todd Whitaker, in his book What Great Principals Do Differently, explains how important it is to ensure your staff clearly understands your expectations and have the training they need to be successful.12 For example, how do you want your administrative assistants to answer the phone or handle students sent to your office for discipline reasons? Or, if you expect bus drivers to handle discipline on their buses, you should train them. In the words of Brené Brown, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”13 Providing essential training and support can save you from unnecessary personnel issues down the road. In some instances, you may need to look outside the district for a mentor, because the new person is the only individual in that role in your district. Work through your professional contacts at IASP to identify possible mentors.
First Staff/Faculty Meeting
The first faculty/staff meeting of the year is filled with excitement, anxiety, hopes, and fears. Here are a few tips and ideas from your fellow colleagues to help you design that meeting: Break the ice with the Relationship Building Challenge found in the August Responsibilities list. One of the things that I have always found helpful at the first faculty and staff meeting is to review some of the wins or accomplishments of the prior year, especially in relation to our strategic plan. Then, set
goals for the year ahead and identify the strategies and resources that will be in place to help achieve them.
For the past two years, I have made my actual meeting shorter and focused on setting the broad vision for the year. I have removed all the boring minutia (all those things that need to be said but puts everyone to sleep) and put all of that into a Google slide shows and forms that teachers are to complete on their own and send me proof of completion before the students arrive (including mandatory trainings). I have chosen to empower them to be professionals whom I can trust to be accountable for doing what they ask students to do all the time. Introduce new staff. Don’t make the rookies give an impromptu speech. I had to do that, and it was brutal. Do the talking for them and let them know prior to the meeting that this will take place. This eases them into the pool, and they can network and catch up after the meeting. Those people are usually surrounded after the meeting by my more approachable teachers who want to help the rookies.
General Advice
Reach out to parents by email, text, or social media to let them know how excited and ready you and your staff are for the return of their students.
Plan a parent meeting for those who will be new to the school along with the parents of the students transitioning in from another school. This is an excellent time to discuss items such as school/ home communication, the code of conduct, extracurricular activities, and opportunities for parental involvement. Consider utilizing current parents as part of the presentation team to help plan and share their perspectives. And while parents/guardians are meeting, consider running a parallel meeting with new students led by the guidance team and current students as part of your new student induction/mentoring program. Stay connected. Go to your District’s beginning-of-the year get together. Networking with fellow professionals keeps you current and helps your sanity — we’re not alone in this difficult field. There’s only one first day. Enjoy it!
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
One of the easiest ways to change the culture of your school is through your new hires.
Create an FAQ document for new hires. It should cover all types of little things like who to call for what, when to do this, when to do that, what if I’m running late, etc. This will save you and the new hire time.
Create a Day One Checklist for teachers for the first day of student attendance. This way they can see all the tasks to complete with the kids on the first day and plan accordingly for completing these tasks and their own activities.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
Due to the importance of continuous improvement for both you as a learning leader and your school as a learning organization, the IASP and our friends in the School Leader Collaborative embedded a Cycle of Inquiry within the School Leader Paradigm’s infinity loop signifying that growth never ends. For a complete overview of the cycle of inquiry process, visit the IASP website to download the School Leader Cycle of Inquiry and companion resources. In the School Leader Calendar, you’ll find an outline of the critical components of the cycle of inquiry and space provided to reflect on these components throughout the year.
The School Leader Paradigm Cycle of Inquiry is a cyclical approach to problem solving similar to other published continuous improvement models. Central to the concept of continuous improvement is a problem of practice (PoP) which results in an ongoing effort to improve performance. The inquiry cycle is broken into the four stages below.
PLAN
• Review Data
Organization — academic, behavioral, programmatic, and perceptual
Self — previous evaluations, self-assessments, and perceptural
• Identify Problems of Practice (PoPs)
• Identify goals and desired outcomes
• Identify best research-based practices and assess implementation feasibility
• Develop plan using Cycle of Inquiry Plan Template
IMPLEMENT
• Implement plan
• Begin collection of data
• Communicate plan ASSESS
• Collection of data (quantitative and qualitative)
• Analysis of data
What does the quantitative data indicate?
What does the qualitative data indicate?
• Questions to consider:
Is progress being made?
What is known for sure?
REFLECT
• Where am/are I/we in terms of achieving the goal?
• What has been the impact of the goal on my/our growth?
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
School Leader Networks
These year-long programs are targeted for school leaders in each phase of development.
Aspiring— to establish the mindset, leadership intelligences, and community of peers necessary for aspiring administrators to envision themselves as future learning leaders.
Launching — to provide skills, resources, and community of peers necessary to cultivate culture, assess systems, and understand the leadership necessary for the unique context of their learning organization.
Building — to equip established administrators with the supports needed to effectively sustain culture, build systems and develop their learning organization, while affording the selfcare necessary to build a sustainable career as a learning leader.
Mastering — to promote the self-actualization of learning leaders through the continuous growth of themselves and their learning organization to ensure a school of equity and excellence which leaves a lasting legacy.
IASP Mentoring/Coaching Program
A wide variety of mentoring or coaching support is available including instructional and collaborative goal setting, action planning, and monitoring of results and impact. Mentors or coaches provide support in meeting the daily responsibilities for operations, management, supervision, and teacher development, and to create a positive school culture and establish performance expectations and supports to ensure sustained success.
School Leader Paradigm: The Research
This School Leader Paradigm: The Research, provides you with a comprehensive listing of the extensive research reviewed to identify the critical leadership dispositions and essential behaviors school leaders must possess and exhibit to be effective. Beyond what is shared in The School Leader Paradigm, this document provides an additional level of detail below the essential behaviors that offers concrete action steps school leaders can take to enhance their leadership. These pages also contain one of the most thorough compilations of school leadership research you will find anywhere.
Relationships
DATES to remember
Aug. 4
President Barack Obama’s Birthday
Aug. 13 Left Hander’s Day
Aug. 26 Women’s Equality Day
Aug. 26 Krishna Janmashtami begins (major Hindu holiday; may impact student attendance)
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Building Relationships Challenge
Plan a parent meeting for those who will be new to the school along with the parents of the students transitioning in. Include communication between school/home, code of conduct, athletics, and parent involvement opportunities. Leave a note and a small gift (piece of candy, fun school supply item, t-shirt, etc.) in the staff mailboxes on the first day. The note can be a preprinted cardstock bookmark with a welcome and reminders.
Greet families and students as they arrive. Make sure school counselors provide buddies/student mentors to new students.
On the first day of school, be in the cafeteria and have extra support staff on hand to provide students with direction regarding food lines and behavior expectations during the lunch hours.
Review policy for building use by outside agencies.
Student Centeredness
Conduct/oversee new student orientation. Conduct opening day student assembly to reaffirm expectations, vision, etc.
Prepare and distribute student accommodations (IEPs, 504, etc.) as well as allergy and medication lists for teachers and other appropriate staff.
Schedule hearing and vision screenings.
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Plan assemblies and special events (i.e., Homecoming, dances, etc.).
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
For your first faculty/staff meeting of the year, break the ice with a photo sharing game. Ask each individual to pull out their phone and select one of their favorite photos from the summer. Then, tell them to find someone they don’t know well in the room and share the photo and explain why it’s their favorite. After 3-5 minutes, have them find a new partner and share, and so forth. If someone doesn’t have a phone picture, they can simply provide a verbal description of their favorite summer moment and why.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Review data on all the various diverse cultures that exist within your learning organizations (staff and students). How do you acknowledge and celebrate their cultural backgrounds (holidays, etc.)? See resource — Equality, diversity and inclusion: simple principles to start getting it right.
Vision/Mission
Prepare school opening inspirational remarks for staff. Be prepared to reaffirm the shared vision for the school.
With school improvement team, finalize school improvement goals and objectives and improvement plans for the school year based on state student achievement data from the previous school year.
Communication
Send letters to students with schedules for opening day.
Using multiple means (registration materials, social media outlets, local newspaper, community agencies, etc.), share information about free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs and encourage all that are eligible to participate.
Send a parent letter, email, social media, or website message the first week with a welcome and any important dates/reminders for the first week of school. Emphasize immunization exclusion information. Include a personal invitation to the school’s Open House.
Review school website to ensure annual calendar and staff information is current.
Post laminated directional signs in hallways and classrooms to help students find their classrooms. Ensure important information is posted in classrooms and around the school. For example, opening day bell schedule.
Prepare announcements that need to be made to open the day. Provide reminders for staff regarding forms that may need to be distributed and collected from the students.
Prepare opening remarks for first day assembly.
Develop staff group text, email, GroupMe and/or emergency telephone list (staff only).
Post all programs, performances, meetings, and athletic events on the district calendar.
Promote your free and reduced lunch program and encourage all that are eligible to participate.
Ensure that all parents and students receive the student handbook. Distribute faculty and staff handbooks to appropriate faculty/staff members and collect acknowledgment of receipt forms. Review key provisions with appropriate faculty/staff members.
Conduct Open House/Back-to-School Night.
Meet with key school committees, coaches, and team members to finalize plans for the upcoming school year.
Working with sponsors/coaches, meet with all Fall extra-curricular participants
Instruction
and parents to review rules and code of conduct.
Create “Who is in charge when the principal is out of the building” list and distribute to faculty and staff.
Collaborative Leadership
Working with leadership team, prepare for Open House/Back-to-School Night. Working with appropriate individuals, prepare for fall field trips. Obtain School Board approval if necessary.
Schedule meetings (principal/faculty/staff) with all key groups to discuss concerns, needs, and goals for the year.
Meet with school counselors to review policies for college visits, standardized testing, identifying kids who are not on track, providing scholarship information, social-emotional support, etc.
Safety
Review school safety plans with staff. Ensure emergency systems are in order. Review updated student handbooks with all staff members (instructional and non-instructional).
Finalize dates for fire, disaster, and emergency drills. Communicate protocols to staff and parents.
Ensure all faculty and staff have access to mandated training courses.
Operations
Conduct final building walk-through with head of maintenance including sport fields and facilities.
Review budget needs and expenditures.
Review first day procedures with transportation, first day count, etc.
Ensure all needed supplies have been received and teachers have what they requested.
Ensure facilities are reserved and ready for concerts & other extra-curricular activities.
Prepare fall event coverage schedule including sports, fine arts, etc.
Ensure all IHSAA fall sports activity forms and fees are sent.
Ensure athletic director and coaches have completed all required IHSAA training (concussion, etc.).
Provide training for individuals handling money (ticket sales, concession stands, fund raising, etc.) to ensure district policies and procedures are followed.
Finalize all fall athletic/fine arts transportation schedules.
Schedule fall activities photos.
Spend time in the classroom early and often to identify struggling teachers and provide support as needed for success.
Review school’s instructional playbook (key instructional strategies, procedures — “What we should always see,” “What we might see, What we should never see,” etc.) with faculty and staff.
Assessment
Review assessment calendar with staff.
Human Capital Management
Review updated enrollment for any necessary staffing changes.
Prepare a substitute teacher availability list. Have teachers prepare substitute folders and emergency lesson plans.
Conduct required staff state mandated trainings
Conduct new staff orientation.
Conduct substitute teacher orientation.
Review district evaluation policy and procedures with all staff members (instructional and non-instructional).
Distribute documentation on evaluation timelines.
Define and communicate protocol for formal and informal classroom observations and walkthroughs.
Ensure that staff members have a copy of their specific evaluation instrument.
Ensure all teaching credentials are registered.
Visit all classrooms to connect, offer encouragement, and provide assistance. Give particular attention and time to new teachers.
Meet with new teachers weekly during the first month of school to share/clarify information and gather feedback.
Reflection and Growth
By the first day of student attendance, obtain and review the administrative evaluation tool for the year. If you will be evaluating school leaders (assistant principals, deans, etc.), ensure you have issued them the written notice of evaluation as well as the rubrics and ratings matrix.
Learning renewal ...
In the post-COVID era, schools are still struggling to address the learning loss that occurred during that time. Use these questions to reflect as you continue to build back learning that was lost.
Learning Renewal Questions
What data do we have which will allow us to analyze the current performance of our students whether they were in person, remote or hybrid? Are we lacking data that we need to consider collecting?
How can we simplify the planned curriculum to allow for quality catch up of core components? What remedial tutoring programs are needed to support students, especially marginalized students? Could some of the remedial work be accomplished remotely using technology before and/or during the school year?
What changes should be made to our master schedule or school calendar to meet students’ learning needs?
How do we appropriately institutionalize remote learning into our normal operating procedures to serve those students who need this option? What education stakeholders can play a role in the learning recovery process: teachers, other educational professionals, volunteers, peers? What supports are needed for teachers to adapt to the new learning demands? Time for planning? Materials? Professional learning?
How do we keep parents informed about learning levels and progress during recovery?
How do we ensure we are having honest and transparent conversations regarding our students’ learning needs and how to meet them?
What accelerated learning interventions are needed to address any learning loss that has occurred especially in the areas of literacy and numeracy?
Suggested First Faculty Meeting Activity
After reflecting on the questions yourself, select 3-5 for a discussion activity with your teachers/ staff. Divide teachers/staff members into groups of 5 (number off). Each group is given a marker and flip chart paper to record their responses. All groups are given the same question and a time frame, e.g., 5-7 minutes. Give a one minute warning.
Call on one of the groups to share their thoughts using their flip chart paper, then ask other groups to build on what has already been said and chart responses.
When the discussion is completed, give each group a new sheet of flip chart paper and propose a new question for them to respond to, etc. For followup, ask faculty/staff to continue the discussions in their grade level/ teams/department meetings by proposing additional questions for them to consider. Plan time at the next faculty meeting to share these discussions.
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Procedures, procedures, procedures. Take the time up front to set procedures you’d like to use throughout the year. Make sure staff who are new and returning are aware. Often we continue to hire new staff members as the year is starting. Be sure these folks know the procedures too.
Revisit or redevelop your shared vision and build your purpose around it. Have clear goals based on your vision.
Create a plan for the year to assess possible student skill or academic gaps and intervene or spiral in those skills appropriately.
Meet the students where they are! Celebrate the return of school and acknowledge the loss of learning.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
The summer and early fall provide a good timeframe to conduct the planning and implementation phases of the Cycle of Inquiry. Consider these elements when implementing your cycle of inquiry.
How did I determine this goal?
Domains: Culture Systems Learning Essential Behaviors:
Intelligences: Personal Social Systems
Competencies:
Attributes:
What are my desired outcomes?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2 Outcome #3
What strategies will I employ to reach my outcomes?
O1 Strategies
O2 Strategies O3 Strategies
April 2022
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
Ed Leaders Network
Ed Leaders Network is a professional learning resource available to all Illinois public school educators at no cost. It provides more than 200 on-demand courses including content covering teaching and learning, leadership development, diversity and equity, and state mandated trainings. ELN provides a virtual community for educators to connect with educators all over the country. Ed Leaders Network allows administrators to create, assign, and track PD at the local level and assign courses to include due dates and email reminders.
Micro-Credentials
Looking for an innovative new way to truly customize your professional learning? Consider earning a Micro-Credential which allows you to utilize your existing knowledge and experience, along with provided learning resources, to earn a digital badge that demonstrates your mastery of a specific leadership skill.
IASP Legal Services
Call IASP Executive Director, Todd Bess or visit our legal help desk for legal advice related to students, teachers, and your employment. As part of our legal services partnership with Kroger Gardis & Regas, LLP (KGR), members can receive legal guidance to help them on day-to-day legal issues and concerns. The KGR Legal Help Desk operates through a secure web portal, allowing IASP members to submit questions to the KGR Education & Public Policy Team.
Recognize outstanding school leadership by nominating a colleague for the IASP Principal of the Year Program. Visit iasp.org for information.
HORACE MANN&IPA
DATES to remember
Sept. 2 Labor Day (federal holiday;legal school holiday)
Sept. 6 Nat’l Arts in Education Week begins
Sept. 8 Grandparents’ Day
Sept. 13 Think Positive Day
Sept. 15 National Hispanic Heritage Month begins (runs through October 15)
Sept. 15 Early bird pricing for IASP Fall and Assistant Principal Conference ends
Sept. 17 Constitution Day
Sept. 19 International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Sept. 30 End of the first quarter of the fiscal year
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Student Centeredness
Conduct hearing and vision screenings.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
As an ice-breaker activity for your September faculty/staff meeting, ask each individual to share with a colleague one word they would use to describe the opening of the school year and why. Each person gets one minute, then rotates to another. After a few rounds, pull the group back together and ask individuals to share their favorite word they heard. Then, break into smaller groups and identify what worked well, what needs improvement on flip chart paper. Come back to share with entire group. Collect responses to update planning for the next year.
Vision/Mission
Finalize, receive board approval, and implement School Improvement Plan.
Communication
Communicate the results of first quarter benchmark assessment with students and parents.
Collaborative Leadership
Working with leadership team(s), prepare for Parent/Guardian and Teacher Conferences.
Safety
Send notices for students who have yet to turn in physicals and/or receive required vaccinations.
Operations
Send notices for students who have yet to pay fees. Conduct student picture day. Prepare for any Fall Season Post Season Tourneys you may be hosting — participants and parents to review rules and code of conduct.
Equity Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Finalize plans for homecoming activities. Plan for fall sports awards ceremonies.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Ask your staff to set one equity goal to better understand the various cultural groups that exist in their classrooms. Provide staff with data on student’s racial identities and/or ask your parents to share cultural values/beliefs that impact learning. Consider having staff share their goals with their peers during a PLC or full staff meeting.
Reflection & Growth/Result-Orientation
Begin the teacher observation process with the establishment of growth or improvement plans and pre-observation conferences.
Assess and reflect on professional and student growth goals and plans.
Assessment
Conduct first quarter benchmark assessment.
Human Capital Management
Provide in-service for new teachers focused on effective assessment and grading including the process and guidelines for submitting grades. Invite all staff to attend.
Provide in-service for new teachers on how to prepare for Parent/Guardian and Teacher Conferences.
How do you use your time?
Once you begin using your calendars — selfassessment and reflection are powerful tools to help you understand and further develop your time management skills. As you complete the first couple of months of the new year, begin asking yourself the following questions:
Do I find my calendars useful or are they one more thing to do?
Do I often find myself unable to accomplish my priorities due to time limitations?
Do I find myself taking work home or answering emails and phone calls at night?
Do I have any idea of how much time I spend each day on tasks?
Do I tend to focus my activities on a specific Paradigm Domain? Are there things I intentionally or unintentionally avoid?
Do I know how to prioritize my responsibilities?
If you find yourself struggling with time management and accomplishing your priorities, you are not alone. It is a huge challenge for today’s school leaders, but the good news is that there are things you can do to improve your skills in this area.
“Everyone in the building knows what you’re about by how you spend your time.14
— Danny Steele
For 2-3 days, track your actions every 10 minutes. Use an electronic device to setup your 10-minute reminder (phone, watch, etc.). Every 10-minutes, record your action. An easy tool for this can be found on the resource page. This simple to use Excel spreadsheet can be downloaded to your device of choice. For Google Users, save and then drag into Google Drive if you want to use on your personal device. You will need to download again as an Excel File for the filter to work.
To get started: Determine the daily time period you would like to track. For example, on day one you get to school at 7 a.m. You would begin tracking at 7 a.m. with your first entry and your last entry would be the 10 minutes before you go home. For example, on day one you leave at 4:30 p.m., so your last entry would be 4:20 for a total of 57 entries for the day (line 10 of the Excel sheet to line 66=57 entries. Code your actions for 2-3 days as follows:
C
— CULTURE DOMAIN — actions that relate directly to the Culture Domain (building relationships, student centeredness, wellness, equity, tradition/ celebrations, ethics, global mindedness).
S
— SYSTEMS DOMAIN — actions that relate directly to the Systems Domain (vision/mission, communication, collaborative leadership, data literacy, strategic management, safety including handling of discipline issues, operations).
L
— LEARNING DOMAIN — actions that relate directly to the Learning Domain (creating a culture of self-assessment, result-orientation, curriculum, instruction, assessment, innovation, human capital management).
P
— PERSONAL — lunch, breaks, restroom, errands, personal business.
O
— Other
After coding for 3-5 days, disaggregate your data. In line 3, click on the dropdown arrow next to day one and uncheck Select All, then filter by each of the four areas. For Culture, click C and it will filter all the C entries. This will give you the number of times that item was coded during that particular day (number is in bottom left-hand corner). Take that number and divide by the total number of entries for the day, and you’ll get a percentage of time spent on that action. For another action, go to the drop down and Select All to reload the data, then check Select All, then check the action you want to total. Do this for each area to get a percentage of time. Using our example from above, let’s say our principal had a total of 23 Systems entries: 23 entries/57 entries = 40%. On this particular day, our principal spent 40% of her time on System issues. Do this for each day of coding.
These 2-3 days of coding become your data to answer
the question, How am I currently using my time? Once you know where your time goes, you can develop a plan that is more in line with your priorities. For example, if your goal is to spend 50% of your time on Learning but find yourself spending 75%+ on Systems issues every day, it’s time to dig into this data and consider: Letting go of some tasks and delegating to others (see October Delegation is a Critical Resource).
Examining the impact of some of your actions. Could there be a better use of this time?
Restructuring some tasks to make more time. For example, do I need to be in the cafeteria the entire lunch period every day?
Learning more about effective time management and how other school leaders are successful in finding time for their priorities.
This activity might also identify your areas of strength. Individuals tend to focus more on areas of strength and less on our weaknesses. In his 2022 blog post, Dr. Scott Seaman, Executive Director of Association of Washington School Principals explains:
An effective leader knows how to lead in each of the domains, but I would argue that each one of us has a primary strength of leadership. For lack of a better description, I’d say we each have a primary domain. Some are more natural Culture leaders, while others are more comfortable with Systems leadership. Still, others might feel most at home in the Learning Domain.
Having a primary domain doesn’t mean that you can’t lead in the others. It also doesn’t mean that you are an ineffective leader. It simply means that you naturally and inherently lead from your strength. That’s great. We should focus on strengths-based leadership. However, leaders fall into trouble when they do not intentionally reflect and make leadership adjustments to accommodate their less dominant domains.15
What’s your primary domain? What leadership adjustments do you need to make to accommodate your less dominant domains?
Based on the analysis of your data, develop an improvement plan aligned to your priorities. Implement, assess, and reflect on your plan to see if it’s working, which may include doing another 2-3 days of time tracking a couple of months later.
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Schedule everything on your calendar. Keep a task list and delegate as much as possible to people you trust.
Block out time on your calendar that is sacred to the task, and let your assistant know that you should not be bothered unless there is an emergency or “right away” need. Without this, things will be overwhelming as they build up.
Find your calendar method ... the phone is great, but it’s nice to come in to see a whole day laid out. It is something you have to spend time with organizing either daily, weekly or monthly. A good calendar saves you from missing something.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY PLAN
The summer and early fall provide a good timeframe to conduct the planning and implementation phases of the Cycle of Inquiry. Consider these elements when implementing your cycle of inquiry.
How did I determine this goal?
Domains: Culture Systems Learning Essential Behaviors:
Intelligences: Personal Social Systems
Competencies:
Attributes:
What are my desired outcomes?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What strategies will I employ to reach my outcomes?
O1 Strategies
O2 Strategies
O3 Strategies
April 2022
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
IASP Districts
IASP is divided into 12 Districts, each maintaining its own board. Each district has its own leadership and three representatives serving on the Board of Directors, one each from elementary, middle and high school. District boards are always on the lookout for new leaders to step forward to assist with leadership responsibilities and event planning.
IASP Fall Professionals Conference
Held every November in Indianapolis, the IASP Fall Professionals Annual Conference provides the opportunity to hear from dynamic, nationally recognized keynote speakers, attend practitioner-led small group sessions and connect with your peers from throughout the state. IASP’s annual Assistant Principals Conference, also in Indianapolis, provides an excellent opportunity for our assistant principals to hear from distinguished national speakers, network with colleagues, and hear updates on key educational issues through over 30 concurrent sessions.
School Leader Paradigm: The Learning Resources
The School Leader Paradigm: The Learning Resources, provides you with a comprehensive listing of learning resources available to help you grow as a learning leader leading your learning organization. Contained within these pages is one of the most thorough compilations of school leadership learning resources you will find anywhere. To help you connect these resources with the becoming and doing sides of the Paradigm, we have dissected the Paradigm into consumable chunks and paired those chunks with the learning resources most relevant to support your growth in those areas of the Paradigm.
DATES to remember
Oct. 1 National Principals Month begins
Oct. 1 Last day for principals and assistant principals to meet with central office to set professional growth goals
Oct. 2 School Custodial Workers Recognition Day
Oct. 4 World Smile Day
Oct. 5 Navaratri begins (Major Hindu Holiday; may impact student attendance)
Oct. 7 Child Health Day
Oct. 7 National School Lunch Week begins
Oct. 9 Leif Erikson Day
Oct. 12 Yom Kippur (major Jewish holiday; begins at sundown on previous day; may impact student attendance)
Oct. 12 Dussehra (major Hindu holiday)
Oct. 14 Columbus Day (federal holiday; legal school holiday)
Oct. 16 Boss’s Day
Oct. 17 National Character Counts Week begins
Oct. 21 National Bus Safety Week begins
Oct. 22 School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
Oct. 23 Red Ribbon Week begins
Oct. 31 Halloween
Oct. 31 Diwali/Deepavali begins (major Hindu Holiday; may impact student attendance)
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Use IASP Advocacy Page to send an introductory email and invitation to your legislators to visit your school.
Student Centeredness
Conduct hearing and vision screenings.
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Prepare for Veteran’s Day Assembly and invite local veterans to participate. Review your district’s policies regarding holiday in-classroom activities, programs, and displays with all staff members. Prepare for fall college athletic signing. Finalize preparations for holiday celebrations.
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
Review current partnerships with community organizations and clarify purpose and recent activities. Reach out to each organization to jointly review the partnership, assess its impact, and plan for next steps. When appropriate, include faculty/staff involved in the partnership in these meetings.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Encourage your staff to meet with other staff members from a different ethnic or cultural background. Provide them with a list of questions to support dialogue to better understand how culture impacts engagement and learning.
Communication
Communicate with parents the process for accessing their student’s 1st quarter grades. Conduct parent/teacher conferences. Meet with all winter extra-curricular participants and parents to review rules and code of conduct.
Operations
Finalize preparations for parent/teacher conferences.
Ensure facilities are reserved and ready for winter concerts & other extra-curricular activities.
Prepare winter event coverage schedule including sports, fine arts, etc.
Ensure all IHSAA winter sports and activity forms and fees are sent. Ensure athletic director and coaches have completed all required IHSAA training (concussion, etc.).
Ensure athletic director has verified winter schedules/contracts with opponents and officials.
Finalize all winter athletic/fine arts transportation schedules. Schedule winter activities’ photos. Provide training for individuals handling money (ticket sales, concession stands, fund raising, etc.) to ensure district policies and procedures are followed.
Instruction
Appraise staff development provided todate and revise/expand plans as analysis indicates.
Assessment
Ensure teachers finalize and submit 1st quarter grades.
With staff, review first quarter benchmark assessments and grades. Provide interventions as needed.
Innovation
Begin planning instructional program for next school year. Identify curricular changes, staffing needs, and necessary resources.
Human Capital Management
Continue teacher observation cycle. Meet with new teachers to follow-up on the first quarter grading experiences and parent/guardian and teacher conferences. Identify possible professional development needs.
Delegation is a critical resource ...
Delegation helps you maintain a standard of excellence, empower others and keep your sanity. Use the following tips to help you get started.
Know your strengths and clarify what must be done by you and you alone — categorize tasks into what you should do versus what you should delegate to others.
Use your monthly, weekly, and daily calendars to highlight items that must be completed by you. Reassign duties that are better suited for others. For example, you do not have to lead every meeting, plan every event in the school, or supervise every athletic event.
Understand what brings you joy — in most cases, what brings you joy will line up with your strengths. However, you may find instances where what brings you pleasure with your work is mundane and could easily be delegated to someone else. In addition, other people on your team may be more skilled at something than you. Be careful though, not to give away everything that you enjoy about what you do. Your personal fulfillment in your work is important.
Know the strengths of your team — knowing what others are good at will help you determine what to delegate. This takes time and intentional relationship building on your part.
Trust the good intentions of others — make sure your team knows the work is meaningful, logical and can positively influence your organization.
You have to ask — people do not know what you need if you do not ask and it is always better to ask than to tell. This is especially true with your high performers who may already be doing what you need before you bring it up.
Follow-up — check in with those you have delegated something to. When delegating, set clear expectations and define clear goals.
For example, utilizing a task checklist will help clarify the specific tasks, the dates they must be completed, who is responsible, etc. Also make sure you provide all the right tools, instructions, and information they need to be successful. If the job is complete you can share your sincere appreciation and celebrate their effort. If not, you can ask if expectations are clear and if they have the proper resources and support. It allows you the opportunity to let your staff know you are available to help, grateful for their contribution, and will hold them accountable for what needs to be done.
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Find your building leaders! These are the people seeking change and they bring you solutions, not problems! Spend time developing these leaders.
Delegate to people you trust and follow up with them to see how things went or if they need your help. Trust, but verify. If you have someone who can do the task 80% as well as you can, delegate it.
Don’t just delegate by assigning a task. You must do the pre-work of laying out specifics of things and deadlines. Then, add a time on your calendar to followup throughout the process. Your staff will not only appreciate the clear and specific request so they can accomplish the task accurately, but most also appreciate support in follow-up.
We are a leadership school, where every child is a leader. If a student can do it, an adult shouldn’t. For example, 5th grade leaders are in charge of the bus lines.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY ASSESS
While implementation of the Cycle of Inquiry really occurs throughout the year, constant assessment of the implementation should be happening simultaneously so you decide whether to stay on course or make adjustments. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
What does the qualitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What does the quantitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
Am I making progress? What do I know for sure?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
District Meetings
During the school year, IASP Members gather in person in the fall and spring and at other times throughout the year to connect with and encourage one another during their IASP district meetings. Legislative Updates are offered, along with programming and networking opportunities that strengthen our leadership capacity.
The IASP Service Award
This prestigious award is reserved to honor principals and those individuals whose career endeavors helped advance the mission of IASP and service of children and school administrators in the state of Indiana. Recipients are recognized at the Annual Fall Professionals Conference in November.
IASP Conferences
Need the encouragement of a colleague? Join them at the IASP Assistant Principals Conference or the IASP Fall Professionals Conference. Take time to learn, recharge, and fellowship with friends who know what you are dealing wish. More importantly, take time for you.
Principal of the Year Awards
The Indiana Association of School Principals annually recognizes outstanding school leaders in each of the 12 Indiana districts who have succeeded in providing high-quality learning opportunities for students. The principals are acknowledged by their peers for the exemplary contributions they have made to the profession.
DATES to remember
Nov. 3 Standard time returns (set clocks back one hour)
Nov. 11 Veterans Day Observed (federal holiday, legal school holiday)
Nov. 13 World Kindness Day
Nov. 17 American Education Week begins (runs through Nov 21)
Nov. 15 School Board Member
Appreciation Day
Nov. 15 National Recycling Day (commemorative school holiday)
Nov. 28 Thanksgiving Day (federal Holiday; legal school holiday)
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Conduct Veterans Day Assembly. Provide reminder about your district’s policies regarding holiday in-classroom activities, programs, and displays with all staff members.
Plan holiday activities including winter concert.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
At the November faculty meeting, take a few minutes to talk about faculty/staff social, emotional, physical, and professional needs. Share the Self Check-in Questions from the Taking Care of Your Staff section. Review the resources the school/district has available to support and/or assist individuals.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Watch Recognizing Bias and Promoting Equity in Early Childhood Settings. Explore and compare your biases prior to watching this, and how any potential differences will shape your personal and professional purpose.
Vision/Mission
Review 1st Quarter data with School Improvement Team.
Communication
Review inclement weather procedures with students, staff, and parents. Communicate with students, staff, and parents about test preparation for upcoming end-of-term exams. Communicate the results of second quarter benchmark assessment with students and parents.
Review process for submitting requests for the next school year’s budget with faculty and staff.
Strategic Management
Develop semester exam schedule.
Safety
Review inclement weather procedures.
Operations
Prepare for facilities work to be conducted over the holidays.
Working with the athletic director, prepare for any holiday tournaments you may be hosting and needing supervision. Finalize forms for budget proposal requests for the next school year.
Instruction
Continue planning instructional program for next school year. Identify curricular changes, staffing needs, and necessary resources.
Assessment
Conduct second quarter benchmark assessment.
Human Capital Management
Review interrater reliability of teacher evaluations.
Assess completion of classroom evaluations and walkthroughs. Appraise fall staff development and revise and/or expand plans as data analysis indicates (quarterly assessments, teacher observations/walkthroughs, individual staff needs, etc.).
Prepare for second semester teacher inservice/professional development.
Taking care of your staff ...
How are you?
It’s November, and most faculty and staff have found their groove, but you may have members of your faculty/staff struggling – professionally, mentally, emotionally, and/or physically.
Occasional staff check-ins help to identify faculty/staff needs and build community. Offering a self-check-in questionnaire is a good start. Be sure to include resources the school/district has available if someone needs support and/ or assistance.
How are your family, close friends, pets, etc.?
Have you been taking time for yourself, family and/or friends?
What are you grateful for today?
Does your diet fuel your body? Are you drinking enough water to stay hydrated? Are you getting adequate rest?
Are you concerned with any physical or mental issues that may require professional attention?
Are you engaged in mind-body activities and taking mental/physical breaks? (i.e. quiet times for reflection and reading, jogging, yoga exercise, outdoor walks, breaks from electronics, setting an end time to my workday)
Are you finding opportunities for fun, laughter, and inspiration? (i.e. fun conversations, funny movies, tv shows, books, podcasts)
Do you have a fellow staff member that you can turn to for support? When was the last time you checked in with each other?
Attend our Fall Professionals or Assistant Principals Conference. You won’t want to miss it!
One-on-one conversations with individuals are a way to identify professional support needs. The following questions can help jump-start those conversations:
What are you doing that you would like me to observe and/or provide feedback? (i.e. certain lesson. innovative approach) What is going well for you? Is there something you are struggling with? What do you need to be successful? What specifically can I do to help or support you?
What student(s) are you most concerned for right now?
Why specifically do you have these concerns? What support does the student(s) need?
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Model healthy habits like time management, family, exercise, and social-emotional needs. Get up early, take care of yourself so you can take care of others.
Schedule time to check-in on staff, and not just related to work. Ask about their lives, exciting things you know are happening, recognize the little things. A leader that cares promotes a staff that feels better emotionally.
Make sure you are meeting with teams, or individuals face to face. Be able to read the room and be understanding of burn out!
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
While implementation of the cycle of inquiry really occurs throughout the year, constant assessment of the implementation should be happening simultaneously so you decide whether to stay on course or make adjustments. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
ASSESS
What does the qualitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What does the quantitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
Am I making progress? What do I know for sure?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
School Leadership That Fits
Trying to land that new position? Check out this guide to securing the optimal school leadership position. This one-stop-shop includes cover letter pro-tips, sample resume’s, a leadership checklist, and much more to help you refine your interview process and ensure that you find the perfect job for you and your leadership skills.
School Leader Entry Plan
So, you’ve gotten the job, now what? This document is your best kept secret! This useful tool will help you begin your leadership journey well. It includes early wins and pitfalls, a public entry plan and guidance as you look to the future in your new school.
School Leader Advocacy
Staying abreast of legislation and policy issues is critical for every school leader. IASP provides a regular IASP Advocacy Podcast that offers up-to-date information on legislative initiatives and bills as well as updates for NASSP, NAESP, and the Indiana Board of Education. You can also learn more or find your legislator by visiting the IASP Advocacy Page.
Legal Resources Help Desk
As part of our legal services partnership with Kroger Gardis & Regas, LLP (KGR), members can receive legal guidance to help them on day-to-day legal issues. KGR’s experienced attorneys can help you tackle your legal concerns. If upcoming holidays and stress of the school year are taking a toll, tap into the extensive resources on the IASP Resource Page. Find info at iasp.org.
DATES to remember
Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor Veterans’ Day (commemorative school holiday)
Dec. 10 Human Rights Day
Dec. 24 Christmas Eve (major Christian Holiday)
Dec. 25 Christmas Day (federal holiday; legal school holiday)
Dec. 26 Hanukkah begins (major Jewish holiday; begins at sundown)
Dec. 31 New Year’s Eve
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Student Centeredness
Work with staff to offer after school opportunities for students to get tutoring and study assistance for finals.
Plan for winter sports awards ceremonies.
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Plan mid-year recognition program. Consider including recognition of supportive community members. Review qualifications and involve staff in selecting recipients.
Plan faculty holiday party.
Finalize winter concert.
Plan mid-year student recognition program. Consider including recognition of supportive community members. Review qualifications and involve staff in selecting recipients.
Plan school-wide holiday celebrations. Plan faculty/staff holiday celebrations (Secret Santa, holiday breakfast/lunch/dinner, etc.) along with any special individual gifts. Plan for any mid-year retirement celebrations.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
December is a time for giving. Form a committee (teachers, staff, students, parents/guardians, and community members) to organize a school-wide funding raising project to support a local charity.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
With your school improvement team, review student academic, attendance, discipline and other relevant data to identify any significant discrepancies based on race, socio-economic status, or other factors. If discrepancies exist, how can you choose to be appropriately transparent about the discrepancies and begin a dialogue within your learning organization about ending those discrepancies?
Vision/Mission
Review School Improvement Plan with School Improvement Team to identify progress, needs, and required tasks.
Communication
Communicate final exam expectations to students, parents, and staff regarding students who request to take exams early, exam review and preparation, exam dates/ times, etc.
Communicate winter break hours with teachers, students, parents, and community. Update school website and other social media tools with appropriate information. Prepare for course request meetings with classes.
Prepare for incoming freshman night. Ensure appropriate winter break office coverage for mail, phone messages, FOIA requests, etc.
Operations
Ensure all activities are covered for the winter break.
Review second semester schedule to ensure class sizes are balanced and classroom occupancy is appropriate. Ensure classrooms have adequate number of desks. Prepare second semester schedules for distribution.
Plan winter break work schedule with head custodian.
Review current budget.
Instruction
Continue planning instructional program for next school year. Identify curricular changes, staffing needs, and necessary resources.
Human Capital Management
Identify teachers at-risk of termination for professional growth planning and additional support.
Taking care of yourself ...
Do I have a physical or mental condition that requires professional attention?
Taking care of yourself is the best gift you can give your staff and students.
Over the past several years, school leaders have started to be concerned with students’ mental health and well-being, and for good reason. But how often do school leaders overlook their own mental well-being? Use these tips to help you address your mental health.
Am I getting adequate rest including plenty of sleep at night and a nap through the day?
Am I maintaining a healthy diet and staying adequately hydrated?
Have I engaged in mind-body activities and taken mental/physical breaks? (i.e. quiet times for reflection and reading, jogging, yoga, exercise, outdoor walks, breaks from electronics, setting an end time to my workday)
Have I stayed connected to family and close friends? Have I stayed connected to colleagues who I can turn to for support, encouragement, and accountability?
Do I have a system that helps me effectively manage my time and tasks including following up on inquiries and/or assistance requests I receive from others?
Do I regularly review what I can delegate to others?
Am I intentionally scheduling time to check-in with staff to see how they are doing, determine their needs, watch a lesson, and offer some encouragement?
If my staff is large, have I ensured my leadership team has the entire staff covered?
Have I communicated with my leadership team to be sure to report to me staff members and students who may need my individual attention?
Am I offering adequate support to my team during this time including consistency, compassion, communication, and coaching?
Sleep
What happens when adults don’t get the 7 to 8 hours of good sleep at night that experts recommend? After 7 days of 6 hours of sleep your cognitive performance nosedives like a dart into the ground and it doesn’t show any signs of leveling off. Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, said in an interview, “Lack of sleep has physical effects too, causing your lungs to not be able to process oxygen as efficiently, and lactic acid builds up quicker, making you sorer, faster.” Here are three tips for better sleep from Matthew Walker:
Regularity — Go to bed around the same time and get up around the same time. This helps your body best regulate your sleep chemicals.
Light — In the hour before you go to bed, avoid screens. Screen time delays the release of the sleep chemical melatonin, making it harder to fall asleep and causing you to miss the deep REM sleep that we all need.
Keep it cool — Your brain needs to drop its temp by 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit for you to fall asleep. It may seem counter intuitive, but a warm bath or shower can actually help lower your core body temperature.
Community
There is a body of scientific work that suggests loneliness has a direct impact on our physical and mental well-being. “It’s important to distinguish between being alone, and feeling alone,” said John Cacioppo, director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. “It’s not whether you’re with someone, it’s whether you feel connected to them.” And social isolation can be a self-perpetuating condition. “Many of the people who end up lonely give off signals they want to be alone out of anxiety ... Feeling left out has a huge effect on our psyche,” psychiatrist Jacqueline Olds told the Washington Post.
Studies suggest that being lonely causes you to be sick more, and for those illnesses to feel worse. So, what can you do? Research is still being done on this, but here are some practical tips from psychiatrists and researchers. Connect with your peers — Local IASP districts often have social events and other opportunities to connect.
Volunteer in your community outside of the school — Volunteering is a great way to meet and connect with people with shared values. Embrace a project — Get immersed in something important to you. A creative project, a home project or a community project can bring enjoyment into your life. It’s hard to feel lonely when you are excited about what you are doing!
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is scientifically proven to reduce stress and increase focus. It is generally achieved through some form of meditation.
Meditation is simply paying attention only to the present moment. It is not about trying to relax or unwind. Instead, meditation is about developing a sense of being, not doing. This can be a challenge for administrators who are used to doing from morning meetings to night time extracurricular activities. Patience is an important component of meditation, because it is about a willingness to practice meditation, particularly when one might have other reasons not to.
So where to start? There are smartphone apps to help you with mindful meditation. We specifically recommend Headspace for Educators, which is free for you! Learn more at headspace.com/educators.
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Network and talk with colleagues. Have a person outside of education you can talk and vent to for a different perspective. Exercise, eat healthy, rest, make time for family and fun activities, know that there is always tomorrow, walk away knowing you did your best today.
Utilize a gratitude journal to help remind you of the why.
Gym, gym, gym. Even if you have never been to a gym, just go for 10 minutes and walk on the treadmill. If you don’t want to join a gym, buy a foldable air bike and push yourself to get physically tired so you can rest your brain.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
While implementation of the cycle of inquiry really occurs throughout the year, constant assessment of the implementation should be happening simultaneously so you decide whether to stay on course or make adjustments. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
ASSESS
What does the qualitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What does the quantitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
Am I making progress? What do I know for sure?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
LEADing AP’s Program
IASP is proud to offer this virtual program for our Assistant Principals and Deans to support them in the ever-changing world of leadership. This year-long program allows Assistant Principals and Deans to have a collaborative link to others across the state of Indiana and a continuous connection and opportunity to network. It also provides a virtual facilitator to expand support and address topics that come up throughout the year.
School Leadership that Fits
Considering a job change? Be sure to download IASP’s job search resource, School Leadership That Fits. Also check out the Jobs Board on the IASP website. You’ll need to click on Member Login and then you’ll see “JOBS” in the upper right corner. You’ll then be able to sort through jobs in education that may be a great fit for you. The IASP members in your district are also a great resource for looking over your cover letter and resume for enhancements and to ensure that it follows best practices for administrative positions
Aspiring Principals Conference
The Aspiring Principals Program is a unique opportunity for anyone considering a career in building level leadership. Facilitated by principal-practitioners, this conference will expose participants to the special challenges and opportunities in this fast-paced role.
Books Are Fun
Books Are Fun is bridging the literacy gap and building our students’ home libraries with Book Blast. We are inspiring more lifelong readers by putting at least one new, popular book in the hands of every student at your school. It’s our mission and our guarantee. Books Are Fun has been committed to bringing the hottest books to adults and children across the United States for nearly 30 years. Books Are Fun is a new sponsor of IASP.
DATES to remember
Jan. 1 New Year’s Day (federal holiday; legal school holiday)
Jan. 19 National Popcorn Day
Jan. 20 Martin Luther King Day (federal holiday; legal school holiday)
Jan. 28 Christa McAuliffe Day (commemorative school holiday)
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Use the IPA Action Center to send an introductory email and invitation to your legislators to visit your school.
Student Centeredness
Review students’ first semester grades to ensure appropriate class placement, possible retention, etc.
Equity Equity Challenge
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
As an ice-breaker activity for your January faculty/staff meeting, have individuals find a partner and share one new year resolution or hope they have for the new year. Allow two minutes to share and rotate.
Follow-up with an activity to create one New Year’s resolution for your school. Explain that the resolution should be simple - something we all can do right now to improve relationships in our school community (with each other, with students, with parents/guardians, with community members). Divide into groups of 4-5, give groups 10 minutes to generate ideas, come back together, and each group shares their ideas. As ideas are shared, combine like ideas and start to narrow the list. Take time to clarify ideas, then vote narrowing the ideas down to 2-3 to further discuss, trying to reach consensus on at least one. Examples: Try to smile more; listen to each other; make one positive parent/guardian phone call each week; share positive happenings from our classrooms; etc.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Take time to read this short article by Dr. Monica Williams of the University of Connecticut to better understand the effect that racism can have on one’s mental health.
Communication
Provide procedures for parents to access their child’s semester grades. Share these procedures with staff and teachers. Provide procedures for students and parents about the student class scheduling process for the next school year. Share these procedures with staff and teachers. Meet with students and parents (if necessary).
Conduct course request meetings with classes.
Plan for upcoming parent and guardian/ teacher conferences, if applicable.
Collaborative Leadership
Working with key personnel, begin development of next year’s master schedule.
Operations
Ensure teachers finalize and submit semester grades.
Prepare for spring field trips. Obtain Board approval if necessary.
Prepare for any winter post season tournaments you may be hosting.
Instruction
Review final 1st semester grades. Continue instructional planning for next school year.
Assessment
Prepare for administration of upcoming state assessments.
Human Capital Management
Finalize budget requests for the next school year and submit to the district office. Review interrater reliability of teacher evaluations.
Assess completion of classroom evaluations and walkthroughs.
Review district procedures and hiring guidelines and develop criteria to guide selection of new staff members.
Post open teaching and other staff positions.
Conduct evaluations for nonprofessional staff according to district policy.
Self management ...
Happy New Year! January is a time individuals make resolutions for the upcoming year. Maybe one of yours is improving your time management skills. Keep in mind what we blame as a lack of time is usually poor decision-making. Thus, the issue…
Simple solutions and quick fixes may work for a time, but often fail for the same reason we abandon New Year diets — they don’t change the underlying mindset responsible for traits we want to change. Use these tips to begin making change today.16
Be honest with yourself — Are you working toward the life you have imagined? When we are grinding as hard as we can at what we are most passionate about, it seems that everything that needs to get done gets done. Work of passion and purpose ignites us, and we seldom struggle completing this work.
Be honest with the ones you love — Most likely, you have assigned yourself tasks, responsibilities, and more importantly guilt in areas that nobody else has. This guilt pulls in multiple directions, kills your joy, and creates a logjam of priorities that need not exist. Ask those people you love most what they need from you. Most likely, it is less than you imagine.
Remember everything is a choice — Transform your thinking of “I have to” into “I get to.” This mindset allows you to take back ownership of your time. You will never be able to truly manage yourself without believing you own your time.
Toss it/tell it/teach it/ today or tomorrow — This is a process that you can invoke for everything that comes across your desk, through your email, or that is placed on your to-do list.
The first questions you should ask yourself are “What is it?” Why do I have it?” “Do I absolutely have to do this? “What am I going to do with it?” If you don’t have good answers, Toss It!
If you don’t toss it, ask yourself if you can tell (ask) someone else to do it –Tell it. This is not DELEGATION. This is automation. An example of this would be asking your administrative assistant to scan something and send it to whomever requested it.
— If you cannot toss it or tell it, then
consider Teaching It. Think of it as capacity building instead of delegation. Think about who in my organization could most grow from this opportunity. Although it may take more time than just doing it ourselves, part of being an efficient and effective person is figuring out what we can spend time on today, so we will not have to spend time on it in the future (see October — Delegation is a critical resource).
— If after going through these steps the work is still on your desk, do it if necessary. If not, wait until tomorrow or add it to your tickler files.
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Take time to read about what it is that makes you uncomfortable and get better at it. Personal and professional growth should be an ongoing focus.
Be willing to do the work with your leadership team. If you are working to grow and hold yourself accountable for things you say you will do, it makes it easier to ask that of your staff. You are the single igniter of the culture in your building. How you act will guide how staff acts.
We have our faculty and staff do “One Word” instead of New Years resolutions. The “One Word” is a focal point for the year. Many teachers have their students pick one word as well.
Reach out to your peers and make time to discuss building issues, celebrations and any topic to work through. Make time to look at problems and find the right people to problem solve with. JANUARY
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
While implementation of the cycle of inquiry really occurs throughout the year, constant assessment of the implementation should be happening simultaneously so you decide whether to stay on course or make adjustments. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
ASSESS
What does the qualitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What does the quantitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
Am I making progress? What do I know for sure?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
IASP Advocacy Page
The legislative session can be challenging and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. With IASP by your side, you can find your representatives, collaborate, find resources and even influence your legislators.
The Kyle L. Harrop Memorial Scholarship
Kyle L. Harrop was the Indiana Association of School Principals Department of Student Programs Director from August 2000 to September 2018, when he passed away unexpectedly. Mr. Harrop’s passion for student success was unrivaled and during his tenure as Student Programs Director, academic competitions participation grew tremendously. To honor Mr. Harrop’s passion for student success, and create a legacy in his honor, the Kyle L. Harrop scholarship has been created and is presented to a student who has participated in one of the many student programs that IASP sponsors throughout the year.
IASP Communication
IASP provides multiple channels for you to stay informed and connected to your peers and to IASP. Please be sure to visit the IASP website often, read the weekly e-publication, Schoohouse News, and read the monthly e-magazine, The Indianagram to stay informed. You can also follow IASP on Facebook, X(Twitter), LinkedIn, InstaGram,and YouTube@INPrincipals, and attend networking events at your local District Meetings happening around the state to engage with other building level leaders.
IASP Podcasts
IASP offers two amazing podcasts to serve our members. The IASP Advocacy podcast, hosted by IASP Assistant Executive Director, Cindy Long, runs weekly and airs on Friday mornings. This podcast is your one-stop-shop for all things advocacy and Indiana legislation. The IASP Leadership Podcast, hosted by IASP Assistant Executive Director, Dr. Tiffany Barrett, runs weekly and airs on Wednesday mornings. This podcast includes everything you need to know about leadership and invites guest speakers, including Indiana building leaders, as well as acclaimed authors and speakers to join and share their insights and experiences.
DATES to remember
Feb. 1 Black History Month begins
Feb. 1 Deadline to complete selfassessment for annual evaluation
Feb. 2 Groundhog Day
Feb. 9 Pizza Day
Feb. 11 Safer Internet Day
Feb. 12 Lincoln’s Birthday
Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day
Feb. 15 Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (commemorative school holiday)
Feb. 17 Random Acts of Kindness Day
Feb. 17 Washington’s Birthday & Presidents’ Day (federal holiday)
Feb. 25 Maha Shivratri (major Hindu holiday; begins on the evening before)
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Begin planning for end-of year events: graduation, grade promotion, academic awards, prom, etc.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
Try implementing the Afternoon Gratitude Email activity (from February). If you find it effective, consider expanding to include gratitude emails for students, parents/ guardians, and community members.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Provide staff with a list of all cultural celebration months. Moving forward, how can your learning organization plan to celebrate your diversity more frequently?
Vision/Mission
Review 2nd Quarter data with School Improvement Team.
Communication
Conduct parent and guardian/teacher conferences, if applicable.
Prepare for parent meetings with students who are transitioning school buildings. Prepare for Kindergarten parent night and Kindergarten registration.
Communicate the results of third quarter benchmark assessment with students and parents.
Communicate with parents about appropriate meetings to discuss transitions and registration for the next school year.
Communicate with Kindergarten parents about parent night and Kindergarten registration.
Meet with all spring extra-curricular participants and parents to review rules and code of conduct.
Communicate spring break guidelines and reminders with parents/guardians and students.
Operations
Finalize next school year’s budget based on feedback from district and share with faculty and staff.
Ensure facilities are reserved and ready for spring concerts & other extra-curricular activities.
Prepare spring event coverage schedule including sports, fine arts, etc.
Ensure all spring sports and activity forms and fees are sent.
Ensure spring coaches have completed all required training (concussion, etc.).
Ensure athletic director has verified spring schedules/contracts with opponents and officials.
Finalize all spring athletic/fine arts transportation schedules.
Provide training for individuals handling money (ticket sales, concession stands, fund raising, etc.) to ensure district policies and procedures are followed.
Schedule spring activities photos.
Instruction
Continue instructional planning for next school year.
Assessment
Conduct third quarter benchmark assessment. Prepare for administration of upcoming state assessments including training for those administering the tests.
Human Capital Management
Appraise staff development provided to-date and revise/expand plans as analysis indicates. Complete all teacher and staff evaluations. Prepare for anticipated RIFs, non-renewals of probationary teachers, and dismissals of tenured teachers.
Post open teaching and other staff positions. Hire staff.
Gratitude ...
Courtesy of Mike Pinto17 Principal
James Cole Elementary, Lafayette, IN
I am a big fan of Daniel Pink. His recent book, When, had many practical applications for me as an elementary principal. Mr. Pink offers good advice about email — when to answer it and when not to. He also offered an idea that stuck with me like a pebble in my shoe — send an Afternoon Gratitude Email.
An Afternoon Gratitude Email is simply that — a short email to someone who, as you take inventory of your day, has offered you something that you are grateful for. Simple affirmations are cheap and easy but are often overlooked in our rush-rush-hurry-hurry world. The idea of slowing down before turning off the computer to end the day and surveying the day to find areas of gratitude intrigued me. As a Mentor for the Indiana Principal Leadership Institute, I understand the value of action inquiry, so I began a little research project of my own.
I created a spreadsheet with Date, Recipient, Nature of Affirmation, Response, and Category. I will be honest, I chose to create the spreadsheet to track the data, but I also did it because it held me accountable to send the email. I was also curious to see how people would respond to this offer of gratitude, so I felt tracking response rates would be worthwhile. If the email isn’t well received, after a time, is it worth continuing?
The process was simple. I created about 10 draft emails with the same opening lines and a subject heading that just needed a date entered. Then, before turning off the computer at day’s end, I would type an email to a person or persons who had done something to which I felt gratitude. Having several drafts in place made this process easier and less timeconsuming. When the number of drafts began to diminish, I would create more.
About 20 days into the project, I found that I was sending emails for a variety of reasons as listed under Nature of Affirmation, but I felt categorizing them would be worthwhile. I created different categories to help encapsulate my thinking and also to offer me insight as to what I might find as a greater, more consistent reason for gratitude day-in-and-day-out.
Over the course of one year, I was able to send an Afternoon Gratitude email 207 consecutive days. During that span of time, I missed three days. 152 individuals responded to my emails (74% response rate), and 55 did not respond. In terms of categories, most fell into the Professionalism category.
Category (Number)
BL: Burden Lifted (Some burden lifted from me by someone else.) (54)
K: Kindness (82)
LW: Lonely Work (The work that gets done behind the scenes that no one sees unless it isn’t done – often in the lonely hours of the evening.) (5)
B: Betterment (Someone made me better as a person or professional.) (2)
P: Professionalism (Doing your job and doing it well!) (100)
F: Focus on Children (10)
Friend: Friendship (10)
LE: Listening Ear (Someone had taken the time to be present and to listen.) (4)
I discovered that the entire process of sending an Afternoon Gratitude Email each day was both relaxing and fulfilling. I found myself slowing down at the end of the day and reflecting on what others had done for me. I also was very pleased by the response rate and the nature of the responses. People were genuinely thrilled to receive the quick email. It was read, well received, and brightened another person’s day — a great way to build relationships!
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Send a letter to the family of your staff members thanking them for sharing their educator with you.
Daily, practice gratitude in the morning and before going to sleep at night. Stay in the moment and be okay with allowing and being rather than controlling.
Yoga, gratitude journal, personal affirmations/intentions.
February is a great month to slow things down a bit and spend more time with students. Remind yourself why you’re in education!
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
While implementation of the cycle of inquiry really occurs throughout the year, constant assessment of the implementation should be happening simultaneously so you decide whether to stay on course or make adjustments. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
ASSESS
What does the qualitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What does the quantitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
Am I making progress? What do I know for sure?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
IASP Member Handbook
The IASP member handbook outlines everything IASP has to offer you as a member of the association, including legal resources, advocacy resources, information about your IASP districts, student programs, and professional development opportunities.
Empowering Diverse Leaders Series
This conference series for all historically marginalized or underrepresented groups in educational leadership, offers virtual and in-person sessions that empower you and enrich your leadership capacity.
School Leader Cycle of Inquiry
The School Leader Cycle of Inquiry is an excellent mechanism for individuals and organizations to use for unlearning, learning, and relearning to foster continuous growth and improvement. At the individual level, it can be employed for self and professional growth. The School Leader Paradigm’s Cycle of Inquiry is a cyclical approach to problem solving. Central to the concept of continuous improvement is the definition of a problem of practice (PoP) which results in an ongoing effort to improve performance. The inquiry cycle is broken into four stages: (1) plan; (2) implement; (3) assess; and (4) reflect.
MARCH
DATES to remember
March 1
Principals and assistant principals receive annual performance evaluation
March 1 Ramadan begins (major Islamic holiday; begins at sundown; may impact student attendance)
March 2 National School Social Workers Appreciation Week begins
March 3 Read Across America Day
March 3 National School Breakfast Week begins
March 5 Ash Wednesday (major Christian holiday)
March 6 National Oreo Day
March 9 Daylight Savings Time Begins (set clocks ahead one hour)
March 14 National Pi Day
March 14 Holi (major Hindu holiday; begins on previous evening)
March 17 St. Patrick’s Day
March 20 School Crossing Guard Appreciation Day
March 20 International Day of Happiness
March 30 Vietnam War Veterans’ Day (commemorative school holiday)
March 31 End of third quarter of fiscal year
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Continue planning for end-of year events: graduation, grade promotion, academic awards, prom, Etc.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
Working with your parent/guardian and teacher organization, plan “An Evening with the School Leaders” event. Its purpose is to seek feedback about the current school year in order to plan for the next. Instead of having one large open mic event, decide what you would like feedback on and setup stations to collect the information with a member of the leadership team at each station. If you are the only administrator in your building, invite your teacher leaders to help you.
To draw in the crowds, consider pairing it with student performances or presentations. During the event break, ask parents/ guardians to visit break rooms to provide feedback. For those parents/guardians unable to attend, make available an online survey option. Don’t forget to ask your students for feedback!
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Watch this interview of author/educator, Tim Wise, conducted by former Western Illinois University professor and current IPA presenter Dr. J. Q. Adams. In this interview, Wise discusses colorblindness, white flight and its impact on student populations, the role of school principals in strengthening the learning of all students, Affirmative Action and white preferences, and the opportunities college offers students who are open to deepening their understanding of their own identities while learning about the cultural identities of others.
Communication
Communicate with parents the process for accessing their student’s 3rd quarter grades. Contact parents/guardians of students in danger of being retained or not graduating. Communicate expectations for prom with students and parents. Conduct parent meetings with students who are transitioning school buildings. Conduct Kindergarten parent night and Kindergarten registration.
Safety
Conduct preschool screenings.
Operations
Ensure budgeted funds are spent for the current school year.
Finalize building budget for next school year and submit to superintendent for final approval.
Begin work on faculty and student handbooks for next school year. Begin planning for summer cleaning and maintenance.
Prepare for spring college athletic and academic signing.
Instruction
Ensure teachers finalize and submit 3rd quarter grades.
Draft preliminary master schedule for next school year.
Continue instructional planning for next school year.
Begin planning for summer school.
Assessment
Oversee administration of state assessments.
Human Capital Management
Hold teacher summative evaluation meetings in accordance with district requirements and deadlines. Post open teaching and other staff positions. Hire staff.
Social media for the school leader ...
For school and district leaders, social media can be a powerful platform to effectively communicate and engage with students, parents, staff and the community.
By actively using social media, school leaders can foster transparency and accessibility, providing real-time updates and insights into the school’s activities and achievements, as well as address concerns, respond to inquiries, and provide support, demonstrating their commitment to effective communication and problem-solving.
Check out the following tips to get started on social media.
Be transparent and authentic and leverage social media to promote the school’s values, mission, and educational programs.
Use pictures or video to get more traction from your social media posts.
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text.
According to Twitter, Tweets with photos receive an average 35% boost in Retweets. Social Media Strategist Jeff Bullas reports that Facebook posts with photos receive an average 37% increase in engagement.
Social media usage: As of 2021, more than half of the world’s population (4.66 billion people) are active social media users. This number is expected to continue growing in the coming years.
Attend your IASP district meetings and connect with others! Learn more at iasp.org.
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Use AI for efficiency and to maintain educational data systems.
Fill your social media platforms with messaging about the positive things going on in your district. You create the narrative you want the community to see and hear. Celebrate students and staff alike, and highlight any community partnerships.
AI is something to be mindful of, but also offer PD to staff on how AI can help staff with tasks as professionals.
Share pictures/comments to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to tell your story.
Consolidate as much as possible into one source for families to navigate.
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
While implementation of the cycle of inquiry really occurs throughout the year, constant assessment of the implementation should be happening simultaneously so you decide whether to stay on course or make adjustments. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
ASSESS
What does the qualitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
What does the quantitative data tell me?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
Am I making progress? What do I know for sure?
Outcome #1
Outcome #2
Outcome #3
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
Indiana New Administrator Leadership Institute (INALI)
The Indiana New Administrator Leadership Institute (INALI) is designed to help new or early career administrators become effective instructional leaders and to quickly and comfortably assume the responsibilities of building administration. INALI is a two-year professional development program that includes extensive training, mentoring, conferences, and regional cohort meetings. With all of these interactions, INALI members have a monthly touchpoint that allows them to build camaraderie, connection and a commitment to this next phase of their career.
IASP Secretaries Conference
IASP is proud to offer this annual, virtual conference to administrative assistants and secretaries around the state. In addition to great content and collaboration, IASP presents the Secretary of the Year awards at the conclusion of this conference. Nominations from administrators, like yourself, from all over Indiana come in and winners are selected in five categories and honored during the close of the conference.
DATES to remember
April 1 April Fool’s Day
April 2 Paraprofessional Appreciation Day
April 4 National School Librarian Day
April 6 National Library Week begins
April 7-11 National Assistant Principals Week
April 13 Palm Sunday (major Christian holiday)
April 13 Passover begins (major Jewish holiday; begins at sundown; may impact student attendance)
April 15 Tax Day
April 18 Good Friday (legal school holiday)
April 20 Easter (major Christian holiday)
April 21 Volunteer Recognition Day
April 22 Earth Day
April 22 National Pay It Forward Day
April 25 Administrative Professionals Day
April 24 Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
April 24 Arbor Day
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Student Centeredness
Plan new student orientation for next school year.
Wellness
Plan for personal summer vacation and time out of the office.
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Prepare for Teacher Appreciation Week. Continue planning for end-of year events: graduation, grade promotion, academic awards, prom, spring sports awards, etc. Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
By this time of the year, everyone could use a good pick me up! To energize your faculty/ staff and students, organize a short, fun, school-wide activity such as the large group Rock, Paper, Scissors Challenge. You could do it as part of an assembly, by individual rooms/hallways/floors, or by lunch periods.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Survey your staff on your diversity and equity initiatives to gauge perceptions about the initiatives’ impact. Additionally, the survey could help identify the professional growth needs of your staff related to diversity and equity.
Vision/Mission
Review 3rd Quarter data with School Improvement Team.
Communication
Ensure summer school dates and applications are available to students and parents in print and on website. Counselors should contact students directly who are behind in credits to ensure they are registering for summer school courses required for graduation. Communicate the results of 3rd quarter benchmark assessment with students and parents.
Communicate year-end exam and AP exam schedule with teachers, students, and parents.
Communicate with parents of students who are going to be retained or will not graduate.
Communicate District calendar/attendance days for next school year with students, parents, and staff.
Communicate with all faculty and staff end-of-school procedures and checklists.
Operations
Work with counselors, department chairs, your media specialist/librarian, and technology directors to place textbook and technology orders and to identify books in need of rebinding to ensure arrival in time for summer registration.
Finalize work on faculty and student handbooks for next school year. Submit changes to the superintendent for Board approval.
Develop year-end exams and AP exams schedule.
Obtain supply requests from teachers, coaches, activity directors, etc.
Prepare school’s summer vacation calendar. Conduct building walk-through with maintenance staff to identify maintenance needs to be addressed over the summer.
Submit report to Superintendent. Prepare for any spring post-season tournaments you may be hosting.
Instruction
Continue instructional planning for next school year.
Finalize class schedule for next school year.
Build summer school program.
Assessment
Conduct third quarter benchmark assessment.
Identify students who will be retained a grade or will not graduate.
Prepare instructions and schedules for May Advance Placement exams.
Human Capital Management
Post open teaching and other staff positions.
Hire staff.
Assess new teacher induction/mentoring program and make needed changes for upcoming year.
Strengthening community engagement ...
As you continue to plan for the next year, take time this month to reflect on the following questions as you work to strengthen the bonds between yourself and the people you serve.
Include your faculty/staff in this conversation by sharing data (March Relationship Building Challenge, Essential 5 data, etc.) at your April faculty meeting. Based on your data, select a few questions for the faculty/ staff to reflect on and provide feedback and ideas for improvement for the next school year.
What opportunities exist to welcome parents and community members back into the school building beyond just academic and student management-related Issues?
How do we re-educate students and parents on school policies and procedures, daily routines. etc.?
What forms of communication and engagement did we develop over the past year that we should maintain moving forward?
How can we continue to leverage online platforms to effectively reach out to and engage our students, parents, and community?
How can we reinstitute and sustain our school’s traditions and history?
Do any broader community needs now exist that our learning organization has the capacity to help address?
How can we support authentic relationship building and communication between all members of our learning organization?
Would intentional student and staff teambuilding activities be helpful to support these efforts? If so, what types of activities would be most effective within the context of our learning organization?
How do we appropriately handle situations where parents insist their child(ren) continue to learn from home or students are unable to attend due to medical risk factors?
As we set goals and make plans for our learning organization moving forward, how can we effectively engage our students. staff, and community in the process? Who specifically should be involved? Once developed, how do we communicate these goals and plans?
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Connect your students to colleges for visits. Have your counseling staff take a group of students (and their parents) to a local university or junior college. Allow students to see that they look like the other students on campus.
Set up volunteer opportunities for students. This is a great way to build community. Food banks and thrift shops often need help on a certain day of the week.
Use weekly staff and family newsletters that highlight celebrations, activities, and important information in general. Attend all PTO meetings and use that group as a sounding board for parent feedback.
When parents are here for events for their child, use that chance to connect.
Showcase your students in the fine arts —art shows, drama presentations, family nights.
Learning Leader Cycle of Inquiry
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
REFLECT ASSESS
qualitative data tell me?
As the school year wraps up, the months of April and May provide for a good opportunity to reflect on the overall progress made through the inquiry process in order to begin think about planning for next year. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
quantitative data tell me?
Where am I in terms of achieving my goal?
What is working well?
What isn’t working well? Why? What did I assume/miss? What do others think?
What am I learning about myself/my school throughout this process?
How am I navigating conflict, stress, challenges as I push forward?
What do I know for sure?
How will I continue this work? What changes should I consider about my goal(s) and/ or outcomes? Do I need additional support (i.e., additional training, mentoring, coaching)? What are my next steps?
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
IASP Fall Conferences
Need the encouragement of a colleague? Join them at the IASP Assistant Principals Conference or the IASP Fall Professionals Conference. Take time to learn, recharge, and fellowship with friends who know what you are dealing with. More importantly, take time for you!
Call for Proposals
With the conferences approaching this fall, it is time to submit your proposals to present. With opportunities to share your expertise at the Assistant Principals Conference, the Fall Professionals Conference, or to be a Lightning Round presenter, your options are endless. Submit yours today!
Leading AP’s Program
IASP is proud to offer this virtual program for our Assistant Principals and Deans to support them in the ever-changing world of leadership. This year-long program allows Assistant Principals and Deans to have a collaborative link to others across the state of Indiana and a continuous connection and opportunity to network. It also provides a virtual facilitator to expand support and address topics that come up throughout the year.
Student Programs
Students are at the heart of your schools, so IASP continually works to offer our members excellent programs that engage students and give them the opportunity to compete and shine on a state-wide level! IASP hosts different academic competitions for students in grades 4-12, as well as a Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest, a Student Day at the Legislature, the Indiana Academic All-Stars program and the Indiana Cheer Championship. Annually, over 42,000 students are involved in events sponsored by the IASP department of Student Programs.
Do you have a leadership story to share at the IASP Fall Conference. Submit your proposal at
DATES to remember
May 2 School Lunch Hero Day
May 4 National Teacher Appreciation Week begins
May 5 Cinco de Mayo
May 6 Teacher Appreciation Day
May 7 School Nurse Appreciation Day
May 11 Mother’s Day
May 18 Speech Pathologist Day
May 26 Memorial Day (federal holiday; legal school holiday)
Record important dates relevant to your school and/or district here.
For all compliance dates and deadlines, see the IDOE calendar
Relationships
Building Relationships Challenge
Student Centeredness
Work with staff to offer after school opportunities for students to get tutoring and study assistance for finals.
Equity
Equity Challenge
Traditions/Celebrations
Celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week. Consider including all your staff in your appreciation activities and making it Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week. Use your school’s parent organization for planning events and get the local business community involved.
Finalize planning for end-of year events: graduation, grade promotion, academic awards, prom, spring sports awards, etc.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS CHALLENGE
May is one of the busiest times of the year for faculty and staff. As part of your daily walkthroughs, try to touch base with everyone to see how things are going and if support is needed.
EQUITY CHALLENGE
Provide your staff with a list of diversity and equity resources to learn more about diversity and equity, maybe over the summer? Challenge them to pick one equity goal for the 2024-2025 school year.
Vision/Mission
Review School Improvement Plan with School Improvement Team to identify progress, needs, and required tasks.
Begin development of school improvement goals and objectives for next school year.
Communication
Review teacher websites. Make sure they are up to date with summer reading and preparation requirements (such as reading assignments for AP classes.)
Post important end-of-year information on website and other social media sites.
Review the school’s website homepage to ensure summer office hours, the process for registering new students, the next year’s school calendar, and other relevant information is up to date.
Communicate final exam expectations to students, parents, and staff regarding students who request to take exams early, exam review and preparation, exam dates/times, etc.
Communicate graduation and promotion ceremony expectations with parents.
Provide procedures for parents to access their child’s semester grades.
Notify staff of dates/times that parts of the building may be inaccessible during the summer due to floor waxing, painting, etc.
Notify staff of teaching assignments for the next school year.
Meet with students graduating or going through promotion ceremonies to practice and review expectations.
Review athletic and activities websites to ensure all camp, tryout, and other relevant information is current. Include contact information for coaches and sponsors. Provide teachers with an end-of-year checkout sheet. Post positive end-of-year message on website, social media outlets, school sign etc.
Collaborate Leadership
Plan summer leadership retreat days. Meet with all key teams and committees to begin planning for the next year.
Operations
Finalize summer cleaning and maintenance schedule. Ensure teachers finalize and submit end-of-year grades.
Prepare and communicate end-of-year procedures for teachers and staff (i.e., last day of school, final reports due to office, classroom checklist, etc.)
Order supplies and textbooks for next school year. Have custodians place trash cans in the locker bays for easy disposal of unneeded locker contents. Ask teachers to assist with locker cleanout supervision. Meet with Athletic and Activities Directors concerning summer camps, no contact weeks, etc.
Instruction
Continue instructional planning for next school year. Finalize summer school plans.
Identify students for summer school remediation.
Human Capital Management
Review staff evaluations to determine professional development needs for next school year. Prepare in-service days/staff professional development for next school year. Continue to post open teaching and other staff positions. Hire staff.
Have certified staff print off and turn in current LVIS information to ensure licensure and professional development is up to date. Don’t forget to do this for yourself as well.
Supporting social-emotional needs ...
As you finish up the current year and continue to plan for the next, take time to reflect about the social and emotional needs of the people you serve. Below you will find questions to stimulate your thinking. We encourage you to have your leadership teams, department/ grade level teams do the same, then come together to share reflections and suggestions for improvement for the next year.
Do any gaps exist between what we do and what the members of our learning organization need? If so, what are they? What staffing, resources, and professional learning do we need to fill these gaps? How do we effectively monitor the evolving social emotional needs of our students and staff?
Should we consider using software or a phone application to assist with these efforts?
How can we appropriately embed social emotional learning and skills acquisition into our school’s curriculum? What considerations, if any, should we give to our master schedule? What resources might we need to provide to our students and staff to address trauma they have endured? What are the current needs of our students and staff? How do we know?
How do we currently support the social emotional needs of our students and how do we sustain a sense of safety, support, and appreciation for all members of our learning organization?
SCHOOL LEADER TIPS for you
Help students and families stay connected with mental health support throughout the summer. Connect them to local face-to-face counseling or telehealth. Help set up appointments before the year ends.
For tier 1 schoolwide programs, use Character Counts, CHAMPS, and A-F Interventions (Safe and Civil Schools).
Screen for skill gaps and introduce students into groups for counseling and intervention.
Use quality social-emotional curriculum: Second Step and the Zones of Regulation.
Use social-emotional benchmarks from spring to effectively measure current status. Check in with your tiered groups and look at progress.
Learning Leader Cycle of Inquiry
CYCLE OF INQUIRY
REFLECT ASSESS
qualitative data tell me? quantitative data tell me?
As the school year wraps up, the months of April and May provide for a good opportunity to reflect on the overall progress made through the inquiry process in order to begin think about planning for next year. Space is provided for you to reflect on several key questions.
Where am I in terms of achieving my goal?
What is working well?
What isn’t working well? Why? What did I assume/miss? What do others think?
What am I learning about myself/my school throughout this process?
How am I navigating conflict, stress, challenges as I push forward?
What do I know for sure?
How will I continue this work? What changes should I consider about my goal(s) and/ or outcomes? Do I need additional support (i.e., additional training, mentoring, coaching)? What are my next steps?
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND RESOURCES
IASP Knowledge Base
As part of your IASP membership, you have access to our library of resources. By logging into the member portal in the upper right corner of the IASP website, you can view videos of past professional development, listen to past podcasts, and access documents, all aligned to the School Leader Paradigm.
Paradigm Resources
Also located within the member portal are the paradigm resources. You can find legal resources, archives and additional leadership resources, and even past issues of the Schoolhouse News and Indianagram.
IASP Jobs Board
This is a great way to market your job openings to the school leadership community in Indiana. Our Jobs Board is only accessible to IASP members, which includes over 3,500 building level administrators in Indiana.
Jobs Listing
Are you looking for a new position? If so, you can access a list of open positions as an IASP member. This is a terrific opportunity to find that perfect position and then you can use the School Leadership that Fits and the School Leader Entry Plan to land the job and develop a plan as you begin that journey. IASP has everything you need to elevate your leadership right here at your fingertips!
ENDNOTES
1. Covey, S. (@StephenRCovey)(2021,March 2). Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent, and not enough time on what is important [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/search?q=Most%20of%20 us%20spend%20too%20much%20time%20on%20what%20is%20urgent%2C%20and%20not%20 enough%20time%20on%20what%20is%20important&src=typed_query
1. Hallinger, P. and Murphy, J.F. (2013). Running on empty? Finding the time and capacity to lead learning, NASSP Bulletin, Vol. 97 (1), 5-21.
2. Steiner, E., Doan, S., Woo, A., Gittens, A., Lawrence, R., Berdie, L., Wolfe, R., Greer, L., & Schwartz, H. (2022). Restoring teacher and principal well-being is an essential step for rebuilding schools. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-4.html
3. Grissom, J., Loeb, S.,& Mitani, H. (2015). Principal time management skills: Explaining patterns in principals’ time use, job stress, and perceived effectiveness. Research Gate. https://www. researchgate.net/publication/281612201_Principal_time_management_skills
4. Grissom, J., Loeb, S.,& Mitani, H. (2015).
5. Valentine, J. (2006). A collaborative culture for school improvement: Significance, definition, and measurement. https://wvde.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/C.-Culture-Research-Summary.pdf
6. Fullan, M. (2002). The change leader. ASCD. https://michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/ uploads/2016/06/13396052090.pdf
7. Barth, R. (2006). The culture builder. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-culture-builder
8. Maxwell, J. (2014). Thinking for a change: 11 ways highly successful people approach life and work. Hachette Book Group.
9. Altshuler, M. (N.D.). https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/144299-the-bad-news-is-time-flies-thegood-news-is
10. Wong, H., & Wong, R. (2018). The first days of school (5th ed.). Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc. Mountain View, CA.
11. Whitaker, T. (2020). What great principals do differently: Twenty things that matter most. 3rd edition. Routledge.
12. Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts. Random House.
13. Steele, D. [@SteeleThoughts]. (2017, June 23). I don’t care what your personal mission statement says. Everyone in the building knows what you’re about by how you spend your time [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/steelethoughts/status/878245598775853057
14. Seaman, S. (2022). What’s your domain strength? Association of Washington School Principals. https://magazine.awsp.org/from-the-exec-dir2022-23-v1
15. Caposey, PJ. (2020). Think self-management, not time management. https://www.arkansasascd.org/ article/265262
16. Pinto, M. (2019). Afternoon gratitude email. IPLI. https://indianapli.org/wp-content/uploads/FallNewsletter-2019.pdf
17. Lua, A. (2023). 20 top social media sites to consider for your brand for 2023. Buffer. https://buffer. com/library/social-media-sites/#the-top-20-social-media-sites-of-2023
Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools
Dr. Vic Wilson, Executive Director vic@clasleaders.org clasleaders.org | 800-239-3616
Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals
Jennifer Rinaldi, Executive Director jrinaldi@alaskaacsa.org alaskaprincipal.org | 907-586-9702
Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals
Dr. Lisa Parady, Executive Director lparady@alaskaacsa.org alaskaprincipal.org | 907-586-9702
Illinois Principals Association
Dr. Jason Leahy, Executive Director jason@ilprincipals.org ilprincipals.org | 217.525.1383
Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals
Robert Driver, Executive Director bob@massp.org massp.org | 612.361.1510
New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association
Karen Bingert, Executive Director njpsa@njpsa.org njpsa.org | 609.860.1200
Indiana Association of School Principals
Dr. Todd Bess, Executive Director tbess@iasp.org iasp.org | 317.891.9900
Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals
Dr. J. Anderson, Executive Director janderson@maesp.com maesp.com | 573.638.2460
School Administrators
Association of New York State Kevin Casey, Executive Director kcasey@saanys.org saanys.org | 518.782.0600
Association of Washington School Principals
Dr. Scott Seaman, Executive Director scott@awsp.org awsp.org | 360.357.7951
Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association
Michelle Krell, Executive Director michelle@mespa.net mespa.net | 952-297-8670
Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals
Clark Mershon, Executive Director cmershon@moassp.org moassp.org | 573.445.5071
Pennsylvania Principals Association
Dr. Erich C. Eshbach, Executive Director eshbach@paprincipals.org paprincipals.org | 717.732.4999
Association of Wisconsin School Administrators
Jim Lynch, Executive Director jimlynch@awsa.org awsa.org | 608.241.0300
