As the Spelling Bee Champion for Litchfield Elementary School in 1981, I know the feeling of triumph well. However, my glorious spelling bee win ended at the school level because in order to win at the district, state, and national levels, you actually have to show up, and I didn’t. I meant to. I was all set. Then I talked with first runner up. 

On the day of the district spelling bee, I went to school knowing that after announcements and the Pledge of Allegiance, I’d be called out of class to meet my mom in the office. From there, a school bus would drive us to the district Spelling Bee. My mom drove a perfectly fine yellow station wagon with that 80’s wood siding, but the school wouldn’t let her drive us there. We had to ride the bus. I guess even the school was embarrassed by that wood siding. 

Giving Away My Chance

The first runner up was a stranger to me, but on that morning of the district spelling bee, she came up to me on the playground,...

If you are one of the 55 million people who travel on Thanksgiving Day you may want to take something or someone to listen to pass the time.

Our Principal Office Podcast has over 50 hours of content that has been downloaded over 17,000 times.

I've linked some of our most downloaded below, plus two that will work well for the holidays!!!

Travel safely!

Learn Directly from Henderson Collegiate Executive Director Eric Sanchez

Steps to Effective Teacher Feedback

Setting and Achieving Goals

Have that conversation with the difficult adult in the room!

Connect with Everyone!

Did you know that 62% of students with disabilities spend 80% of their school day in general education classes (OSEP, 2015)? This doesn’t even take into consideration the at-risk students who didn’t qualify for services. They of course spend 100% of their day in general education.

How about the complete other side of the spectrum; your academically gifted students, or your twice exceptional students. They too are in those same classes.

So, my question for you is: How much professional development, feedback and training during the school year are you providing your general education teachers on how to effectively lead students who are disabled, at-risk and/or academically gifted?

Before you go questioning whether or not you should be leading the school realize that you are not alone here. The first two years I spent as a principal our school was great for 50% of our population, good for 35% and the other 15% we did our best with. Our strategy for the last 15% was more...

North Carolina’s 196 public charter schools have one thing in common: Parents enroll their child in a charter because they believe it is the best school for their child. Recent statements by charter opponents perpetuate a myth that charter schools “take” funds from school districts. These statements simply have no merit. 

Charter schools make a commitment to their community, building hope. When they keep these commitments by creating safe, engaging school environments, they build trust. 

Despite having some flexibility, public charter schools must follow the same laws as public district schools in these three critical trust-building areas:

1. Serving students with disabilities;

2. Student accountability; and,

3. Health and safety standards. 

Serving Students With Disabilities: Charter schools must serve all students who enroll. Whether this student requires a one-on-one assistant, full-day specialized instruction, or private transportation services,...

The majority of charter school opponents have one simple message, “charter schools do not have to provide transportation or feed children.”

However, the truth is this: Charters must meet the same legal requirements as district public schools. 

For any public school, district or charter, there is no provision in public school law that states any entity must provide transportation. Instead, the law states that each district has the “authority to acquire, own, lease and operate buses.” Public charter schools follow NC General Statute 115C-218.40: “The charter school shall develop a transportation plan so that transportation is not a barrier to any student who resides in the local school administrative unit in which the school is located.”

As a result, 98 public charter schools currently provide school bus transportation as an option for their students (NC Office of Charter Schools, 2019), exactly 50% of all operating charter schools.

This...

John Wooden shared, “When the opportunity comes it’s too late to prepare.” Preparation is more than just a discipline. Preparation is an attitude. Preparation will make the difference between winning and losing. Success and failure. Connecting and feeling lost. 

Preparation can happen in many ways. It could be about thinking ahead of a potential problem to making sure your dinner guests do not have any food allergies or special diets. 

Preparation could be practicing your elevator speech to new families, teachers or strategic partners not until you get it right, but until you never get it wrong. 

Preparation could be when you get those five key minutes with your boss to pitch an idea you have all of her potential questions (i.e. budget impact, key resources, first steps) already mapped out in an easy to read one page report. 

 Preparation is all about getting better results. Better results in this order:

1. Better results for the...

Your environment plays a big part in how much you you grow.

Have you ever heard the old tale of the goldfish? The one that says that if you put a goldfish in a bowl it will always stay the same size, but put them in a pool and they will grow to a foot long and ten pounds? Well I have to tell you it is somewhat of a myth! It is true that the fish will grow to different sizes, but it has little to do with the size of the tank.  I did some research on this. Does the fish sense that it cannot grow any bigger because of the size of its tank?  No!  It turns out that the growth of the fish is directly related to the quality of the water.  Think about it - when you keep a fish in a bowl, there is no filtration, no aeration to provide oxygen, there are few nutrients, and the fish is fed one basic food.  But the fish in the pond has limitless opportunities. Plants in the water provide oxygen, there are a wide variety of nutrients, and the ecosystem provides a system...

As a governance coach and consultant the question I get most often is, how do we keep our board meetings on track? The answer is the pretty simple.

Focus on what is most important. 

I have learned the hard way, as a consultant and a board chair, that if you do not prepare on the front end you will be repairing on the back end.

One of the keys to facilitating an effective and purposeful board meeting begins with the setting of the monthly agenda.   

Who Sets the agenda?

The agenda is a collaborative process set by the head of the school and the board chair. 

When is the agenda set?

The development of the next months agenda begins at the end of the previous board meeting. At At the close of the meeting the board chair should:

1. Ask who is taking minutes to state the discussion items from this meeting that will need to be action items next month.  
2. Review the school’s Strategic Outcomes Based Calendar and note any reports or items due next...