Most new principals simply try to do too much. For a new principal, garnering support and getting everyone on board and getting them to be data driven and work toward the betterment of student achievement is a challenge. The day to day can be overwhelming, so you really need to build collaborative teams that enable people to work together.
Very often, a new principal will observe and look at a culture first. They might do a survey to see if they know what's going on. They might do retreats with faculty, working with team leaders to build a powerful and positive culture. Remember, building that kind of culture can take years.
Remember, nontraditional figures are essential. Very often, the custodian and the related figures (teachers, assistants, tutors, coaches, and so on) have a lot to do with the culture of a school. If the secretary greets you in a friendly way, you know that that's a positive school.
At my school, we have a poster of sayings for the faculty room. It's called our Stop-Keep-Start list. We have things like the following: Stop
- Nonmeaningful assignments
- Making excuses
- Moving students on when they have not reached mastery
- Ignoring parent responsibilities—call them
- Being negative
- Time wasters
- Professional learning communities
- Using e-mail
- Sharing new ideas and being there for one another
- Interventions and differentiation
- Celebrations and spotting good character
- Consistent procedures in place
- Requiring maximum effort
- Implementing vocabulary through the grades
- Working on attendance by teaching kids how to stay healthy
- Training all teachers for interventions for students and families with problems
- Incorporating science and social studies into the reading program
Remember, principals tend to think they'll change the world. You have to be careful because there's pressure to make things the best that they can be, but if you do too much, you will lose sight of what your goal should be.
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