Welcome to the Principals' Office, NAESP’s blog that connects principals with their colleagues and other K-12 educators. Come in and join our community of principals—where the door is always open.
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Rashes, boils, pustules, fever, and chills—oh my! This year, influenza is not the only scary health issue that schools should prepare for. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or staph skin infections, have been appearing in schools across the nation.The Centers for Disease Control provides information about staph infections and how schools can handle the threat at http://www.cdc.gov/Features/MRSAinSchools/.
The Principals’ Office turns 1 today. During the past year we have covered topics like the reauthorization of ESEA, the future of schools and education, and educating the whole child—which have garnered close to 30,000 visitors and many insightful comments. In the year ahead, you can look forward to more engaging posts that connect you with your colleagues.
Since its debut, the Principals’ Office has been joined by NAESP state affiliate blogs from Texas, North Dakota, and Washington. Here’s to another year in the blogosphere.
New Orleans joins a handful of cities whose districts give autonomy to public school principals. Following the lead of school districts in New York City, San Francisco, and Oakland, California, Recovery District superintendent Paul Vallas aims to give principals authority to hire their staff, as well as control over their budgets, according to The Times-Picayune.
Following a charter school model, principals in the state-run New Orleans schools will have the independence to recruit and hire their own teachers and academic support staff, and control the use of federal Title I grant money, beginning next school year. In the latest issue of Principal magazine, authors Steven Adamowski and Michael J. Petrilli weigh in on the issue of bridging the autonomy gap.
NAESP, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education, held its annual National Distinguished Principals program last Thursday and Friday and it was a great success. Sixty-one outstanding elementary and middle school principals from schools across the nation and abroad were honored at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
During the program, principals described how receiving the award has positively impacted them in their communities. It was such a treat to hear them discuss their commitment to their schools and communities and it’s great for them to receive the recognition they deserve. Several principals were interviewed during the program by their local TV news affiliates and many others have been featured in their local newspapers. (Some of the articles can be read on the NAESP Web site at http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=1724.)
A black-tie awards banquet on Friday capped the two-day event. Gail Connelly, NAESP’s executive director, and Ray Simon, the deputy secretary for the Department of Education, thanked the principals for their tremendous dedication to their schools and communities. Congrats to the 2007 Class of National Distinguished Principals. Simply the best!
You know better than most that the basic health and wellness of your students is vital to their learning successfully in school. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill, H.R. 976, was vetoed by President Bush last week. On Thursday, Oct. 18, the U.S. House will try to override his veto, requiring a 2/3s majority of the present members voting in favor of the override. Contact your legislators today and ask that they vote in favor of the veto override! Go to the Federal Legislative Action center at http://capwiz.com/naesp/issues/alert/?alertid=10418706&PROCESS=Take+Action and scroll down to e-mail your representative.
As the famed baby boomer generation reaches retirement age, many states are taking advantage of this population as a pool for school volunteers. Read about a former state-government employee who is spending her retirement years as a volunteer in a Baltimore elementary school in “States turn to seniors for help in classrooms”.
The author of the Speaking Out article in the November/December 2007 issue of Principal magazine has “a renewed sense of urgency” about environmental education and believes that it’s the responsibility of school leaders to integrate it into the curriculum. In her article, Kendra Kecker asks, “If we are in an environmental crisis—which is becoming harder and harder to refute—doesn’t it make sense ... to start educating children at a young age and instilling behaviors we’re currently trying to change in adults?”
Do you think it’s necessary to incorporate an environmental education program at your school? What kind of environmental projects and activities do your students do? Is it even a school’s responsibility to teach students about how to care for the environment?
As we mentioned earlier this week, NAESP is running a Proud to be a Principal campaign through November 15. But we want to hear from you. Tell us, and your colleagues, why you’re proud to be in a profession that impacts millions of students, thousands of teachers, and hundreds of communities.
Trumpet your successes and your role as a school leader and share your proud to be a principal moment here on the Principals’ Office. If you want to learn more about the campaign or listen to a Proud to be a Principal sound byte, featuring NAESP's executive director Gail Connelly, visit www.naesp.org.
The value of a racially diverse staff is a recurrent subject, but gender diversity is just as important. Stereotyping, low pay, and few mentors are among the reasons that the percentage of male teachers is at a forty-year low, according to Newsweek. This dearth is especially alarming given the evidence, however controversial, that teachers’ gender affects student learning. Whatever your take on Thomas Dee’s findings that “learning from a teacher of the opposite gender has a detrimental effect on students’ academic progress,” it is undisputable that children need strong male and female role models from an early age. In elementary schools, the problem is even more distinct, as male teachers number only nine percent.
NAESP invites you to let everyone know that you’re PROUD TO BE A PRINCIPAL! From October 1—November 15, 2007, we encourage you to trumpet your successes and your role as a school leader. You play an important role in your community and the lives of the children you serve. Now is your time to shine! To get you started, below is a copy of the Principals’ Creed. So stand tall, say the Principals’ Creed aloud, and let everyone know how proud you are to be a principal.
Principals’ Creed
We are dedicated to ensuring that every child in America
receives a quality education.
We care about our country by caring deeply about its children.
We believe that no barrier should separate a child
from the best education a school can offer...
that neither race nor sex nor ethnic heritage nor geography
nor social or economic status
may be used to deny a child the opportunity to acquire
a solid foundation in reading, writing, and mathematics...
in critical thinking...and in the values of friendship,
compassion, honesty, and self-esteem,
We accept the challenge of the research showing that
quality education in every school depends on the
expertise, dedication, and leadership of the principal of that school.
