Sequoia Union High School District

When I was growing up, some would say it was in pre-historic days, the trick for distinguishing between the homonyms “principle” and “principal” was to remember that “the principal is your pal.” Though it’s unlikely I ever thought of a principal as my pal, that mnemonic device worked for me. Today, even as a trustee for the school district, I still don’t think of principals as pals, but I do think of them as stars, shining bright across our high school district. 

In the many research studies that have been done on the effectiveness of principals, their impact on student learning is generally valued as second only to the actual work in classroom instruction. To that observation, I’d add this clarifying note-- a Stanford study finds that research has converged on the importance of three aspects of the principal’s job:

 

(1) developing a deep understanding of how to support teachers; 

(2) managing the curriculum in ways that promote student learning; and 

(3) developing the ability to transform schools into more effective organizations that foster powerful teaching and learning for all students.  That’s no small responsibility we put on the backs of our principals.

Serving on the school board, I have the privileged opportunity to see how that work is being done across the district. Our principals, hand in hand with the teaching staff, are tackling the large-scale challenges of educational access in education, while developing innovative new practices of how we (a) deliver math curriculum (with a focus on Algebra right now) to all of our students; (b) develop a “standards based” approach to grading, (c) promote the practice of teaching through “instructional rounds”, and even (d) rethink student access to smartphones.  And lots more.

Of course that’s not a principal’s only job.

The innovative initiatives are only part of the heavy lift by our principals. In jobs that require work from sunrise to sunset, our principals need to be “educational visionaries; instructional and curriculum leaders; assessment experts; disciplinarians; community builders; public relations experts; budget analysts; facility managers; special program administrators; and expert overseers of legal, contractual, and policy mandates and initiatives. They are expected to broker the often-conflicting interests of parents, teachers, students, district officials, unions, and state and federal agencies, and they need to be sensitive to the widening range of student needs.”  All in all, they take on an awesome level of responsibility, in one of the most consequential jobs in our community.

So here’s to you – Allison (Tide Academy), Amika (East Palo Alto Academy), Diane (Woodside), Ralph (Carlmont), Sean (Sequoia), Simone (Menlo-Atherton) Stephanie (Redwood) and Lionel (at our Adult School.) Thanks for everything you do to support our teachers and assure every student has the best possible opportunity to learn. You’re a star, if not also a pal.

 

 

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