The New Principal Support System has been developed to respond to the most pressing leadership needs of first and second-year principals, creating a learning community that supports principals’ reflection and inquiry into their practice. The goals of the New Principal Support System are to:
- Deepen participants' skills in leading and managing schools focused on instructional improvement and improved student achievement;
- Provide new principals with the guidance and support of experienced principals;
- Create a community of learners and a network that support new principals in making their practice public, reflecting on their experiences, and learning from one another;
- Retain new principals by addressing the challenges they face.
The offerings of the New Principal Support System are differentiated to respond to the development needs of first- and second-year principals. First year principals’ work focuses on establishing a vision for their schools and organizing the schools’ work on this vision while managing all of the day-to-day management responsibilities of the principalship. In the second year of leading a school, principals tend to focus more specifically on what they have identified as a few key levers that will significantly improve instruction and student achievement.
Curriculum
First-Year Principals
- Five-day summer institute for new principals that focuses on both the operational aspects of opening a school and the process of entering a school community and building relationships, analyzing the school culture, and developing a vision for the school;
- Mentoring support for each new principal, provided by a successful, experienced Boston principal;
- Personalized central support for new principals throughout the year on critical management issues e.g. school budgeting and operations issues;
- Monthly meetings of new principals that provide just-in-time training on critical management functions (e.g. budget, hiring) as well as broader discussions of school leadership that are driven by the principals’ experiences in their schools
