Novice Principal Checklist
November and December 2018
The holidays will be upon us before we know it! We have 30 precious days of instruction and 1 teacher workday between now and January 2, 2019. Making the most of these instructional days will benefit students and teachers as we continue our recovery efforts. We want everyone to enjoy the holiday season but to also optimize time with staff and students.
Things we can be working on in November:
- Calendars - make sure that calendars are updated on web pages, in newsletters and on social media.
- Safety drills - be sure you have added these to your calendars and communicated dates with stakeholders.
- Plan and advertise holiday concerts (for many of us that means alternative locations this season).
- Prioritize informal classroom visits even though we are all playing catch-up with formal observation requirements. I try to do my informal visits first thing every morning and can cover the school in one hour.
- Schedule your student advocacy survey and work with your student services department in advance to determine how the data will be utilized (at-risk for attendance, behavior, retention, etc).
- Plan your staff holiday events. My favorites include a staff holiday party and the 12 days of Christmas. Shop early for events such as the 12 days of Christmas so you aren't juggling too much in December. It does not have to be fancy, theme days can include donuts, a coffee bar, chex-mix, a fruit station, cards from students, etc. Enlist the help of parent volunteers (early) to take the pressure off of your admin team.
- Review and share your policy about holiday parties and videos shown in class. Be sure that teachers are aware of your expectations in advance.
- Share your holiday greetings with the community. Consider your message and how you will share it with students and parents. At Swansboro Middle School we ordered school Christmas cards for students and hand wrote a note to each one (split between the 3 of us), attached a candy cane and gave out during homeroom the week before the holidays. You could also take a staff Christmas photo to be simply sent out via email to parents or posted on social media.
- Take inventory of your school community accomplishments so far this year and celebrate successes. A lesson that I learned early in my career was to never miss an opportunity to recognize a staff member. It is not too early to think about staff you would like to recognize this year to include BT/Mentor, secretary staff, etc. I constantly look for these opportunities and can assure you that the effort that it takes to write a letter of recommendation will reap benefits for years to come.
Upcoming Appreciation Dates to Remember:
- November 16: Substitute Teacher Day
- November 12-16: American Education Week
- November 14: National Education Support Day (Speech/Psychologist/OT and PT, etc)