Homecoming for the Whole School
Who gets to feel like they are part of Homecoming at your school? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer can tell you quite a bit about school culture. Homecoming is more than a theme week, game, dance or pep assembly. For many schools, it is one of the first major culture moments of the year and an early opportunity to remind students that school is not just a place…
PA 146 Beyond Compliance: Who Is Tending the Fire?
There are some challenges in schools that principals can appropriately assign to someone else. Literacy is the one we need to lead. In 2025, fewer than 40 percent of Michigan sixth and seventh-grade students scored proficient or above in English language arts on the M-STEP. That raises a real question for those of us who lead middle and high schools: How well are students prepared to engage with the increasingly complex learning…
Beyond the Launch: When Activity Becomes Impact
The beginning of a school year offers no shortage of reasons to celebrate. The buses arrive on time. Class schedules come together. Staff members return energized from professional learning. A new initiative launches with enthusiasm. Hallways feel orderly. Families express appreciation. The first few weeks unfold with a reassuring sense that the hard work of planning has paid off. Those moments matter. They deserve to be recognized. They are also easy to…
Tilling the Soil – Preparing for the Year Ahead
Each August, something shifts. We walk our buildings. We hear the hum of returning life. We feel both the excitement and the weight of a new year ahead. It’s a lot like tilling a garden. Before we can plant anything meaningful, the soil has to be turned over. It has to be broken up, aerated and made ready to receive what's next. That's what great leaders do before the first day of…
The Future-Ready Principal Is Not the Person With All the Answers
In recent conversations with school leaders, I have watched the same questions surface again and again. What should students be allowed to use? What should teachers be expected to do? Do we need a policy? Are we moving too slowly? Are we moving too fast? You can feel the pressure behind those questions. Not because these leaders are resistant to change, but because they understand the weight of getting it wrong. Their…
Leadership in Motion | Reality Always Gets a Vote: Leadership Begins When Plans Meet Reality
Leadership has a way of teaching the same lesson over and over again. Reality always gets a vote. A new initiative begins with optimism. The team has invested hours thinking through the details. The planning meetings have been productive. The implementation timeline is clear. The first staff meeting goes well, and people leave energized by the possibilities ahead. There is a genuine sense that the work is off to a strong start.…
Start the Year With Students, Not Just Plans
One of my favorite parts of Summer Leadership Camp is how honest students get once they settle in. It usually doesn’t happen on the first day. The first day is busy. Students are figuring out where to go, who they know, what council they are in, and whether they’re going to like this whole camp thing. But by the middle of the week, once they have laughed a little, taken a few…
Oh, Behave! | The Power of a Fresh Start: What My Daughter Taught Me About Behavior and Agency
My daughter is starting a new school in a new district next year. This week, she is attending an introductory session to meet her new marching bandmates, one of many steps in the transition from middle school to high school. Over the last several weeks, our family has had the kinds of conversations that probably happen around kitchen tables everywhere this time of year. The end of one year naturally gives way…
Leadership in Motion | The Water Glass Effect: Knowing When to Put the Weight Down
Navigating Change, Shaping Culture, Driving Impact Every principal carries weight. A student situation that lingers longer than it should. A difficult parent conversation replaying in your mind. A staff conflict you cannot quite shake. A decision you revisit on the drive home, wondering whether you should have handled it differently. The weight itself is rarely the problem. Leadership comes with weight. The challenge is not carrying it. The challenge is carrying it…
Leadership Lives Here | Building the Bench: Celebrating Districts Growing Leaders From Within
By Heidie Ciesielski, MASSP Associate Director of Leadership Preparation and Certification In a time when the education job market is lean and the search for strong administrator candidates is more competitive than ever, some districts are choosing not to wait for leadership talent to appear from the outside. Instead, they are building it from within – identifying promising educators, investing in their growth, and providing scholarships to aspiring leaders enrolling in Path…