Date:
September 23, 2026
9:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Location:
MASSP
1001 Centennial Way, Ste 100
Lansing, MI 48917
Cost:
$500 per person
Register NowThe Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) is excited to launch Cohort 3 of the Innovative Leaders Network (ILN) for the 2026–27 school year. ILN is designed for secondary school leaders who are ready to explore what school could become in an AI-integrated, student-centered, and future-ready landscape. Built as a multi-year learning network. Year 1 serves as the entry point and focuses on exploration, exposure, reflection, and possibility. Participants who complete Year 1 may continue into Year 2, where the experience shifts toward implementation, coaching, and an Innovation Change Project. A third year may be available for leaders who want to continue scaling, sharing, and deepening their innovation work.
In Year 1, participants will engage in a foundational Explore & Discover journey built around curiosity, reflection, and the question of what school could become. Through a kickoff experience, book study, webinars, optional site visits, hands-on learning, and guided reflection, leaders will examine emerging models of school design, instructional innovation, and technology integration.
The kickoff event sets the foundation for the year by helping participants surface assumptions, connect with colleagues, and begin asking bigger questions about the future of learning. Using resources such as Most Likely to Succeed, Will Richardson’s 12 Big Questions, and other future-focused prompts, participants will reflect on the systems, structures, and stories that shape school today.
Throughout Year 1, participants will explore three innovation domains:
- Innovative Structures and Approaches for Personalizing Learning
- School-within-a-school models, academies, microschools, flexible schedules, community-connected learning, and other approaches that rethink time, space, and support
- Innovative Instructional Models and Supports for Student Success
- Modern Classroom, mastery-based learning, Portrait of a Graduate, project-based learning, competency-based systems, SEL/student support, and interdisciplinary learning
- Innovative Tools and Technologies to Improve Outcomes
- AI, adaptive tools, data tools, productivity tools, content creation platforms, and responsible technology integration
Participants will also use an Explore & Discover Notebook throughout the year to capture noticings, wonderings, examples, questions, and ideas worth revisiting. The goal of Year 1 is not to rush into implementation. The goal is to expand perspective, build shared language, observe innovation in practice, and begin seeing new possibilities for students, staff, and school communities.
Tools like SchoolAI, NotebookLM and others will be embedded throughout the experience to model responsible and practical AI use for school leadership, instruction, communication, and reflection.
Who Should Attend
Principals and Assistant Principals prepared to lead innovation, instructional redesign, and emerging technology integration within their schools.
Agenda At A Glance
This opening session of the Innovative Leaders Network invites secondary leaders to launch their year-long learning journey by examining the purpose of school, the definition of success, and the assumptions that shape our current systems. Grounded in the film Most Likely to Succeed and the “12 Big Questions” framework, participants will engage in rich dialogue, personal reflection, and collaborative design work that challenges traditional models of learning and affirms their role as storytellers and system shapers. Through meaningful connection, courageous inquiry, and shared visioning, leaders will begin to reimagine what is possible for students and what it will take to lead with clarity, courage, and purpose.
Kickoff Topics/Themes:
- Redefining Success
- Student Agency & Indentity
- Equity & Opportunity
- Purpose, Belonging & Connection
- Adaptability, Exploration, and Wellbeing
- The Systemic Mismatch Between School and Life
- The Principal as Chief Narrator
Key Year 1 Components:
- Program Launch & Visioning (In-Person, September 23, 2026 | 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM)
- Book Study (Zoom, October-December 2026 | 8:30–9:45 AM)
- Webinars (Zoom, January – May 2027 | 8:30-9:45 AM)
- Site Visits (In-Person, January–March 2027)
- Intersession Learning (Optional opportunities between sessions, October 2026–May 2027)
Additional Info:
To see program details and the Year 1 timeline, please click here.
Funding Source:
Title II, Title IV, Section 31a
MASSP Cancellation Policy
Cancellations made ten (10) business days or more in advance of the training date, will receive a 100% refund. Cancellations made after this date, including no-shows, are nonrefundable. Registration fees may be transferred to another individual by contacting the MASSP office at (517) 327-5315.
In the event that MASSP must cancel a training due to unforeseen circumstances, including inclement weather, participants will be refunded the cost of registration or may credit the fee toward an upcoming training. MASSP does not assume responsibility for any additional costs, charges or expenses; to include, charges made for travel and lodging.