Inside the Trenches: Being a Principal - Week 1

July 17, 2017, 12:30PM

Ms. Smith, the outgoing principal at Moore Magnet puts the master key into my hand. And I stood there for a second, frozen. I was officially principal.

I had dreamed of that moment for a long time, and wondered how it would feel. I found out quickly, as a sudden rush of excitement, confusion, and nerves set in. I had spent the morning going over a pile of forms, budgets, documents, data, to-do lists, and directories with Ms. Smith, and now it felt like I needed to tackle everything at once.

I didn't have much time to consider what needed to be done, though, since phone calls started coming in and I needed to start to meet with people. Tuesday came around, and the pile still sat on my table, untouched. The outgoing principal kindly and thankfully made me a detailed list of items that needed to be addressed most urgently, so I started studying that. By Wednesday, I finally had the time to start organizing my life and getting settled in, and most importantly, getting things done.

It felt good getting things checked off: meeting with my financial secretary to go over budget, finalizing the agenda, sitting down with my AP and Instructional Facilitator to go through resumes for the four positions I have to hire, making calls to Exceptional Children and Title 1 offices, unpacking my boxes of stuff, joining a webinar on the new hiring system in the district, calling in grade chairs to help reflect upon the schedule and finalizing it, hiring a counselor position, learning the school system's programs and tools, setting up meetings with teachers, making a video to welcome the staff and inviting them in to meet with me, learning the school halls and rooms, and so on.

I am learning that I need to rely on the people around me to make this all happen. I have always been a "I'll just do it" kind of person, but this job requires depending on my team to truly be successful. My AP, IF, lead secretary, central office staff, and teacher-leaders have all been so supportive, welcoming, and eager this week to get the ball rolling (even though most of them are technically on summer break), and if that's a sign of things to come, I can't wait to see what happens when we're all back together!

When I wrote Inside the Trenches, I shared stories of amazing principals and leaders I had met along the way in my travels. I spent many moments with these leaders, not always appreciating the behind the scenes work that went on, even though it was evident that it had happened. This first week on the job has given me an unprecedented appreciation for that work, and I am already looking forward to what next week will bring.