Congratulations! October is National Principals Month and hopefully your local school division, school board and superintndent will provide you with special recognition this month. You might have to stir up their thoughts so let them know that the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals want to recognize their members this month. You have an important position in your community and you have a lot of responsibility that goes with the position. Your community leaders need to be reminded of you and your responsibilities, so invite them in to let them know.
Keep up the excellent work that you do and be proud of your school, your students and your staff. They are all #1 !
NASSP has provided you with a list of activities that you can use this month to let your community know how significant your position is every day, all year long.
- Ask your mayor to declare October 2012 as National Principal’s Month in your community.
- Hold an open house for parents and community members.
- Contact local service clubs and offer yourself or another staff member as a speaker.
- Invite local service clubs to hold a breakfast or luncheon meeting at the school. Talk with them about school leadership and invite them to visit classrooms.
- Submit an article or guest column in your local newspaper about the critical role of school leaders.
- Make a presentation at a meeting of your local school board.
- Invite members of local youth service agencies to a meeting at the school to discuss ways in which you might work collaboratively.
- Invite neighborhood police to stop by the school for coffee and an informal discussion about how you might support each other.
- Ask your superintendent to plan a joint meeting between the local school board and the city council to discuss the needs of school leaders.
- Contact the public service directors of local radio stations and ask them to air a public service announcement (PSA) announcing the National Principal’s Month.
- Invite members of the board of education, central office staff members, and/or other community leaders to shadow you for a day.
- Invite parents and grandparents to spend a day at the school shadowing you.
- Invite a local college or university to join your school in celebrating National Principal’s Month.
- Videotape National Principal’s Month activities to be aired on local cable television.
- Invite local business and community leaders to spend a day with you. (They will be surprised at the variety of things a principal does in a day.)
- Send a National Principal’s Month calendar to the mayor, city council, newspapers, and others in your area who may be interested in what is going on in your school.
