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What makes a great principal? Find out by speaking with a NEMS principal today.

The classroom teacher is the most visible person in your child's life at school, but it is the principal who is responsible for providing a high- quality education for all students there.

What makes a great principal?  Principals vary in strategy, temperament, and leadership style, but the great ones have four characteristics in common:

1. Great principals take responsibility for school success.
2. Great principals lead teaching and learning. 
3. Great principals hire, develop and retain excellent teachers.

Great principals build a strong school community

For a school to be successful, the administration, teachers, parents, students and support staff must work as a team. Principals must work with the staff to make school a welcoming place for all students and their families.

Great principals take responsibility for school success

Great principals believe that the problems of the school are their problems, and they never stop trying to solve them. If a student is having trouble learning, a successful principal knows it is her job to figure out why, whether it is a learning disability, trouble with attendance, or gang involvement. Great principals are also creative in their problem-solving and approach challenges with an entrepreneurial attitude. They find ways to implement good ideas, rather than accepting the status quo.

Questions to ask at your school

1. Ask your principal: What challenges does the school face?
2. Ask your principal: What is the plan to meet those challenges?
3. Ask your child's teacher: How does the principal get involved when a student is having trouble?

For example, most schools today have very limited budgets, making it difficult to pay for innovative new programs. Whatever challenges they face, great principals don't make excuses for why their schools can't succeed. Instead they make it their top priority to figure out how their schools can excel, and do everything they can to make that happen.

Great principals lead teaching and learning at their schools

Principals at successful schools understand the strengths and needs of their students and they know what is happening in the classrooms at their schools. These principals play an active role in planning and supporting instruction that is appropriate for their students, and they ensure that school time and resources are focused on student achievement.

Questions to ask at your school

1. Ask your principal: What are our school's main academic goals?
2. Ask your prinicipal: What steps are being taken to achieve those goals?
3. Look up your school's achievement data on GreatSchools.org and ask your principal: How is the school addressing weaknesses or gaps in student achievement?

Principals must also understand what test scores and other data say about their students' learning and use the information to help teachers set goals and improve instruction.

Successful principals must constantly evaluate what is working and what is not, and use that information to make improvements.

Great principals hire, develop, and retain excellent teachers

One of a principal's most important roles is ensuring that every student is taught by an excellent teacher. Although it can be time-consuming, principals must actively recruit good teachers to their schools. Principals can visit teacher education classes to find promising new teachers; they can open their schools to student teachers and try to hire the good ones; and they can talk to teachers and other principals to find quality experienced teachers who might be looking for new positions.

Principals must also support and develop the teachers they have. Research shows that principal leadership is a key factor in a teacher's decision to stay at a particular school. Much of a principal's time should be spent in classrooms observing teachers, complimenting their strengths, and offering specific suggestions for improvement. If a teacher is struggling with a particular issue or group of kids, the principal should be in the classroom as often as possible, watching and helping the teacher develop more successful strategies.

Questions to ask at your school

1. Ask your principal: How do you recruit new teachers when there is an opening?
2. Ask your child's teacher: How much time does the principal spend observing in your classroom?
3. Ask your principal: How are great teachers at our school recognized or rewarded?

Providing meaningful opportunities for professional development is another way principals can help teachers improve instruction. The principal should make sure that workshops and other development activities are related to the goals of the school and will help teachers better serve their students.

Principals must keep good teachers professionally satisfied by showing them that their efforts are valued and supported by the principal and other teachers. Providing time to plan with other teachers is another way principals can support their teachers and treat them as professionals.

Great principals build a strong school community

For a school to be successful, the administration, teachers, parents, students and support staff must work as a team. Principals must work with the staff to make school a welcoming place for all students and their families.

Questions to ask at your school

1. Ask your child: Do you feel safe at school?
2. Ask your child: Do you think school rules and consequences are clear?  Are all kids treated fairly?
3. Ask your principal: How can I get involved at the school?

A great school community is one where students feel safe and know they will be treated fairly. It is the principal's job to create that safe atmosphere where children can learn.

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