A Change in Leadership
Have you ever experienced a change in leadership at your school?
It creates a lot of anxiety as most changes do. I recently left my first job at a title-one school for the past 5 years to join a team of teachers at a high performing school in town. I knew I needed to gain experience with a different population of children and higher level of parental involvement.
As I was answering interview questions, I began to interview the principal as well. It was important I found a leadership style that I worked well with and could challenge myself to become a better teacher. This past month I received the sad news that the principal I chose to work for this year is retiring. This came as a shock since she had mentioned many times she was far from retiring. I respect her decision and know she most definitely earned and deserves to retire. I also felt some frustration since I specifically chose to come to this school where she was the leader. I feared another leadership style would take over and I would be in the same boat as I was last year. As in most experiences in my life, I go after what I want full throttle. I asked to be part of the initial principal review panel to develop a list of characteristics the district was to look for in replacing our current principal. This made me feel like I had some control over the leadership coming into the building. That still was not enough to calm all of my worries though. I have experience interviewing potential teacher candidates with my old principal, so I knew I could be an asset to the interviewing panel. The district selected a small group from that first review panel. Guess what?! I WAS SELECTED! I was beyond thrilled because again I felt like I had some control over the results. I knew what kind of leader the school and I both needed.
The interview panel consisted of two parents, two classroom teachers, a special area teacher, a secretary, and a teacher’s assistant. A set of questions was devised by the district and each of us on the panel had a copy as well as the interviewee. We rotated around the room asking one question at a time and scripting the response from the candidate. We very quickly were able to determine who was a good fit. We narrowed the search down to two fantastic candidates with different backgrounds. One would be a safe choice because their leadership style and personality were very similar to our current principal. The other candidate would be a risk- a lot of change and energy. Change is not always bad. So, we hemmed and hawed over each candidate and voted numerous times until we were unanimous.
I am so excited for our new leader to join us! It will be a brand new year full of change…positive change aiding in the growth of us all.
Best of luck to Mrs. T! You are an outstanding principal and I am privileged to have worked for you this year.
And to our new leader- I am excited to have you join our team and become part of our Bobcat family. I fully support your efforts!
Have you ever had a change in leadership? How did you handle it? How did it work out?
Share your story here!
About the author, Gretchen
I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.