I’ll begin at the end and work from there.  I NEVER wanted to be a principal.  For as long as I have been teaching, I have said I wouldn’t be the principal for all the money in the world.  My goal for post-grad work was to become an adjunct faculty member somewhere.  I had hoped to teach English Language Arts for pre-service teachers and literacy in the content areas.  My path to where I am now has been a winding one indeed.  

 

In the course of my career as an educator, I have worked under four principals.  The first two were tireless workers who put in long hours, had hearts of gold, and genuinely cared about all of the stakeholders in our buildings.  They each had different strengths, but they had one thing in common: no matter how long or how hard they worked, they simply could not please everyone.  I saw the job of principal as a thankless one.  I also couldn’t imagine not being in the classroom with my students every day.  These two leaders did however run successful buildings.  They were honest with everyone about expectations, job performance, student achievement and behavior, and parent involvement.  They were able to perspective take and get others to do the same.  

 

The third principal I worked for nearly closed the building I currently work in singlehandedly.  He was a 7:45 to 3 kind of guy.  He wanted to please everyone and so he told everyone exactly what he or she wanted to hear - even if that meant he told two people exactly the opposite thing in the course of five minutes.  He didn’t take time to get to know the students names, their families, or anything about them.  He was unresponsive to parents, ignored e-mails and failed to return phone calls, and more.  We tried to give him time to adjust to the building.  We gave him his whole first year.  We lost twenty students.  Staff satisfaction?  I have never seen such low morale in the workplace.  During his second year, we started complaining to our diocesan office and our pastor; finally near the end of his second year, he “resigned.”  

 

The diocese sent us several candidates to interview after his resignation.  The previously retired principal of the building was on the selection committee along with the pastor, me, one of my colleagues, and two parish council members.  One of the questions the former principal asked each candidate was “What do you think the most important role of the principal is?”  One day I asked her what the “correct” answer to the question was.  She said, “The role of the principal is to do whatever it takes to enable teachers to teach.”  None of the candidates we were sent seemed “just right” for our building, however we did finally offer the job to one gentleman who had a solid track record running another Catholic school and very good references.  Unfortunately, we could not reach a salary agreement with him.

​

At that time, the retired principal asked me if I would consider applying for the job.  Several of my friends and a couple of family members were also urging me to apply around this time.   I gave them all my standard answer, Not for all the money in the world."  Thankfully, the retired principal came out of retirement for a year so that we could continue the search, becoming my fourth principal.  Morale in the building improved instantly.  Everything went back to the way it had always been before she retired.  The teachers were happy.  The parents were happy.  The students were much more settled; learning was again taking place in a safe and welcoming environment.  

 

When we resumed our new principal search, the diocese sent us another handful of candidates to interview.  While I was doing some internet background searching I discovered some serious issues concerning one of the candidates, and we eliminated him from consideration.  The other two did not seem to fit our needs either, and I was very concerned that we would not find a suitable person for the job yet again.  

 

I was discussing this with my principal, and she again asked me if I would consider taking the position myself; she assured me that she thought I would be a great fit.  This time, I said I would think it over.  After discussing it at length with my husband and two senior members of our faculty, I decided to step down from the selection committee and apply.  The rest, as they say, is history.  

 

I know a good principal can make a school and a bad one can break it!  I am just praying I will be good at this job.  I have promised to work harder at it than I have ever worked at anything in my life.  

​

This is my second class in the EDA program, however I have vast experience as a "grownup learner."  Most of my education has been completed as a non-traditional student after the age of 40.  I entered my BS in Childhood Ed program in 2001 by transferring in 32 credits I had gathered from the age of 18 to 40 at four institutions and/or passed CLEP exams for.  

​

Since that time, I have completed my BS, obtained my MS in Literacy Education, taught for 11 years in every grade from 3rd to 8th, however primarily as a middle school social studies teacher, and this year I took over as the principal of my school.

​

I currently work for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, NY as a building principal, and my appointment to my position is conditional on working toward certification in administration.  Meanwhile, I am doing the job with no experience or formal training and figuring it out as I go.  I frequently wake up at 3:00 a.m. with my heart pounding, trying to figure out how it is that no one has figured out that I have NO IDEA what the heck I'm doing!  

​

Seriously though, the teachers are happy, the students are happy, the parents are happy, and all in all I am happy too!  Through my coursework at Canisius and the generosity of one official and two unofficial principal mentors, I am developing understandings and abilities that will enable me to do this job successfuly.  In the next nine pages, I hope to present you with evidence of these developing proficiencies.

​

I still wouldn't be a principal for all the money in the world.  What I've discovered is that there are many things I will do for love of my students, love of our school community, and love of God, that I would never do for money!

 

​