Principals on the Move:
Tips for Making a Smooth Move

Part 2: Connecting With Teachers, Kids, Parents, and the Community

Click to read part 1 of this article:
Listen a Lot, Connect With the Custodian, and Go Slooooow

Click to read part 3 of this article:
Moving On: More Tips and Advice from Principals

CONNECTING WITH TEACHERS

One of the first things Marguerite McNeely does when she is assigned to a new school is to take a walk around. I try to get a feeling for the climate of the school, she told Education World. Is it a warm and cheerful place, or is it more sterile and quiet?

McNeely, who is principal at Lawrence Middle School in Deville, Louisiana, also looks into teachers classrooms as she wanders the halls during the first days of school. I try to get a sense of their interests. I look for clues that might give me some insight and I talk to them about their ideas about the perfect classroom or school. And I watch them interact with one another.

When Lolli Haws accepted the principals job at Oakridge Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, she invited staff members to complete an information form. I asked everyone to complete the form, which asked for professional and personal information, Haws explained. I asked them to attach a photo too, and they left the forms for me at the end of the school year before I took over.

I learned all about the staff that summer. When they started returning to school in August, I knew many of their names and faces and a bit about them too.

In order to learn names, Vickie Luchuck spent time sorting huge stacks of the school's summer mail and delivering it to the classrooms when she first began her job. That helped me put a name with a room, and a subject matter with a name.

Most principals new to a school make it a point to meet one-on-one with staff members in the opening weeks of school. You can learn so much from those meetings if you really listen and observe, said Bonita Henderson, assistant principal at the Parham School in Cincinnati. Doing the meetings might be time consuming, but the information you gain really pays off and helps you become an effective leader.

Principal Michael Miller did the same thing when he arrived at Saturn Elementary School in Cocoa, Florida. I scheduled an appointment with every staff member -- custodian, teachers, office staff I ask them three questions: What is working here?, What needs to be improved?, and If you were sitting in my chair, what would you tackle first and why?

Miller said doing that helped him get a real feel for the school, and it let staff members know that he would always be willing to listen to what they have to say.

In addition to the one-on-one interviews, Miller sent out a letter of introduction in which he shared a little of his background and philosophy. It also introduced the Team Saturn theme for the year, which helped him express how he hoped everyone would work together to accomplish the schools goals.

In a letter to his new staff, Tony Pallija listed summer office hours and encouraged staff members to drop in to meet him informally during those times.

When Vickie Luchuck arrived at her school, she used a letter of introduction too. Luchuck recommends keeping such introductory letters upbeat and positive. My letter opened with the line Congratulations to you for making AYP! she explained.

The staff deserved to be recognized for their hard work, and starting the letter that way opened doors for me, Luchuck said. I had several staff members tell me later that they were so impressed with the fact that I recognized them for their hard work right away.

Principal Christine Waler has moved schools twice in the past three years, so she has learned a thing or two about making successful transitions. Building positive relationships and establishing excellent communication are the keys to success, Waler told Education World.

One of the activities Waler likes to do with the staff is a Stop, Start, Continue activity [see sidebar]. In addition, she sends out two staff surveys: one that is specific to each persons strengths, growth areas, and needs, and another anonymous survey that helps her identify some of the issues that nobody is talking about. She also plans one-on-one meetings in an effort to elicit information staff members might not want to discuss in writing or in a group setting.

Start, Stop, Continue: Charting a Course In her first meeting with a new staff, principal Christine Waler likes to keep the focus positive. She wants to hear what they think makes their school a great place to teach and learn. I do a Stop, Start, Continue exercise with them using a jigsaw format, said Waler. The simple activity gives her a handle on the schools strengths -- upon which she can build -- and on areas the staff agrees can be improved. Waler described how the activity works: Staff members are arranged into small groups. Charts are created that have one of he words -- Stop, Start, or Continue -- at the top of the chart. Depending on the size of the staff, there might be several charts with each title. Each group is handed a chart with one of the three words on it. Depending on the chart they receive, staff members in the group examine their school for things that arent working (STOP chart), things that are working (CONTINUE chart), or things they arent doing that they should try (START chart). Each group spends about 15 minutes with their chart. At the end of the time, they pass the chart to a group that had a differently headed chart. After all groups have worked with three different charts, the entire staff reviews what has been written. New charts with headings such as Discipline, School Culture, and so on, are created and the staff tries to reach consensus on the things in each category that they would like to stop, start, and continue. This activity is a great way to get people to talk about school in a non-threatening way, said Waler, and, as a new administrator, its a great way to get to know your staff. I like to do this activity at the beginning and end of each school year, she added.

In an effort to learn more about her staff and their needs, Waler frequently drops notes of appreciation in her teachers mailboxes and includes them in her weekly staff memo. And each Tuesday is Coffee With Chris day.

Staff members know that I will be in the staff room with cookies and coffee for an informal chat, she explained.

Lee Yeager, who has been down the new-principal-in-town road a few times, would tell any new principal to take it easy in the first days of their tenure. Get to know the staff first and foremost, said Yeager. Take your secretary to lunch. Talk to teachers in their classrooms or, better yet, take them out for a cup of coffee. Do anything you can to start building relationships.

CONNECTING WITH PARENTS TOO

A principals job doesnt end when lines of communication are opened with his or her staff. Thats just the beginning! Forging relationships with parents, kids, and the larger community are just as important.

Many principals choose to introduce themselves to the school community by sending letters or postcards to every parent and child. Often those letters invite parents to drop by to meet the principal before school opens at one of several posted times. At those informal meetings, refreshments are often served.

Michael Miller is one principal who recommends planning a Meet and Greet before the start of school. The event gets the year off on the right foot. It helps lower some of the anxiety after the rumor mill has begun, said Miller.

You might even ask the PTA president to set up some coffees or other informal events in two or three homes that represent all areas of the community, said Lolli Haws. Some parents might be more comfortable meeting the principal for the first time in their community settings.

Vicki Luchuck suggests using her schools Web page to introduce yourself, and she mails the back-to-school newsletter -- which includes an invitation to a Meet the Principal event -- to all families.

Luchuck finds many other ways to connect to the community. She tries to remember that the kids and parents are already part of the school culture, and that she is the newcomer. Thats why she tries to wear the school colors whenever she attends a school sports event. This helps parents and kids know that I am proud of our school and that I am one of them, not some distant outsider.

Even as a veteran principal at Weatherly Elementary, Teri Stokes is always looking for ways to connect with parents. If she was a new principal, she would schedule an early-morning coffee for parents for whom that would be convenient. She would provide her email address to ensure easy access for parents too. I would also make certain to put myself on the school Web page immediately, said Stokes. And I would eat in the lunchroom with a different group of students every day in order to get to know the students.

Christine Waler communicates early and often with her parent constituency. She always lets them know that her door is open. She also makes sure that the parents see her out on the curb every day as they drop off and pick up their children.

Reaching out to parents early is trust currency I can withdraw later, she added.

CONNECTING WITH KIDS AND THE COMMUNITY

Its not unusual to see Principal Teri Stokes greeting kids in costume. Thats just one more way in which she connects with the kids of Weatherly Elementary School.

Every chance I get, I do that, she told Education World. Ive dressed up as the Cat in the Hat, a giant pumpkin, the Statute of Liberty Often the costumes afford Stokes an opportunity to read aloud to students and stress the importance of reading.

In addition to connecting with the kids of the school, Stokes also looks for opportunities to connect with the larger community. We invite the community to come to our school to visit, to take tours, and to volunteer, she added.

When it comes to connecting with the students in his school, Principal John Durkee might not appear in costume. He opts for connecting in more traditional ways: he is a visible and available presence at lunchtime, in the hallways, and at sporting events, plays, and concerts.

As a new principal, I also made it a point to meet with student leadership prior to school starting. I invited the student council and class officers in for a meeting, added Durkee.

When Lolli Haws first arrived at Oakridge Elementary School, she got ahold of a copy of the school yearbook from the previous year. That spring, I started to look at faces of kids in the yearbook. I made flash cards with the faces of students and put them in groups by their new classrooms. Then I matched photos with names in a game for myself. I learned a lot of names that way! For others, I was able to quickly put together names and faces when I actually met them.

Join the Conversation Since most of you --- at least once in your careers --- have moved into a new school setting, were hoping you might be able to offer some advice for principals who are facing a move Click to join the conversation.

As the new principal on the scene, Haws made it a point to schedule an all-school assembly the first week of school. She took that opportunity to introduce herself to the kids and to remind them of the rules that they have been following even before she arrived.

It is essential to spend the first days out and about. It might be tempting to hide in the office, but your visibility and presence with an ever-accompanying smile is so important those first days and weeks. Everyone is waiting to see what you'll be like, so you have to be the best you can be.

Even when Haws is not the new principal in town, all-school assemblies continue to play a big role in her school. I plan an all-school assembly on the first Monday of every month. Thats something I think is so important that I start right off with that even though it might be something new to the larger school community.

Vickie Luchuck thinks its important from the start to seek out ways to connect with her schools larger community. I would have an informal tea for my staff, and I would also do the same for the business partners and the various school boosters or organizations, Luchuck told Education World. So much of what we do is public relations. We need to be able to communicate effectively and in a positive manner to all the stakeholders in our school communities.

Marguerite McNeely feels the same way. I attend a wide variety of local events where I can make it known who I am and that I am interested in meeting people of the community, she said.

They are usually just as eager to meet me, she added.

Click to read part 1 of this article:
Listen a Lot, Connect With the Custodian, and Go Slooooow

Click to read part 3 of this article:
Moving On: More Tips and Advice from Principals

A complete list of the principal contributors to this article appears at the end of the article.

Article by Gary Hopkins
Copyright © 2010 Education World®

Originally published 05/07/2007
Last updated 01/28/2010