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August

Newsletters: Prepare staff welcome letters and school newsletters for mailing early in August.

Supplies and Teaching Aids: Review purchase orders and make sure materials are present or scheduled for delivery. Supervise but delegate the work. Make sure teacher supply lists are ready.

Building Walk-Through: Delegate responsibilities for upkeep and maintenance to your custodial and maintenance team, but be aware of the codes and needs.

Opening Day Activities: Make a plan for how students and parents will be welcomed back on the first day. Make arrangements for enrolling new students and handling the many questions that will arise in the main office. Make a back up plan in case of rain.

Administrative Duties: Meet with the assistant, secretary, and other team members to divide duties. Assign yourself the duty of instructional leader; otherwise, management details will rule your time.

Welcome Other Staff: Schedule time to meet with new itinerant staff members who come to your building such as bus drivers, social workers, nurses, food service personnel. Make sure all feel like a part of the staff.

Handbooks: Verify that student and staff handbooks are printed and ready for distribution. Create a master list of any changes to distribute at the first staff meeting. Review and include your code to student conduct and any contracts for dissemination to parents.

First Staff Meeting: Plan the first staff meeting. Build in team-building time as well as professional development. Set the tone to focus on instructional and academic issues. Print memos to cover the “administrivia” announcements.

 

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Recommended Professional Links

CATALYST Ohio: Bimonthly, nonprofit newsmagazine that documents, analyzes and support sschool-improvement efforts in Ohio's urban school districts, with special emphasis on Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus.

Classrooms for the Future, Pennsylvania’s ambitious, $200 million effort to reform the state’s high schools through technology

Doing What Works U.S. Department of Education

Engaging the Public in School Reform. Among other items of interest, there is a resource available for reading online titled The Public Speaks Out about NCLB.

Guide to Developing and Implementing the Mission, from EduHound Weekly: The Newsletter for Educators, June 14, 2007

Harlem Children’s Zone (PDF, 537 KB)

Innovation Link, from the Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology, is a series to explore solutions for specific issues with school districts. Recent topics: preventing teen dating violence, school vending machines, preventing youth suicide, financial literacy in Ohio high schools, Mathematics Coaching Program.

KIDS Ohio: To improve the education of Ohio’s children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, KidsOhio.org analyzes data so that education policy decisions are based on a careful analysis of facts; identifies best education improvement practices from other localities and helps to replicate them in Columbus and statewide; and advocates for effective public schools that meet the unique education needs of each child.

National Association of Elementary School Principals

National Association of Secondary School Principals

Ohio Department of Education

The Principal’s Partnership

WorldView magazine provides grassroots views on multicultural experiences and first-hand accounts of community life by Peace Corps volunteers.

For more information related to the “larger political, social, and economic context,” visit the following websites:

Mobilizing Community Resources

Battelle report on the Ohio STEM Schools and K-8 Programs of Excellence

The Ohio Fair Schools Campaign

League of Women Voters Recommendations for School Funding (PDF)

NEASP Visioning Project (PDF, 136KB)

Flat Classroom Project

 
 
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  Last updated: 08/14/08