Months 7-9 Re-entry and Splashdown

The challenge of this quarter is that excitement builds in the school in the springtime as preparation is made for the re-entry and splashdown of this year's space ride. At a high school, your attention will turn particularly to ensuring that all students stay safe through graduation. At the same time, you will be working primarily on preparations for the following year. You will be working daily with two different schools--the current year and the following year.

In the current year's school, you will see such things as:
a) Preparation for standardized testing,
b) Staff evaluations and tenure decisions,
c) Preparation for year-end award ceremonies, concerts, performances,
d) Graduation events and celebrations, (college acceptance and rejection letters)
e) Student activities and field trips,
f) Assessment of progress made on goals (both school and individual),
g) Student progress and summer school needs.

For the coming year, you will see such things as:
a) Enrollment projections,
b) Facilities and budget needs,
c) Staff hiring processes,
d) Enrollment of new students and course selections,
e) Master schedule building,
f) Setting next year's goals for the school and in staff evaluation write-ups,
g) Planning for professional development,
h) Confirming school start-up processes
i) Planning any changes needed for any of the school's operational systems for the following year. (Changes to any major systems will require processes that begin in the fall and continue consensus-building throughout the school year. But this third quarter is when decisions and operational details will have to be confirmed.)

Because of the need to keep the lid on the school as graduation approaches and the need to focus carefully on the details of planning for the next school year, this quarter is the most intense and hectic time for any building principal. Everything that you can do before the last three months needs to be finished and put away before the last quarter.

It is important to be looking forward and getting things done ahead of time in order to ensure that your attention is where it needs to be during re-entry and splashdown!