Beyond Academics

By Peggy Downs

Experts reveal how they are helping charter school leaders succeed BEYOND ACADEMICS

Are you a charter school leader struggling to manage it all? Running a successful charter school is extremely difficult. Principals are often wearing two, three, or even more hats as they build and manage a successful school. Some can lean on their board for expertise, and others might have strong mentors or national organizations, but for the majority, you learn through painful trial and error. But it doesn't have to be that way.

 

Grants specialist and former charter school leader, Peggy Downs, has gathered a variety of consultants that support charter schools to create a new resource jam-packed with strategies and information to help you lead your school to success.

 

Our newest guide, BEYOND ACADEMICS: ESSENTIAL STRATEGIES FOR CHARTER SCHOOL LEADERS, introduces all the topics that were never covered in your principal's training but are critical for running a successful charter school. Because each contributing author operates in a different field to support school leaders, you'll find a wide range of information you can't get anywhere else. In this book, you'll find these important topics:

• Your Significant Other Is Tired of Hearing You Vent: Why Every School Leader Needs a Leadership Coach
• Six Sermons: Essentials of Facility Planning
• A Comprehensive Marketing Guide for Charter Schools
• Making Your School's Website an Effective Marketing Tool
• Planning Effective Professional Development: A Year-Long Plan
• How to Include, Engage, and Empower English Learners
• Making Math Masters: Why Singapore Math is the Choice of Charters
• Are You in the F.O.G.? (Fear Of Grants)

The great thing about getting answers from eight different experts is you can learn from every single one of them, and then focus on the answers (and people) that resonate the most with you and your current situation.

 

As we developed this book, we looked at the biggest challenges school leaders face in running a successful charter school and compiled our advice on how to meet and overcome these challenges successfully.

 

Download this book now to learn how you can succeed BEYOND ACADEMICS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Granting Your Vision
• Release date: Jun 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393105657

Peggy Downs

Peggy Downs is a leading grant writer for charter schools. She supports schools across the country with high quality grants, training, and program development. Peggy has served as a Peer Reviewer for federal grants. Peggy has been involved in five school start-ups in two states, starting as a founding parent of a charter school in Colorado. She became a founding teacher of another school, earned her administrative license, and opened a new school in Utah as the director. She supported another school as they wrote the initial charter and served on the board of directors, and then later wrote the charter renewal application. She has served on the board of directors for a state charter school association and supported the development of a national charter school association. Peggy is passionate about supporting school leaders and founders with the information they need to build strong school programs. She is the author of the Grant Writing for School Leaders series, based on her experience and the questions she hears as she works with schools. She is the owner of Granting Your Vision, providing grant writing, online training and workshop presentations for school leaders. She has given presentations at state and national conferences, and was rated a Top 20 Presenter at #NCSC19. Peggy also supports student teachers in local district and charter schools for an online university. She loves being able to visit all types of classrooms and stays current on trends in curriculum and instruction. Peggy loves to travel and taught at a boarding school in Switzerland for one year. Her favorite quote is, “Fall in love with as many places as you can.”

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

This book is a collection of articles by experts that serve charter schools in a variety of fields. My desire for creating this book was to provide charter school leaders with the information you need to succeed beyond academics.

As you will discover, this book is designed for you, the busy charter school leader. You can read it straight through or pick and choose the topics that meet your needs today. This is not a sales pitch. Each author has generously shared information and strategies, based on their real-world work with charter schools. Their passion and support for charter schools and their areas of expertise are evident.

It all began with a connection. I was chatting with someone on LinkedIn and we discovered a shared passion for supporting charter school leaders. Out of that conversation, the idea for this book was born. I searched for others with a similar focus, and invited them to join our project. Soon, I had article ideas and commitments from all the people you find here. I am honored to join these colleagues to provide this resource for you.

Thank you for all you do to support students in charter schools. We are here for you. If you have any questions or would like to follow up with any of the authors, you’ll find a bio at the end of each article and contact information at the end of the book.

Here’s to your success, in academics and beyond…

Peggy Downs

CHAPTER 1

YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER IS TIRED OF HEARING YOU VENT: WHY EVERY SCHOOL LEADER NEEDS A LEADERSHIP COACH

MARK COMANDUCCI, THE 305 EDUCATION GROUP

It is an all too familiar scene; you get home from work, sit down to eat dinner, and the floodgates open. Your significant other (be it spouse, partner, friend, or the family pet) gets bombarded with all the challenges, headaches, and frustrations that come with you being a school leader. One day the venting is about a teacher who is unwilling (or maybe unable) to meet instructional expectations. Another day it is about students who are making poor choices in the cafeteria. The next day it is about a classroom without air conditioning and having to move that class outside for the afternoon.

Your significant other is tired of hearing you vent.

No matter the issue, your significant other lends a caring ear, listens to you vent, then passes you the roasted potatoes and another slice of meatloaf and you both move on. But what did this conversation really accomplish and, more importantly, how will it make tomorrow better?

LEADERSHIP COACHING: THE WHY

While talking about work with your significant other is healthy and venting is necessary at times, this cycle is symptomatic of school leaders who are not properly supported, specifically via a leadership coach. Before we discuss the importance and impact of leadership coaching, let’s remember that it is well documented that the two most impactful levers in increasing student learning are teachers and school leaders (principal, leadership team, etc.). ¹, ² School leaders are the most important lever in improving outcomes related to student, family, and staff satisfaction and retention. Research suggests that emphasizing coaching and mentoring of principals refocuses school communities on improving student achievement, retains more teachers, and strengthens school climate. ³ Despite the vital importance of ensuring that school leaders are supported and developed, most school-level coaching, development, and support is only focused on teachers.  

I am in no way advocating to reduce coaching and development provided to teachers. I would argue that the impact of those teacher-facing supports (as well as most every other school-level initiative) is reduced when school leaders are struggling to lead through challenges. They are unable to operationalize action plans, ineffective at fulfilling their commitments, and may have difficulty pivoting when faced with unforeseen issues or unintended consequences. As such, it is imperative that all school leaders have a leadership coach, which is a person to thought partner with and who provides support, guidance, and professional development tailored to school leaders’ unique needs.

LEADERSHIP COACHING: THE HOW

Most industries provide coaching or mentoring to employees. Whether it is to increase sales, reduce customer complaints, or improve efficiency, leaders are provided coaches to help them navigate the myriad challenges they face. Unfortunately, this practice is all too uncommon in education. 

There are not certain profiles of school leaders who should be afforded a leadership coach. In fact, having provided this support to individual principals and entire leadership teams who were new and veteran, at independent schools and at schools that are part of large educational organizations, at rural and urban schools, and at high-performing and struggling schools, I can attest