Leadership is at the center of NAESP's work….
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Read about one NAESP member who is using his leadership skills to bring his learning community to new heights:
Reeds Ferry School, Merrimack, New Hampshire
Principal Frank Hoell
As an educator at Reeds Ferry for 28 years, Frank Hoell knows that to lead a quality elementary school he must share a vision with all individuals involved in the school community. "For me there's a real passion for the principalship and a love of kids and learning," he says. "I work really hard to create that feeling not just from the top down, but from the staff and all the people who deal with the students."
Focus on the Vision
Hoell's vision is focused on just that: love for kids and quality instruction, particularly toward literacy. With the district concerned about literacy, Hoell chose a risky new curriculum that promised literacy improvement. To make the vision work, Hoell knew he had to empower others to lead, which began with identifying a leadership team of four: a reading specialist, counselor, special education advisor and assistant principal. These individuals help Hoell maintain a child-centered building where children know they are respected, heard and challenged. He says he works with the leadership team to "define academic goals, process on things that need to be done and constantly keep the vision in mind: what's working for the students."
Changing Systems
Hoell quickly learned this bold vision affected everyone in the school. "We had to ask the teachers to change their teaching style—to change their teaching to the standards," says Hoell, "and we learned that it was our job to help them understand this new focus." Devoting 120 minutes to daily reading and writing has a big impact on schedules, too, and Hoell learned to align resources to help implement the vision. Teachers are given Curriculum Integrated Activity (CIA) time during which they are freed from classroom duties to work with the reading specialist, assistant principal and principal to learn new literacy activities. "For example, we might go over how they develop small group instruction. It helps to have teachers work outside the classroom with their peers," Hoell says.
The Payoffs
CIA time also affects other specialists and teachers—counselors, art teachers, gym teachers—who take the students during this time. An art teacher may read a story and then develop an educational art assignment about the main character. "We're showing students that literacy carries over into all disciplines and helping them see the relevance of learning."