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Use this image as a springboard and reflect on the prompt below using the Index Card Response Link.

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What I Wish I Knew as a New Principal…

CLICK THE BLUE PLUS IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER TO ENTER YOUR RESPONSE.

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DALL·E 2025-02-15 18.01.33 - A symbolic image representing distractions from the principalship's most important task. The central figure is a school principal standing at a crossr

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Example Reflective Response:

As a principal, I wish I knew: When I first stepped into the principal role, I knew I would be responsible for leading instruction, supporting teachers, and creating a positive school culture—but I didn’t fully anticipate how many non-instructional demands would come my way. From district initiatives and parent concerns to building maintenance and lunchroom logistics, I quickly realized that my days would be filled with decisions far beyond the classroom.

I wish I had known how to better prioritize—not just what was urgent but what was truly important. Early on, I often found myself reacting to problems rather than proactively leading. It took time for me to realize that I didn’t have to carry everything alone. I had a team—assistant principals, teachers, support staff, and even students—who could help share the load.

I wish I had leaned more into delegation and shared leadership. There were people around me who wanted to help, but I often felt like it was my responsibility to have all the answers. Once I learned to trust and empower others, I was able to focus more on the big-picture vision of student success rather than getting caught up in every operational detail.

I also wish I had given myself more grace. Being a principal is a marathon, not a sprint. There will always be challenges, but prioritizing relationships, leaning into my leadership team, and keeping the focus on students helped me navigate the daily chaos with greater clarity and confidence.

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I wish I understood that change is a complex process that takes time and requires different levels and kinds of support for individuals to engage in the process.

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As a new principal, I wish I knew that while I responsible for it all, I didn't have to do it all. I also wish that I had prioritized time for fun as well as time for reflection.

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It is impossible to know everything. Lean on the experts in your building and in the area to help.

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I wish I had known that I didn't have to know all of the answers by myself. I could lean on others and build capacity of others to support the needs of the school. I wish that when I first started, I had language to engage in crucial conversations.

I also wish that I had known how to be very clear with all expectations, clear is kind and leads to success!

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I wish I had known the importance of having entire leadership team alignment. Each team member understanding how every other leadership team member operates to understand each others working styles and have the level of trust that is necessary to be the most effective team.

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What I wish I knew as a New Principal.........patience is a virtue to embrace as the demands of the position are constant and the demands can not always be addressed in the immediacy.

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As a new principal, I wish I had a better understanding of all the competing interests which impacted my ability to make systemic changes.

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As a new principal, I wish I had known how to effectively and efficiently manage the non-instructional activities that can dominate your days. Effective time management strategies would be key to freeing up your time to focus on student achievement, student and staff well being and instructional strategies to improve learning. I wish I had built a system earlier in my career that delegated tasks to assistants, and prioritized dedicated time to be in the classroom. It took me a few years to master this prioritization.

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What I Wish I Knew as a New Principal...the importance of not feeling like you have to take on everything yourself; distributive leadership, leaning into the strengths of your teacher leaders and ILT. The book Shifting the Monkey by Todd Whitaker - you can listen and support people, help them reflect and empower them without taking everything on yourself.

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I wish I had known I didn't have to have all of the answers and I didn't have to answer anything immediately. I wish I had known I could say, "Let me think about this and get back to you." And make sure you have a system in place to do that!

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Jeff Keener

I wish I had been better at slowing everyone down when we were trying to rush to add new programs that were mandated.

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I wish I thought to learn as much as I could about all the special gifts each staff member brought to the team.. This would have helped me to not do everything myself.

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I feel like I am more of the strategist. Looking at issues and helping brainstorm solutions.