CEHD News

The second annual Kentucky Principals Academy (KPA) was held in June at the Hilton Garden Inn in Louisville, KY. Orientation was held the weekend of May 30^th and featured Dr. Phil Schlechty as the keynote speaker. Dr. Schlechty established the Center for Leadership in School Reform, which is now known as the Schlechty Center and is based in Louisville. He is very supportive of KPA and held a book signing at the orientation for his latest work, Leading for Learning: How to Transform Schools into Learning Organizations.

Debbie Powers, Executive Director of KPA, stated that the academy is a practitioners-based forum where they can apply tomorrow the theories and practices they learned today. There is no other academy like it in the state.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to build our leadership capacity and become part of a network of principals around the state that support one another and continue to share ideas. It would be great if we could see more models like this across the state,” stated Rodney Swortz, a returning member of the academy and elementary school principal.

Many of the principals at the academy felt the same about their experience. They most often noted that the impact on their work and leadership would be immediate, and that the discussions and exchange of ideas are an invaluable resource for them.

“I was able to step away from my school and get a more refreshing view of the year ahead. We have to spend so much time taking care of daily business that we begin to stagnate and don’t even realize it. More principals should really take advantage of this academy,” stated Sharla Six, an elementary school principal in Franklin County.

Tommy Floyd, Superintendent of Madison County Schools, opened the academy with a presentation about applying some of Abraham Lincoln’s leadership practices in today’s schools. Each participant received a copy of the book, Lincoln on Leadership. Supt. Floyd referred to the many problems principals face every day that can be addressed by using some of Lincoln’s own methods when he was president.

Other sessions in the academy focused on topics such as assessments for student learning, educational leadership, modern media and technology and the future of assessment in our classrooms and schools.

“I would love to come back and work with such a strong group of leaders again. It changes you as an instructional leader. You become more reflective,” said Ann Burns, a returning member of the academy.

The closing session featured a video titled Everyday Creativity with Dewitt Jones which summarized what academy members would take away from this experience. Its message was that you can learn how to use everyday creativity to achieve the extraordinary. Most importantly, always work to put yourself in the place of most potential.

One of the principals stated after the video that they had clearly made a choice to be here–placing themselves in the position of finding their greatest potential for their teachers and students.

KPA is based in the College of Education and Human Development’s Nystrand Center of Excellence and was designed to provide principals with a cohort-based professional development experience not found anywhere else in the Commonwealth. Its purpose is to inspire and lead principals to improve the success of every student in every school across Kentucky.

For more information about KPA, contact Debbie Powers at debbie.powers@louisville.edu, or visit their web site at http://louisville.edu/education/kentuckyprincipalsacademy/.