These principals affect hundreds of teachers who in turn affect hundreds, if not thousands, of students who in turn affect tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people,” he said.
When he visits the selected schools, Calabro said there are a few things he notices. The principals know each student’s name, aren’t locked away in an office and push parent engagement. Temel said parent engagement is one of the things he’s proud of at his school, from home visits to extracurricular events such as Hispanic heritage night and grandparents’ night.
At the panel discussion, honorees discussed obstacles to effective leadership, how to attract and retain high-quality teachers, how to tease out the best from teachers and how to encourage other principals. A report from their discussions was created.
“It’s great to be able to hear other perspectives,” Temel said. “To have that opportunity to be able to sit down and be able to have a discussion, I think that was important because it doesn’t feel like that’s happening a lot.”
Calabro hopes the principals will go on to mentor other school leaders and college students pursuing education.
