'25 MSAA Summer Institute

Great leaders aren't born-they are built through experience, mentorship, and intentional growth. In this engaging professional development session, I'll share the key advice, strategies, and lessons I received from mentors that helped shape my journey to becoming a Nationally Distinguished Principal. Together, we'll explore the blueprints of effective leadership, focusing on practical insights that foster resilience, decision-making, and school transformation. Attendees will leave with actionable takeaways to apply in their leadership journeys, ensuring they build a strong foundation for success.

This presentation will examine the family engagement strategies employed by two different elementary schools within the same school district. Key topics will include effective communication protocols, home-school partnerships that foster student learning, and the development of welcoming and inclusive environments for all families. Furthermore, the presentation will discuss relevant district-level initiatives within administrative and leadership teams, all grounded in research underscoring the critical impact of strong home-school connections on student success.

The MSAA has created a program to support new administrators with trained independent and confidential coaches. Coaching for novice administrators is more important than ever as principals and assistant principals struggle to become instructional leaders while engaging in the social, emotional, academic, and cultural conflicts within our society.

Ensuring principals have the skills and knowledge to lead schools is too important not to plan for. Principal turnover is disruptive to school and district progress and often leads to higher teacher turnover and, ultimately, lower student achievement.

Participants in this workshop will understand the role of coaching for new administrators and be able to understand the systematic approach to coaching developed by MSAA using a combination of Blended Coaching and the GROW models that are the foundations of the program.

Through this workshop participants will understand how MSAA provides two full years of formal coaching by a train