Latest news with #schoolleadership
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NYC schools ‘shadow chancellor' to step down next month
The second-most senior official at New York City's public school system is stepping down from his post, Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos announced Tuesday night. First Deputy Chancellor Dan Weisberg, whose involvement in major education initiatives earned him the nickname of 'shadow chancellor,' joined the Adams administration at the start of the mayor's tenure. His last day is in August. 'Dan was at the center of all our critical work,' Aviles-Ramos said in a statement, focusing on his roles in standardizing curriculum and expanding college and career programs. 'On behalf of our staff, students, and families, we offer him our deepest thanks and wish him all the best in his next chapter.' Weisberg was credited by the former chancellor, David Banks — who was pushed out of the administration amid a federal investigation ensnaring City Hall — with having pushed for Aviles-Ramos to be his successor. A couple of years beforehand, Weisberg had tapped her to lead the system's response to tens of thousands of newly enrolled migrant students. Weisberg previously served as the school system's chief executive on labor issues under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who often clashed with the city's powerful teachers union. He left city government to work at TNTP, a well-known education nonprofit, which he eventually led as CEO. The city's Department of Education did not immediately name Weisberg's replacement.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Guernsey school leaders praised by staff in survey
The majority of staff at Guernsey's State's-run schools have responded positively to a survey on education leaders and their working primary and secondary schools took part in the 2025 School Leadership Survey which compared the results to similar education settings across average score in each category was higher than in comparable settings, including 91% of staff having confidence in leadership decision of Education Nick Hynes said he was "immensely proud" of the results which also point school leaders towards which areas need to be focussed on next. The survey has been conducted annually for several years and delivered in partnership with UK company benchmarking tools are used to compare Guernsey schools to hundreds of similar education settings across the British Isles. Key survey results:• 84% of staff reported feeling content in their role compared to an average of 50% in similar schools• 91% had confidence in decisions made by leadership compared to a 61% average• 87% felt supported by leadership, and 92% said their line manager supported them• 82% said they felt recognised when they did a good job compared to 55% elsewhere• 85% felt comfortable raising problems with leaders, and 82% said leaders listened and responded to concerns• 88% said leadership was visible and 78% felt their line manager actively helped them to do a better job 'Raise standards further' Mr Hynes said the results "speak volumes" about the leadership and culture of island schools. "It is great that these results verify what Ofsted, our external inspector, is telling us about the high quality of leadership and management in our schools," he said."Staff wellbeing and trust in leadership are essential for thriving schools and these figures paint a positive picture of Guernsey's educational leadership culture and demonstrate that school staff feel trusted and heard, which are critical foundations for student added: "However, most importantly, the survey points leaders to areas to focus on next. "We will be working alongside leaders to raise standards even further."
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tedeschi retires as Parish Hill principal, McKenna to replace him
CHAPLIN — With the end of the school year comes the end of one administrative chapter at Parish Hill Middle/High School, but a new era is set to start with the new school year in the fall. Principal Brian Tedeschi submitted his resignation the Board of Education earlier this month, as part of a planned retirement. Tedeschi has been the principal for just shy of a decade, named in the 2015-16 school year to succeed then-principal Dori Smith. Tedeschi had been serving as the interim principal while a search for her replacement was conducted, before the Board of Education chose him for a permanent place. During his tenure at Parish Hill High School, Tedeschi was named Outstanding Principal in the state by the Connecticut Parent Teacher Association in 2019. The awards are based on nominations from local PTAs, and the volume of community support for each nomination. Tedeschi may be leaving, but the Parish Hill community will still have a familiar face in the school's leadership: Thomas 'Tom' McKenna has been appointed by the Board of Education as the new prinicipal. McKenna has been serving the school as vice principal, arriving at Parish Hill shortly after Tedeschi, and was also named Outstanding Vice Principal by the Connecticut Parent Teacher Association in 2019. 'We are excited to bring Tom McKenna on as the next principal at Parish Hill Middle High School,' Superintendent Andrew Skarzynski told the Chronicle. 'Tom has served the district well as the assistant principal and brings forth a steady presence and strong understanding of curriculum and instruction. Tom has a well-developed understanding of the unique needs of our communities and his continued presence at Parish Hill will benefit our students, families and staff.' The Board of Education accepted Tedeschi's resignation the same night as the appointment of McKenna was made, based on the recommendation of regional school district 11 Superintendent Andrew Skarzynski. 'Although not an easy decision to make when you love the school community that you've spent the last 10-plus years, it's time to call it a career and reinvent myself,' Tedeschi told the Chronicle. 'I am fortunate to have made many great personal and professional connections with staff, parents and community members, but as always, it's the joy of educating students that I will miss the most.' Tedeschi praised his successor. 'I am most pleased to see Tom McKenna taking over the role of principal, as he has served the school community quite well for the last nine-plus years, and will no doubt continue to do so,' Tedeschi said. McKenna will be in place in his new role for the 2025-2026 school year. 'Tom will work alongside Brian through the remainder of the school year and during the summer, as he assumes the mantle of school leadership,' Skarzynski said. The position of assistant principal will not be filled as part of cuts to the region's budget, which failed at its first referendum and will be sent to voters with a reduced bottom line for a second referendum in June. McKenna's role as principal formally takes effect on September 1.
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
It is a great honour to be school principal – but the role is no longer sustainable
As the secondary school year draws to a close, the sixth year graduation is centre stage for many, including for school principals. There is something very special every year for principals in watching students cross the threshold from adolescence into young adulthood having witnessed their growth not only in knowledge but in character, confidence and purpose over the years. To be a secondary school principal in Ireland today is both a great honour and a formidable responsibility. It is a vocation as much as it is a profession. Principals are called to be pedagogical leaders and visionaries, administrators and crisis managers, policy implementers and student advocates. At the heart of the principal's role lies the responsibility of leading teaching and learning. This is not an abstract or titular role. Rather, it is a strategic responsibility focused on improving the quality of education and shaping the educational culture of the school where meaningful learning can take place and students can engage with new ideas, challenge themselves and develop as thinkers, collaborators and creators. Principals must lead by example, model reflective practice and ensure that student learning remains the core currency of the school community. Their task is to foster an inclusive learning environment where every student can flourish. They must lead a school culture where teachers are empowered and feel supported and where the continuous professional learning of staff is valued as central to student achievement. The principal is called to serve as a guardian of possibility. READ MORE But none of this can be meaningfully addressed when basic structural needs in leadership support go unmet. Principals operate every day in a chasm between the political rhetoric of student-centred education and the reality of an underfunded, understaffed and overburdened system. In recent years, the role of the principal has become overwhelmingly unsustainable. The exponential growth in policy demands, compliance requirements, procedural documentation and scrutiny from external inspections has displaced educational leadership from the core of school leadership. Instead of being able to focus on teaching and learning, principals are increasingly consumed by health and safety audits, GDPR compliance, legislative updates and policy implementation from circulars that arrive weekly, often with little or no notice. The reality is that principals are now expected to be CEOs, CFOs, HR directors, compliance officers and facilities managers, all while leading learning, managing behaviour, supporting parents and safeguarding children. To add to it all, the school inspectorate, while important in maintaining standards, unnecessarily amplifies the administrative pressure because they do not see that the lived reality of school leadership cannot be captured in checklists. In recent years, successive education ministers have been tone deaf on the issue of support for school leadership giving no provision to reduce administrative workloads (quite the opposite), no new funding for additional deputy principals and no specific measures to address the growing strain on school leaders who are struggling to manage under-resourced systems which is severely taking its toll. Principals are being asked to lead the new senior cycle reform which is both philosophically and practically contentious. Photograph: iStock In the recent Irish Post-Primary School Leaders' Health and Wellbeing three-year longitudinal Deakin University study , nearly 45 per cent of post primary school leaders reported experiencing high to severe levels of burnout, while stress levels were higher than those of the general workforce. The study gave an alarming insight into the pressures faced by principals and deputy principals. Disturbingly, the report illustrated the scale of workplace violence in schools, including bullying and threats facing principals and deputies. Female school leaders are particularly affected, with reported cases of physical and cyberbullying showing marked increases over the past three years. Compounding this is the sharp decline in applications for school principal positions. Increasingly, capable and committed teachers are choosing not to pursue leadership roles because the personal, emotional and professional costs are too high. The role of principal is no longer seen as attractive or sustainable and this poses a threat to the quality and continuity of school leadership in the country. Despite all of this, principals are being asked to lead the new senior cycle reform which is both philosophically and practically contentious. Many principals support the intention to move towards broader, more authentic assessment. However, the lack of clear guidance, adequate resourcing and systemic readiness alongside unresolved concerns about equity and reliability and the place of AI, make this a deeply problematic reform to lead at school level. Once again, the burden of implementation falls on school leaders who are already stretched beyond capacity. Principals are not martyrs. They are professionals. Their resilience should be honoured but not assumed. Their vocation should be supported but not taken for granted. Leadership in schools does not and cannot rest on the shoulders of one individual. The role of the deputy principal is crucial. However, the current allocation model for deputy principals is both outdated and unfit for purpose. It ignores the reality on the ground which is that schools are larger, more diverse, more accountable and significantly more complex than when the original staffing thresholds were conceived. The rigid threshold model based on enrolment figures grossly oversimplifies school leadership needs. In their pre-Budget submission 2025, the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) set out an unarguable case for the enhancement of leadership capacity at deputy principal level. Their position was widely supported by other relevant stakeholders and by the other post-primary management bodies. Enhanced deputy principal provision is also at the forefront of the JMB 2026 pre-budget submission. It is important to note that this is not just a resource issue. It is a moral one. A government that publicly champions wellbeing and educational excellence cannot continue to ignore the human cost of neglecting its school leaders. Principals are not martyrs. They are professionals. Their resilience should be honoured but not assumed. Their vocation should be supported but not taken for granted. We need systemic reform that acknowledges the complexity of the work of school principals and provides the necessary structures to support it. We need the kind of policymaking that listens to and learns from those who know the realities on the ground. If the Government is serious about sustaining high-quality education in our schools, then it must act now through the Department of Education to support school leadership by: revising the deputy principal allocation mode; providing additional administrative support; investing in building sustainable leadership teams and recognise that quality leadership is not a luxury but is a prerequisite for school success. Anything less is a failure of leadership at the highest level. John McHugh is principal of Ardscoil Rís in Dublin 9
