This week is Principal Appreciation Week, one of the many Appreciation weeks where we celebrate a group of individuals for their work in education. Let me be the first to say that I am a big fan of our school administrators. Their days are filled from beginning to end...and usually it's difficult to know when they end.
They serve as the Instructional Leader in their building, which means they are responsible for how content is shared with every child in every classroom. They supervise a school full of employees, from teachers, to nurses, to instructional assistants. They ensure students and staff have a safe and secure environment in which to work and to learn. They support student growth and success in academics and in life skills. Principals and Assistant Principals realize their plan for the day can quickly change based on the type of day one of their students is having. They stay late to address the emails, phone calls, and paperwork they were unable to get to during the day. They go home exhausted, many times without even eating lunch, and often take with them more unfinished work they hope to tackle.
So why do they do it? For the same reason as teachers and others in education--they love their students. All of their students. And they appreciate their employees. They know that they are the main champion for every child in their building, and for every one of their staff members. They accept that responsibility and are rewarded with hugs, smiling faces, thank yous, and other little gifts. Usually these expressions of gratitude come at just the right time and make a difficult day not so difficult.
We wanted to give our principals a big Thank You and let them know that we appreciate them every week, not just this one. But it is a good time to publicly acknowledge all that they do and to tell them how glad we are that they chose to work in Isle of Wight County.
We created a special video for our principals so they could hear from their staff, students, and parents who share how much their principal means to them. I encourage you to share your own message of appreciation with your child's principal and assistant principals during this week, and any time throughout the school year. As Mother Teresa noted, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
We Appreciate Our Principals! (Video)
