Executive Directory of Principals Mailing List

Principal allows you to target individuals that hold a position as the principal of a preschool, elementary, middle, or high school. Principals manage day-to-day activities in schools and provide instructional leadership. They set educational standards and goals and establish policies and procedures. They develop mission statements and supervise managers, support staff, teachers, counselors, librarians, and coaches. Principal’s develop academic programs, monitor students progress, train teachers, manage career-counseling services, prepare budgets, and handle relations with parents and the community. Many principals have become more involved in public relations and fundraising to obtain public support for their schools.
 

Principals set educational standards and goals and establish the policies and procedures required to achieve them. They also supervise managers, support staff, teachers, counselors, librarians, coaches, and other employees. They develop academic programs, monitor students’ educational progress, train and motivate teachers and other staff, manage career counseling and other student services, administer recordkeeping, prepare budgets, and perform many other duties. They also handle relations with parents, prospective and current students, employers, and the community. In universities or large school systems, responsibilities are divided among many principals, each with a specific function. They set the academic tone and work actively with teachers to develop and maintain high curriculum standards, formulate mission statements, and establish performance goals and objectives. Principals confer with staff to advise, explain, or answer procedural questions. They hire and evaluate teachers and other staff. They visit classrooms, observe teaching methods, review instructional objectives, and examine learning materials. Principals must use clear, objective guidelines for teacher appraisals, because principals’ pay often is based on performance ratings.

Principals also meet with other administrators and students, parents, and representatives of community organizations. Decision-making authority increasingly has shifted from school district central offices to individual schools. School principals have greater flexibility in setting school policies and goals, but when making administrative decisions, they must pay attention to the concerns of parents, teachers, and other members of the community. Principals also are responsible for preparing budgets and reports on various subjects, such as finances, attendance and student performance. As school budgets become tighter, many principals have become more involved in public relations and fundraising to secure financial support for their schools from local businesses and the community. Principals ensure that students meet national, State, and local academic standards. Many principals develop partnerships with local businesses and school-to-work transition programs for students. Principals must be sensitive to the needs of a rising number of non-English-speaking students and a culturally diverse student body. In some areas, growing enrollments are a cause for concern, because they lead to overcrowding at many schools. When addressing problems of inadequate resources, principals serve as advocates for the building of new schools or the repair of existing ones. During the summer months, principals are responsible for planning for the upcoming year, overseeing summer school, participating in workshops for teachers and administrators, supervising building repairs and improvements, and working to make sure that the school has adequate staff for the upcoming school year. Schools continue to be involved with students’ emotional welfare as well as their academic achievement. As a result, principals face responsibilities outside of academics. For example, many schools have a large number of students from single-parent families, families in which both parents work outside the home or students who are teenage parents. To support these students and their families, some schools have established before- and after-school child care programs or family resource centers, which also may offer parenting classes and social service referrals. With the help of community organizations, some principals have established programs to combat increases in crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases among students.