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While there have been many articles on how to support parents, teachers, and students as schools have cautiously reopened or gone the virtual learning route, there has been less focus on the administrators, office workers, and other support staff that make up the other 50% of education workers. The more than 90,000 public schools principals in the U.S. have the unenviable task of leading, advocating and caring for the health and welfare of their staff and students during the coronavirus.
Principals are under immense COVID-related pressures despite there being no playbook or certainty about what the post-pandemic educational landscape will resemble. With October being National Principals Month, we thought we’d suggest some ways to honor and acknowledge our school principals for their impact on our students, teachers, and staff.
How parents can support school principals during virtual learning
In these pandemic times, principals are guiding our schools into virtual learning environments and cautious reopenings, providing timely communications to parents and staff as conditions change. Here are a few ways you can help them so they can help your kids.
1. Be patient
Between technology challenges, making sure various populations of vulnerable students have access to vital services and a host of other challenges — there are bound to be kinks in the process. Extending grace and patience can go a long way.
2. Be flexible
At the moment, things are constantly in flux. School counselor Diedre Anthony advised flexibility. “Understanding that change comes top down will help not to take things personally to be readily available to help in whatever capacity needed,” he told Mom.com. “Even if it looks different from what you’ve always done.”
3. Be respectful of their time and bandwidth
If you’re dealing with an on-going issue or concern, high school librarian Matt McDonell told Mom.com, “I try to not send my principal more than one email per day — usually a summary of issues I think they need to be aware of.”
Ways to show appreciation to school principals
With so many people like staff, teachers, students, parents, and the school board to please — principals are bound to have many vocal critics. You can show your support with a number of simple gestures.
4. Thank your principal
If you do think your principal is doing a good job, let them know. Send a card, a note, or email — a message from your kids would be especially meaningful. It’s guaranteed they’ll be touched by any aknowledgement.
5. Express public support in the community and on social media
Principals set the tone and standard at schools. If you think they’ve done well, acknowledge them publicly. “Send positive comments about their work to the superintendent,” Kate Zulaski suggested to Mom.com.
Mom of two Anita Jackson advocates offering support on social media, sharing with your local Facebook parent group or Nextdoor when your principal has helped your child or school.
For those of you who need assistance with words or ideas, check out some of these email and social templates you can use.
6. Send a gift
Brighten your principal’s day with gift cards, tasty treats, or other small tokens of appreciation.
Difficulties school principals face due to the pandemic
Unfortunately, according to a recent poll conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), 45% of principals reported that pandemic working conditions are accelerating their intentions to quit. Also worrisome is the statistic that 1 in 5 principals leave due to substandard professional development and preparation, poor working conditions, insufficient salaries, ineffectual accountability policies, and no authority to make decisions.
Principals also cited the overwhelming stress for the safety of their teachers, staff, and students if schools reopen in-person. “A principal’s primary and foundational duty is to keep students safe in school. Without that assurance, little real learning can take place,” said NASSP CEO JoAnn Bartoletti in a press release.
While these areas are not entirely within the purview of school parents, there are still things you can do to support your principals.
7. Show up
Increase your parent involvement in school. Vote for school board members. Attend school board and PTA meetings. Meet with the principal.
“Talk to school leaders and local legislators and see how you can help,” American Academy of Pediatrics spokesperson Dr. Steph Lee advised Mom.com. “It will take everyone’s support to make sure we get through this and return our kids to school campuses safe and healthy.”
8. Advocate for the safety of the staff and students at your school
Bartoletti stated that principals “are being asked unreasonably to bridge a chasm between the realities of face-to-face learning and the need to safeguard the people in their school.”
You can help ease some of that burden by joining the AAP to call for Congress in providing additional funding for school supplies like face coverings, shields, and cleaning equipment.
