What These Retiring Principals Will Never Forget
By Denisa R. Superville
Many principals spend more than 60 hours a week doing school-related work.
Classroom observations. Basketball games. School bus duties. Hallway high-fives with students. Meetings. Meetings. Meetings.
Those activities add up to countless hours and encounters over a career, with each encounter leaving behind a unique imprint.
Education Week asked four principals who are retiring this year to share a memory of their life in education that will stay with them long after they’ve handed in their key cards and said goodbye to their teachers and students. What’s that thing, that student, that experience they won’t forget?
The memories the principals shared are paeans to education and why they stayed for so many years.
- School & District Management In Their Own Words 'What Happened to Sherman?': A Principal Who Can't Shake the Memory of One Special StudentCatherine Diezi shared her love for literature with staff and students. She'll remember how that transformed their lives.
School & District Management In Their Own Words This Principal Endured A Lot of Senior Pranks. One Stood OutChris LeGrande won't forget 215 keys, a jar, and a parking boot.
- School & District Management In Their Own Words 'The Kids Never Once Doubted I Loved Them': A Principal's Deep Connections With StudentsThis Kansas middle school principal will remember the decades-long relationships she's built with students.
School & District Management In Their Own Words Teaching 'Grand Students': A Principal Treasures Her Work With Multiple GenerationsA New Jersey principal built connections over multiple generations of families.
