rated, she had the final evaluations her superintendent requested, having
done the bulk of the work during the December/January lull.
As she became more skilled and came to know each member of her
supervisory staff better, Ms. Hildebrand refined this process even more.
She sent each of her chairpersons a list of the items he or she needed to
bring to the mid-year meeting. She had the previous year’s evaluation on
her computer screen when the assistant principal arrived for the meet-
ing. Together, they updated the information based on the items the chair
brought. She had a mid-year report printed and in the chairperson’s hands
at the end of the session.
During the 1990s, computer technology revolutionized the tasks of the
school leader’s job. A principal’s skills along with his office software and
hardware needed continual upgrading. For today’s principals, such technol-
ogy is second nature. They are already comfortable with word processing
and spreadsheet programs and are able to adapt these to their needs. With
the click of a mouse, they can bring up the previous year’s school calendar
(given to all teachers in September) and update it to create the current school
calendar. Likewise, if they issue weekly bulletins, they can revise rather
than rewrite them each week. The modern technologically advanced school
leader will see many more ways to use technology to simplify his job.
All these calendars and planners need to be flexible. If there’s an elec-
trical fire in the school, the daily plan becomes meaningless, as the prin-
cipal will be needed for totally unexpected chores that day. When students
planned to leave Mr. Thelen’s school to go to a Yankee victory parade
(a very common problem in the 1990s in New York City), all his efforts
were devoted to keeping high spirits under control—and keeping students
in the school. On September 11, 2001, and for many weeks thereafter,
the weekly and yearly planners of Ms. Valletta and all principals in lower
Manhattan were irrelevant as new tasks never anticipated filled the days.
The school leader learns that the key to success is to plan and plan and
plan—and then to be flexible when the unanticipated happens.
- Train the Administrative Assistant Well
The principal’s secretary trains him when he’s first appointed. However,
she will be using the parameters set by his predecessor. Over the course of
his first year, the principal will need to set his own parameters.
People Are More Important than Paper 59