In the life of schools, there are three months in April. 

Like Mary Poppins’ arm bag that holds a framed wall mirror, coat rack, and bottles of medicine, the month of April holds far more than you would imagine. 

Without the magic of Ms. Poppins, though, April is just a month that contains the pressing demands of the past, the immediate needs of the present, and the careening tasks of the future all bundled together. And, sometimes it also has one week less to accomplish it all. 

Welcome to the Month of April Past!

School principals are looking at the final stretch to deliver outcomes on the goals from the outset of the year. Is the program fully implemented and are we seeing results in the data? What about the report due to the community next month on progress on our five objectives for the district? The data to be collected, the impact to be shared and the credibility to continue the work are all bearing down upon the site leader. 

April Present Is Here!

April has always contained some form of a substantial, school-wide assessment. Usually driven by state accountability systems, but occasionally fashioned by the school or charter organization itself, April is traditionally a month of testing. Days and days filled with assessments, time spent on protocols for proctors, preparing teachers and students alike for the actual process of testing, and tracking down students who missed a day to test again. And there are regular aspects of the life of a school - instruction, field trips, student conflicts, assemblies, tragedies, and traumas in the individual lives of staff and students. 

Don’t Get Caught Forgetting About April Future!

Staffing is top of mind for any site as people start to announce their plans to move, leave education, change roles, and the principal sees teaching vacancies open. In light of the severe national teacher shortage, a principal is working on a frantic timeline to get new open positions posted and interviews underway in hopes of securing a strong teacher for the coming year. The master schedule is being developed and student enrollment is underway with prospective families coming for tours, turning in forms, and reaching out with questions. 

Principals are running three months in one this month. Their entire staff is tired and focused on how many weeks until the end of the year. But the year isn’t over until it is over and the finish needs to be strong, so what do you do when you are in this stretch as a principal? 

How do you keep your own motivation? 

How do you sustain yourself? 

How do you ensure that you will be back next year?

If school leaders are to prioritize one thing in the spring of 2023, it’s retaining their strongest staff and strengthening connections and a soft landing so that each teacher can imagine themselves in your school, thriving next year. 

The way you focus on retaining staff? 

By modeling what it takes to retain you. 

1. First - Set realistic boundaries for yourself - We have all been told to “set boundaries” as if it’s as simple as a statement. When you’re overextended, that piece of advice feels flip, and yet, here I am saying it. But I’m saying it is a different way. This time, it’s about setting realistic boundaries for yourself. Boundaries you can enforce for yourself. 

Before getting into the specifics though, you have to set yourself up for success by communicating the boundaries in a direct, personal way with the most essential people who need to hear this - your supervisor and your staff.

Maybe your boundary begins with you saying something like this to your staff in your next in-person meeting  “I’m setting a new boundary for myself around email communication. I’ll stop checking my email at 6 p.m. each night and will begin again when I arrive at school the next morning. I’m doing this to prioritize a few things - I want to focus on the students, staff, and families that I can talk to in person which can be in the office, out front, or as I’m walking the campus at lunch. I don’t want to be removed from the school by always being on my phone emailing or at my desk and so I’ll have set times when I check email. If it’s an urgent matter - like time-sensitive urgent - call me. This is something I’m doing for my own sense of restoration too - I want to prioritize the ways I”m most effective as a principal and I’ve found email isn’t the main one.”  Share your new boundary in person so that everyone hears it from you before they experience it in some form of an auto-reply and be sure to run the draft of your auto-reply by a few people you trust for an honest assessment of tone. 

2. Second - Check that the boundary you just set is realistic for you - This merits its own number since you are likely a person who is very familiar with prioritizing and decision-making. You’ve made a decision on the boundary, but it’s important to also check that it’s right for you and that you will actually observe it. People will not honor the boundary on your behalf, so you have to. Do what you need to do - if your boundary was about email, then set three alarms during your workday when you will go in and check and respond to email for 20 min. Move the email icon to the last screen of your phone. That way, when you habitually pick your phone up you’ll have to take a few more steps before you actually get to email, which might just be enough of a disruption that you remember your boundary and put the phone down. Lastly, make sure you’ve spelled out what constitutes time-sensitive information that people should call you about. If they don’t observe the boundary, kindly tell them that you’ll connect with them the next day and end the conversation. 

3. Use your phone to be a visual leader -  The school year doesn’t end for 2-3 more months and the students in each and every school deserve a full year with all of the days devoted to their growth and development. You need to muster up the energy to continue to lead and cheer for the work that is still underway. So use your phone to do that in a way that effectively tells the tale of your work.  Snap photos - everywhere you go on campus, snap a photo that helps you to document where the work stands and celebrates what has been done. It’s highly effective to use photo collages and short text where once you had long slide decks with lots of bullet points. People will take in your points and feel a burst of energy from the images along the way.

4. Take something off the list - while it always seems that everything on the list is a “must-do” (that’s how it made it to the list in the first place, right?), there is always something that can come off the list. But it’s a matter of you being honest with yourself. You might cherish the tradition of the spring talent show, but realistically know it only caters to a few on campus and the amount of energy it takes from you is disproportionate. It’s okay to postpone it a year. Or to pause the planning committee for the new school garden and push that to the summer. Or to leave campus 40 min earlier each evening. Whatever it is, chose one thing and take it off your list. Name it and share that is what you are doing and then it turns into a model for others. Modeling how to sustain oneself is essential in school leadership too. 

April will come to an end, the report due date will arrive and the enrollment process will be complete. Which of the above can you put in place to honor your energy reserves? School systems need to be energized, resilient leaders. The magic is not coming to find you. You'll have to make your magic and, in doing so, you will help to set a new path of sustainability for schools and create space for compassion, creativity, and re-invention of schools.