John Bird- Aspiring Principal

Please explain how your past personal and professional experiences make you a quality candidate for the position for which you are applying?

I have had the opportunity to lead from a young age and have studied leadership extensively in order how to best take my innate characteristics and use them to make others better. In many of my leadership roles, I was much younger than my peers in similar positions but able to compete because of my systems approach to leadership along with humility. I understand how to ask the right questions, and more importantly how to listen, to gain an understanding of what is needed, both to get the job completed while supporting those I am supervising.

In the field of education, I have filled many positions including teacher, special education teacher, coach, committee chair, Dean of Culture and Climate, and Assistant Principal. Through these various positions, I have come to understand what makes a high school work and what is needed to have it work effectively. I come to the position with an understanding of the needs of students and teachers, and ideas on how to merge these needs with those of the school community.

Lastly, I am a lifelong learner who will only acquire more knowledge going forward. Although I am in the midst of earning an Ed.D degree, it is important to note that is far from the only source of education I seek. I look to all resources, collegial and otherwise, in order to understand law, processes, policies, theories, and psychology, all of which play into excellence in the leadership of a school.

What personal characteristics define an excellent administrator?

Humility
Intelligence
Compassion
A belief in systems and structure
Clear and Concise Communication
Ethical Values
Belief in Students
Belief in Education

At your current school, what are your primary sources of data and how do you use them to make instructional decisions?

The primary source of data in an administrative role is the Genesis Educational System. It is a wealth of knowledge that, if used to its full capacity, will enable us to efficiently compile, aggregate, and synthesize data for decision-making.

Educationally, LinkIt is another data-rich resource used to track the successes of students academically. In order for LinkIt to work correctly, an emphasis on the seriousness of benchmark examinations must become a part of the high school climate and culture to ensure accuracy.

How do you manage/lead change at your school? How do you build momentum with staff and community?

I have had the opportunity to be a part of change in many situations and there is always an understanding and process that must be understood for there to be successful. It is important to understand that all stakeholders may not like, or have wanted, change. As such, you must integrate into the process a way to provide an understanding of the ways in which supervisees will benefit under new leadership as well as an emphasis on it being a new direction without indicting the "old way" as wrong.

Any change is built on the foundation that was laid before it. As such, a leader must look at the current structure and clearly analyze what is working and what must be taken in a new direction. This amalgam then becomes the basis of your new school culture. This culture must be one that you can believe in and emphatically spread throughout the community leading to a momentum that sets the new normal.

Tell us what you have done to ensure parents are partnering with the school in their children's education.

The number one priority in making sure parents are essential stakeholders in their child's education is to meet them where they are. This is especially true in a Title 1 school district.

Many parents do not have fond memories of school or have lives that preclude them from participating in their child's academic career. Using modern-day resources, we have the opportunity to open our schools up to parents in a way that was never before possible. By engaging parents with flexibility and resources, we have the opportunity to have parents become a part of the school community in ways that were not previously possible. Some of these ideas include:

Zoom option for parent-teacher conferences
Recorded class sessions to show parents their students' academic setting (with teacher permission)
Saturday morning open meetings with administrators
Late Night hours weekly or bi-weekly with administrators
Utilization of Google Classroom, Genesis, Email, Remind101, Social Media, and other technology to provide information in the parents' preferred means of receiving it.

Describe a successful School Leadership Team:

Takes a 10,000-foot view of the school while adhering to principles of Extreme Ownership.
Shared decision-making with one ultimate decision
Ensures a focus on learning and sustained improvement
Oversees the work of department chairs in curricular decisions
Steward of the school's mission, vision, and core values
Data-Driven collaborative governance

Explain the value of mission and values to an organization

Mission and values are the guiding thoughts anchored to the school's climate and culture. They succinctly communicate the who, what, and why of the organization to those aiming to become stakeholders. They help to ensure vertical alignment through the organization by defining macro goals in which micro-decisions should be made.

Describe your technology skills. Provide an example of how you utilize technology in your current position.

I have completed certifications through both Google (Level 1 and 2) and Apple Education for the use of technology in the classroom. I also took an interest in technology in the classroom toward the end of my teaching appointment and have an understanding of many of the current programs that allow for this curriculum. As the curricular leader of the school, I would look to turn key this information so that teachers may use the same approaches in order to enhance their lessons.

Also, as stated above, technology allows those that may not have the ability to get to the school an opportunity to be part of the community. Technology can open doors for parents to become stakeholders in their child's education and should be used to its fullest extent for this purpose.