Nearly 50 school principals in Vermont will have a chance to take part in a nine-month leadership training course that begins in February.
“The high-quality leadership development will allow Vermont principals to help their schools and staff work together to handle the many new initiatives that are currently on their plates,” said Ken Page, executive director of the Vermont Principals’ Association.
In recent years, lawmakers have asked schools to make some sweeping changes to the way they teach students though Act 77, also known as flexible pathways.
The Center for Creative Leadership, in North Carolina, will run the pilot program, which is open to public and independent school principals and assistant principals regardless of their school’s size or budget.
The professional development is possible because Dr. Margaret Waddington, a Rutland neurologist who died in 2015, left a multimillion-dollar gift to the Center for Creative Leadership.
Waddington took part in its Leadership Development Program in 1985 and earmarked her donation so more Vermonters could receive the training.
The Margaret Waddington Leadership Initiative will pay for 48 principals to participate beginning in February and lasting through 2017. They will spend a few days in Greensboro, North Carolina, in February, but the rest of the workshops are in Vermont.
Page said he went through the program in the 1990s when he was principal at Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury and found it invaluable.
“The principal is only second to the individual classroom teacher as the person who has the greatest impact on the schools and is key to leading school improvement efforts,” Page said, adding that such responsibilities can make leadership difficult.
Applications are due Dec. 12.
