Working With a Mentor as a New Principal

These ideas can guide novice or even seasoned principals facing the challenges of working at a new school.

In many schools, the summer months can be a time of change. Veteran principals retire or move to new positions, and others are selected to assume their roles, some in their first assignment. How can a new principal be an effective part of this change? My best advice is to begin searching for the individual(s) who will become your mentor(s) and provide needed help.

I was fortunate. On the first contracted day of my assignment, a veteran principal from a school 10 miles away in the same rural Ohio school district visited me and greeted me warmly. We had never met; he was a friend of my predecessor, and I was new to the district and won the job over people he knew. Regardless, he welcomed me and stressed that if I needed anything or had any questions, I was to pick up the phone and call him—anytime.

He became my first principal mentor and was a friend and confidant until he passed away two years ago.