PIVOT: School Improvement Leaders

Grateful to Blanchard Diavua at Hamilton High School and Dr. Kimberly D. Crochrell at Compass Frayser for opening their schools to us! It was a great learning experience to hear them reflect on their priorities, discuss their improvement planning, and watch their teams in action. #theleaderisthelever

Wrapping up AP learning days in Jackson, MS. Leaders from Mississippi and Tennessee revisited, reimagined, and reset in community together. Next up, principals in Memphis! #TheLeaderIsTheLever RePublic Schools Knox County Schools Gestalt Community Schools

Excited for Amy Galloway and Matthew Gambatese to be at the TENNESSEE PRINCIPALS ASSOCIATION conference at Dollywood! It’s always a pleasure connecting with school leaders across the state. We’ll be hosting free TASL credit events for principals and APs starting in January. Registration details coming soon!

Check out Amy Galloway’s interview with Rachael Maves. Amy discusses the role school leaders play in school improvement work and what districts can do to support principal growth across the broad spectrum of skills required for the role. Thank you to Rachael and Parsec Education for the opportunity!

Thanks to EdTrust-Tennessee for spotlighting our work in this month's newsletter. Grateful to be a part of the Tennessee Alliance for Equity in Education.

Grateful for the leaders we get to support, our partners at Knox Education Foundation and Knox County Schools, and all the principals out there working hard and pushing themselves to lead schools that work for all kids. #theleaderisthelever

When we host learning sessions, we teach a little, and we learn a lot about the places and partners we work with. Earlier this month, we learned with the principals in Haywood County, exploring the complexities of people leadership at every level of a principal’s job. Thank you to Haywood County Schools-TN for sharing and learning with us!

We love learning days at PIVOT! They are a time when leaders get to grow their own skill sets in the safety of other leaders doing the same work. Last week, our assistant principal cohort met in Knoxville to dig into: - systems thinking and backwards planning to outcomes - strategic use of time - managing up, down, and across - setting and holding high expectations for their teams - their role in building and maintaining team culture Lots of learning happened and lots of fun was had. 100% of our APs agreed that this program is something they’d recommend to other leaders. Thank you to the United Way of Greater Knoxville and Vine Magnet for sharing your space with us! When asked what’s the best thing about working with PIVOT so far, leaders said: - “The growth I have seen so far in such a small amount of time is encouraging and the best!” - “The relevance of the learning sessions and PDs to the actual work that I am doing at my organization.” - “Having not only a coach but other APs to collaborate with was fantastic.”

Addressing tension by mediating conflict among teammates is a skill we’ll explore with school leaders in our in-person September Learning Days, right around the corner. This excerpt from Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team illuminates the false positive effect of surface-level quiet and/or compliant team cultures. As leaders, it’s our job to name the tension and push our teams to navigate conflict productively. #TheLeaderIsTheLever

If you are wondering what principal community, applied learning experiences, and individualized coaching feels like, and the impact it has on principals leading improvement efforts in schools, hear more from some of our partners through this video.