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| "Picky Parent Guide is a tremendous resource for parents and school leaders alike. All
parents should have this book by the time their kids are 3 years old, if not sooner. It provides
thoughtful guidance so that parents have tools to match their children's strengths, needs and
interests to the schools that will serve them best. It also helps school leaders better answer the
questions posed by informed parents." |
—Johnathan Williams, Co-Founder and Co-Director, The Accelerated School,
Los Angeles, The Time Magazine Elementary School of the Year 2001 |
School principals and directors, you'll know just how important you really are when you read the
Picky Parent Guide chapters on school quality. You are the bedrock providing the steady, strong
foundation teachers need to achieve greatness consistently with every child in the classroom. We know
that many of you agreed to the job of instructional leader and now find yourselves operating more
like CEOs. We say this: you can do what you need to do, learn what you need to learn, to ensure
great learning by every child in your school! The world has changed and so has the job of principal.
You, too, can keep learning, growing, improving and achieving better results even when it's tempting
to settle for something less.
We urge you to meet parents where they are: focused on the needs of their individual children.
If you start there and let the Great School Quality Factors lead the way to improvement in your
school, you will get results that please parents and teachers alike. Most importantly, you have
the chance to shape a new generation of smart, motivated, happy children ready to thrive in our
complex and changing world.
There's much written about what makes an effective principal or school director. It can be confusing
in the busy workaday world to know what's worth your time, what will lead to better results for students
in your school. For the future, we're exploring ways to link resources for school leaders to the quality
and fit models described in Picky Parent Guide and embedded in the Confident Choice Tools. We want to
enable you to build your leadership team and professional development by starting with your particular
school's mission and goals, student and family population, and your own team and individual strengths
and weaknesses.
Here are some ways you can act now to help parents make critical decisions about their children's educations:
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