Reply to What is going on at Sidwell - LOTS AND LOTS OF TURNOVER

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Over the last decade I believe the US had had 4 different principals, including acting principals.  It would be a really good thing for the new HOS and Board to make a better choice this time around -- perhaps one of several strong internal candidates.      [/quote]
I'm not familiar with all the details of this particular situation, but I imagine what you propose is easy to say, but hard to do.  Many good principals don't just want to hang around.  They will get offers to be head of school at some other location.  Indeed, IIRC, the incoming head of school at Sidwell is a former principal at Sidwell who left to be head of school somewhere else.

The real prize for a school is to find a principal who is high-quality, but who does not have any ambition for a head of school promotion, and yet who is able to keep her approach fresh over many years at the same job.  That's a really tall order.  I'd guess the most common situation like that will be if some principal is willing to keep the job for several years while waiting for the head of school to retire, in hopes of moving up to that spot.

Simply saying "Hire better principals who want to stay for the long haul!" is not a realistic prescription for success.[/quote]

The current MS principal has been there at least a decade and the recently-retired LS principal was in place for even longer -- well over 20 years.

Also worth noting, the US principal who left in 2010, after 4 years at Sidwell, did not move to an HOS position.

Finally, I would think that hiring an internal candidate who has been teaching at the school for many years might be a way to ensure longer tenure as US principal.

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