Principals Strive for Greater Success

“Effective leadership takes high courage and high consideration. It is knowing when to put your arm around someone and when to challenge them.” So says, Dr. Robert J. Reidy, Jr., executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

Reidy talked about leadership and change Tuesday in his keynote address to the first annual Principals Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Educational Leadership at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES. The institute, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday of this week at Peekskill Middle School, attracted about 60 principals from across the region.

The two-day session was designed to provide principals with an opportunity to network, share best practices and hear from experts on topics ranging from the use of technology to school safety to finding the right work/life balance.

“Being a building principal can be lonely, especially if you don’t have an assistant principal,” said Cynthia Kramer, who was recently appointed principal of the Furnace Woods Elementary School in Hendrick Hudson School District. “It is important to get out and talk to colleagues and hear that they are dealing with some of the same issues.”

Lisamarie Spindler, assistant principal of Warwick High School, said she appreciated the opportunity to network with administrators who are not in her region and was looking forward to bringing back what she learns to her administrative team.

Ann Dealy, principal of Brookside Elementary School in Ossining, praised BOCES for offering the Institute and said she had found the session on technology particularly valuable. “The technology session was really important because anything that helps to streamline work benefits all of us,” she said.In his opening welcome, Peekskill’s Interim Superintendent Lorenzo Licopoli urged participants to remember that effective leaders believe they can make a difference in the lives of children. BOCES Superintendent James Langlois told the audience to look for measures of success that go beyond standardized test results.

The Institute will continue Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Peekskill Middle School.