"Principal" Columnists
Don’t miss these regular columns: Pete Hall
Award-winning young principal confronts the challenges of the job. Evelyn Cortez-Ford
Tips for coaching teachers to become leaders. The Principal Poet
Mr. Ivan's poems should ring familiar to all educators. George Pawlas
Improve school-community relations with PR strategies that work. Sandra Harris
"BRAVO Principals" Build Relationships with Actions that Value Others. See more columnists.
Principal Files
School leaders share their best ideas with one another.
Pawlas on PR
Dr. George Pawlas offers quick tips, fresh ideas, PR inspiration.
Take Five...
1-2-3-4-5 tips on a wide range of principal topics.
Principal Ideas
More great ideas from principals. Share yours too!
Artsonia: Online Gallery Raises Funds, Art Awareness, and Self-Esteem
At a time when money for the arts is limited, one online resource seeks to support local schools in one broad stroke. Artsonia is a masterpiece: a fundraiser for the arts and a free online gallery for student artwork. Included: Tips for Artsonia newbies.
School Foundations
Help Out in Hard Times
Many communities are coming to the aid of their schools by setting up educational foundations that channel private donations toward specific schools or programs. Included: Foundation directors share tips for getting a new foundation off the ground.
Districts Offer Incentives to Curb Teacher Absences
Several recent studies showing the negative impact of teacher absences on student achievement, plus rising substitute costs, have prompted some districts to offer teachers incentives to reduce the number of days they take off.
"Sharing the Dream":
A Grant Competition Links Schools
And Communities
Do you find it difficult to maintain a strong and healthy bond between your school and the community? This is just what the National Association of Elementary School Principals hopes to foster with its "Sharing the Dream" grant competition.
GoodSearch: Fundraising Through
Internet Searching
You may be surprised to learn of a program that requires little effort and capitalizes on something everyone in your school community is already doing -- searching the Internet. GoodSearch, a search engine powered by Yahoo!, donates revenue to participating schools.
Bidding for Dollars: Online Auctions Help Schools Earn Cash
As budgets stretch to the breaking point, public schools are discovering the powerful fundraising possibilities of the auction with a technological twist. The flexibility, convenience, and popularity of online auctions enable schools to tap a limitless base of supporters.
Yearbooks Capture Elementary, Middle School Memories
The yearbook is a classic souvenir of high school days, but today elementary and middle schools are getting into the act. Preserving the priceless moments and toothless smiles of young children is the goal of hardworking advisors, parents, and students.
If You Were Handed a $10,000 Windfall…
Principals can make a seemingly small windfall like $10,000 go a long way! That’s what we learned this month when we “gave” members of our Principal Files team $10,000 to spend. The principals offered wise tips for spending in ways that add true value.
Fifteen Ideas for Fundraising Fun
Need to raise money to fund a school trip, buy new uniforms, or for needed classroom supplies? Education World offers 15 fun ideas for school fundraising. Included: Idol competition, Penny Challenge, poster sale, Anti-Dance, more.
Fifteen More Ideas for Fundraising Fun
Last month we offered "Fifteen Ideas for Fundraising Fun" in your school. This month we offer 15 more new ideas to raise money to support school programs. Included: Rock-a-Thon, Turkey Legs Contest, Goat Insurance, Lip Sync Contest…
Carle, Cleary, Rowling, and [Your Students' Names Here]: Kids Can Be Published Authors, Too!
Kids will be encouraged to write when they know that their work will be published in a book, especially a beautiful hard-covered book. Learn how to get started with book-writing projects for your school or individual classes. Create a book of students' poems, about your community, of recipes...
Classified Web Page Raises Money for Schools
A bake and yard sale veteran, Falmouth, Maine, resident Carolyn Gillis decided to take school fundraising to a higher level. She founded, Classroom Classifieds, a free Web site that generates money for schools from items that community members sell.
Halloween Party Alternatives from UNICEF
Replace your typical school Halloween party with a valuable service-learning project. This lesson plan presents many fundraising ideas. Included: A detailed plan for a Read-a-Thon for UNICEF, plus ten more ideas and links to many others.
School Stores Teach Lifelong Skills
This "local shop" can stock merchandise ranging from pencils to tasty snacks, and sell its wares to students, teachers, principals and even the occasional visitor. A school store, however, is more than a "convenience store;" its shelves also are stocked with the materials for building academic and lifelong learning skills.
A "Signature" Event: The Autograph Auction as a School Fundraiser
When some students' need for shoes was discussed at a school meeting, Marty Kelsey saw a potential event that would be entertaining, require little investment, and, hopefully, raise ample funds -- the Celebrity Autograph and Shoe Auction!
65 Percent Solution: Gimmick or Gold Mine?
Founders of the First Class Education movement want all states to mandate that 65 percent of education dollars go to "in-classroom" expenses. While that may sound great, educators worry that the definition of classroom expenses is too narrow.
More "Do" for Less "Dough": Inexpensive Field Trips Enhance Learning
Seasoned educators recognize that field trips are the stuff of which learning and memories are made. Teachers share ways they get around money issues to provide inexpensive trips that are both meaningful and memorable.
A Community Pitches In to Repair its Schools
A lack of maintenance and funding had taken a toll on Baltimore, Maryland's schools. A call to the community for help this summer, though, yielded donations and thousands of volunteers who completed hundreds of thousands of dollars of work -- and are still at it.
Lean Regime: A District Cuts Almost Half Its Administrators
With a ballooning deficit and shrinking resources, Mundelein High School District 120's superintendent decided in 2003 to pare down its administrators' ranks by almost half. While there have been challenges, staff members are making the new system work.
The School-Building Dilemma: Is Leasing the Answer?
Some states and organizations are taking a new approach to opening schools. Can leasing buildings or enlisting private entities cut costs or at least speed up construction? Included: Descriptions of some public-private partnerships.
Would You Switch Schools for More Money?
Staff turnover and inexperienced teachers increasingly are seen as hindrances to improvement in poor, low-achieving schools. Some see extra money as the best way to attract and keep good teachers in these schools.
No Retiring from Dedication
After 30 years as a third grade teacher, retirement couldn't stop Jill Herrick from being an educator. She founded a mini-grant program to help teachers fund hands-on projects, and an awards program for third graders who "work their tails off."
Saying 'No' to Title I: Why Three Districts Did It
Nobody turns down federal grants -- or do they? Call it Yankee independence, but three Connecticut superintendents, new this year to the Title I list, decided the costs and mandates associated with accepting the money outweighed the benefits.
Party! A Year of Special School Events
Getting parents involved is no easy task. But Education World's "Principal Files" team offers some great ideas for school-wide events that are sure to draw parents in large numbers. Included: More than 30 events to add to your school calendar!
Beyond the Bake Sale: A Guide to Phenomenal Fund-Raising
Looking to marshal your parent volunteers into an effective fund-raising team? Jean C. Joachim’s book, Beyond the Bake Sale, offers a manual for principals. Included: Advice on launching and maintaining effective fund-raising efforts.
Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing
Many educators have found that outside funding, in the form of grants, allows them to provide their students with educational experiences and materials their own districts can’t afford. Learn how they get those grants -- and how you can get one too.
On the First Day of Christmas, the District Office Gave to Me...
Principals can dream too, can’t they? We asked Education World’s “Principal Files” team to dream big. We “gave” them $25,000 as a holiday windfall and asked what they would do with it. They had no trouble coming up with ideas.
Indian Island Principal Reflects On Native Schools' Goals, Challenges
Last spring, Education World visited two Native American reservation
schools in rural sections of Maine, part of the continuing series
Lessons from Our Nation's Schools. In this article, Education
World news editor Diane Weaver Dunne talks to Linda McLeod, principal
of Indian Island School, which is located north of Bangor, Maine.
Old School Buildings: Prehistoric or Worth Preserving?
A recent report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation
(NTHP) makes a case for renovating old school buildings instead
of razing them. Although demolition might be the wisest choice
in some instances, the NTHP offers resources for helping school
boards decide whether to raze or renovate. Education World writer
Ryan Francis recently spoke with members of three communities
that have faced that dilemma.
Hawaii Teachers Approve Four-Year Pact
After 20 days on strike, Hawaii teachers are back in the classroom,
"feeling good about what they did," according to the union's executive
director, Joan Lee Husted. Teachers won not only a significant
pay increase but also additional professional days and more compensation
for continuing education credits.
School Vouchers 101: An Overview of This Year's Hottest Campaign Debate
One of the hottest political issues of this presidential election
year is the school voucher -- tax dollars used for private schools.
Political debate and legal wrangling has focused, in part, on
using government money to support private, religious schools.
Included: The results of two Harvard University studies that evaluate
school voucher programs after one year.
Need School Supplies? -- Ask and You Shall Receive!
An organization called PENCIL connects the dots between New York
City schools and businesses that have surplus supplies to give.
Through PENCIL programs, the schools obtain funds, materials,
and support. Is it possible to obtain similar benefits for your
school? One principal offers his best suggestions for forging
an educational partnership with your community. Also: Information
about a handful of programs that help provide needed supplies
for schools.
Fund-Raising Ideas: Raise Money Without Selling Door-to-Door
How far would you go to raise needed funds? Would you kiss a pig?
Organize a game of cow chip bingo? Paint Pepsi on your
school roof? As school budgets seem to buy less and less of what
educators and parents believe students need, money from fund-raising
is becoming more and more important. Some school districts are
discovering -- or creating -- new ways to raise money.
The Selling of Our Schools: Advertising in the Classroom
Are our kids for sale to the highest bidder? Do we tell them proper
nutrition is important and then plaster the school's walls with
signs saying, "Things Go Better With Coke"?
From Billboard to Chalkboard: Advertising Creeps Into the Classroom
Corporate advertisers are spending big buck$ to get their names
into classrooms around the world. And schools strapped for ca$h
are letting them do it. Why? And what can school administrators
and teachers do to make sure kids are getting the right
me$$age? Included: Media literacy and money managing Web sites
for kids.
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