Welcome New School Administrators

As the 2022-2023 school year is fast approaching, many transitions are happening across the Kent School District. A new school year brings new classrooms, a new grade, and new faces. Last week, we welcomed our new school administrators to our school district. New principals and assistant principals met in the KSD Board Room to learn about the transition to their new role as one of the most critical positions helping to steer student learning across our schools.

Group photo of school administratorsThe Kent School District Executive Directors of Learning Improvement (EDLI) came together to build this event, which focused on introducing school administrators to the KSD community and welcoming them to this new journey. “As we engaged in creating a vision for this new event, we collaborated with Cathy Lendosky in Professional Development and Bree Adams in Human Resources to understand what onboarding events already exist in KSD,” said Dr. Christine Avery, EDLI. “Our goal was to enhance the overall induction experience for our school administrators and to provide actionable takeaways that support the planning each school administrator does during summer to kick-off a successful new school year.”

The day’s events included a welcome from the EDLIs, and a blast to the past with a ride on a school bus to Meeker Middle School, Pine Tree Elementary, and Kentlake High School. New administrators heard from current school administrators across the district and learned about best practices for transitioning into their new roles, using data toPicture of Sawyer Woods Principal, Andre Koch be successful, and taking advantage of the professional development opportunities available to them.

Finally, the day finished with Simone Hamilton, director of equity and strategic engagement, and Tierra Frost, program specialist leading a discussion around leaning into what it means to be a leader of honesty, transparency, empathy, and understanding the students they serve.

This event gave space for our new school administrators to connect but, more importantly, lean into this school year understanding their “why” while also working to understand the “why” of their staff and students. “Our hope is that we established high expectations for excellent school leadership in KSD and created a sense of belonging that feels School Administrators at Meeker Middle Schoolsupportive and inspiring to each new school administrator,” said Avery.

As we head into a new school year, we are so excited to welcome our new school administrators! This event was built around Superintendent Vela’s theme of “Start Strong,” a theme that leans into the strengths of what each school represents to the larger KSD community, but more importantly, a theme that challenges all our school administrators and staff to start the year looking towards building the pathway to successfully preparing all students for whatever future awaits them on the right foot.School Adminstrator getting off the bus

Article Source: Kent Meridian High School