The Principal Principle

Many things go into making a high school great,

but a strong, effective principal is always at the top of the list.

...So much goes into making a high school great: excellent teaching, vibrant student populations, creative classes, strong extracurriculars. The NEWSWEEK Challenge Index measures one: the number of IB and AP tests students take.

But just as important is the person who leads the school.

Good principals may seem unlikely superheroes—unless you're a student, teacher or parent. They set the tone for what happens from the moment the opening bell rings and can turn a troubled school around with a combination of vision, drive and very hard work. It's a 24/7 job. "Schools aren't just about just reading, writing and arithmetic anymore," says Penna. "School faculties now have the additional roles of mentor, adviser and quasi parent."

Principals also have to be politicians, crisis managers, cheerleaders, legal experts, disciplinarians, entertainers, coaches and persuasive evangelists for their school's educational mission. Add to that already daunting list the task of statistician, thanks to reams of data required by the federal No Child Left Behind law and local testing. "Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in data," says Jill Martin, the principal of Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., who won the 2007 Principal of the Year title from the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Who can fill that intimidating job description?

"It certainly helps to be somebody who doesn't need a lot of sleep," jokes Martin, 61, who, like Penna, routinely works 12- and 14-hour days and makes sure to show up at school plays and games on weekends. Endless energy does seem to be a requirement, as does a talent for getting the best out of a large team. "It no longer works to be the dictator or the sage on the stage," says Martin.

"You have to be a leader of instructional leaders. You have to be someone who can really motivate people to go the extra mile because the job of a teacher is far more difficult and complex than when I started teaching."

A good principal has to be up to speed on constantly expanding education research and know how to apply the latest data. Above all, says Martin, you have to be someone who understands teenagers' needs.

Although the demands of the school have changed in her 38 years as an educator, Martin says kids are the same: "They still want someone to care about them. The principal has to be someone who really loves kids and understands what it takes to motivate teachers to change every child's life." ...

This from Newsweek on MSNBC.

Your daughter's next summer job?

Bikini-clad mowers offer
lawn care

with a twist

'You get the attention but you also get a tan,'

employee says of business

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - One lawn care company is showing a little skin to boost business.

The women of Tiger Time Lawn Care offer to mow customers’ lawns dressed in bikinis — a service that attracts more attention to the ladies than the lawns. (video)

“Oh yeah, they honk and yell. They can do everything you can imagine,” said employee Blair Beckman, 21.

Beckman said the extra attention is expected, but she looks on the bright side.

“You get the attention but you also get a tan, which I need,” Beckman said...

This from MSNBC.

No Child Left Behind leaves schools in a bind

Law has pushed about 2,300 schools into the muddy waters of restructuring

NEW YORK - The scarlet letter in education these days is an "R." It stands for restructuring — the purgatory that schools are pushed into if they fail to meet testing goals for six straight years under the No Child Left Behind law.

Nationwide, about 2,300 schools are either in restructuring or are a year away and planning for such drastic action as firing the principal and moving many of the teachers, according to a database provided to The Associated Press by the Education Department. Those schools are being warily eyed by educators elsewhere as the law's consequences begin to hit home.

Schools fall into this category after smaller changes, such as offering tutoring, fall short. The effort is supposed to amount to a major makeover, and it has created a sense of urgency that in some schools verges on desperation.

This from MSNBC, Photo by Kevin Wolf / AP.

‘Momblocked’ mothers feel edged out by dads

Caregivers can clash

when stay-at-home fathers step up their game

Two months after giving birth to her daughter, Jen McClure-Metz received a phenomenal job offer. If she wanted to become a producer on a hit television show, she’d have to start in a month.

McClure-Metz and her husband talked it over and made the same decision many families are making: Dad would stay home full time and take care of their daughter.

“While I never thought that I would end up staying home with Sarah, I knew that I was fully capable of doing so,” says Brian Metz, McClure-Metz’s husband.

But almost four years into it, McClure-Metz began to feel her husband was maybe too capable. He had become more competent and assertive in the child-care arena and it showed in small ways. Metz took over when his wife struggled with the car seat, or put the kibosh on plans when he thought their daughter needed down time.

“Basically, he was the parent in charge and I often felt trumped,” says McClure-Metz.
More and more dads like Metz have become so confident in taking care of the kids that moms can feel edged out, or "momblocked."

Dr. Craig Garfield, a pediatrician and researcher at Chicago's Northwestern University who specializes in the role of men in child-rearing, says it's still the norm for moms to act as the gatekeepers to fathers' involvement with their kids. “I’d still say it would be a unique father who is so confident in his approach to parenting as to block his partner,” Garfield says.

But the growing number of primary-care dads could be reversing this notion.

This from MSNBC, Art by Kim Carney.

Kids’ TV shows contain more junk food ads now

Children saw twice as many spots during programming

in 2004 than 1977

Kids watch fewer food television ads than they did in 1977, a federal agency said Friday — but there’s a catch.

A new Federal Trade Commission study found that half of the ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are on children’s programs, double the number 30 years ago. That may bolster the view of health experts who say too many TV food ads contribute to a rise in childhood obesity.

According to the report, in 2004, children ages two to 11 saw:

• 25,600 total television ads (18,300 were paid ads. Most of the remaining 7,300 were promotions for other television programming; some were public service announcements.)
• 10,700 minutes of televisions ads
• Ads averaging 25 seconds in length
• 2-1/4 hours of ad-supported television a day, or 16 hours per week (Ad-supported television accounted for only 70 percent of their television viewing.)
• Over 50 percent of the ads between 4 p.m. and midnight and less than 5 percent of the ads during Saturday morning between 8 a.m. and noon.

This from MSNBC.

High School yearbook photos ignite controversy

Pictures show students drinking, smoking marijuana

Most likely to succeed?

Try most likely to go to jail.

The yearbook for the high school in this mountain town near Denver published photos of students smoking marijuana and drinking beer, drawing the ire of parents and administrators.

Hannah Fredrickson, the senior who served as yearbook editor, said she regrets not balancing the yearbook pictures of teenagers smoking pot with pictures of non-drug users. She also said she is sorry about not warning her principal.

But she said people need to know what is going on.

“The point of the yearbook entirely is to cover what happens in the year,” she told KCNC TV (Video). “You’d be surprised at how many children at Conifer High School smoke pot. I wanted to push more for a deeper side of Conifer, which, for a lot of students, is drugs and alcohol...”

...Students were shown holding a bong and exhaling smoke in a section labeled “Health — addicted addictions.” Three female students — all identified — are shown holding citations for underage drinking in a second titled “Regrets and mistakes.”

Amy McTague, the teacher who supervises the yearbook production (video), sent a letter of apology to parents.

“It wasn’t my intent or my students’ intent to portray such a negative tone in their attempt to cover all aspects of a students’ life and some of the very difficult choices they face,” she wrote.

This from MSNBC.

English boy’s balloon launch to find pen pal finds Queen Elizabeth

Monarch told personal assistant to reply to message

that landed in castle

A 4-year-old British boy who released a balloon with a message hoping to find a pen pal in a foreign land ended up having a correspondence with Queen Elizabeth II.

Tom Stancombe let go of his helium balloon in Hampshire, west of London, but rather than flying across to France or half way around the world, it ended up just 20 miles away, landing inside Windsor Castle, the Daily Mail reported.

This from MSNBC.