Come join us for our virtual coffee chat. Every Friday, at least for the foreseeable future, we'll be hanging out in Zoom. We'll start by providing new updates, we'll answer questions, and then we'll turn it over to you to share stories, successes, challenges, and learn from each other. We hope to see you there.

During this “Stay Home, Stay Safe” period of time, we can all benefit from a little structure. At our recent spring AWSP board meeting, we discussed providing additional resources for families. Here is a resource the principals at the Washington Virtual Academy (WAVA) shared with us to help students in grades K-12 and their families create schedules to manage their time.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss what school might look like in the fall, a brand new resource called the Principal Contract Guide, your own evaluation and some tools and resources to help you, our Virtual Summer Conference, the pre-conference registration deadline, the Association of Washington Student Leaders summer programs, new guidance from the Department of Health, Friday 7am coffee chats, and sharing with us the amazing leadership moves you are making every day.

Congratulations, 2020 grads! Alaska Airlines and their friends, Russell Wilson, Ciara, Governor Inslee, and more, have a special message for you. Watch it the video and keep soaring! #SeniorsTakeFlight

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss what school will look like in the fall, our Grade-Level Leadership Committees, the hashtag #createhope as you share the cool ways you are leading your school community, our Virtual Summer Conference, our pre-conference sessions, the spring 2020 issue of Washington Principal magazine, ways to spice up some of your staffulty or team virtual meetings, two principals who blended humor, relationships and accountability to keep their students engaged, a special video salute from the Governor’s Office and a shout out to the AWSP Team.

If you think principaling was tough before COVID19, what about now? If we kill the will of our principals by not addressing the workload, stress and increasing demands, then our kids and schools will suffer the consequences through a constant turnover of school leaders. LPI's research highlights the obvious, principals are fighting to survive. But their research also recommends some action we can all take to breathe hope into the system for one of our most precious resources - principals and assistant principals.

We are coming to the close of what will go down as perhaps the most challenging school year in history. Part of the ongoing challenge, as well, is uncertainty about the coming school year. Where we will be, and how and when we will move forward all remain to be seen. We have guidance. We can predict measures we will have to take. We can anticipate that, as we proceed, the future will look and feel different. Let’s take a look at some safety-related actions we can take now to carry us into that future. These suggestions are made with district, school, classroom and home activities in mind.

AWSP mentees find the mentoring program vital to their success. Read what one principal has to say about the power of mentoring, and as a bonus, check out her amazing morning mindfulness video.

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss our annual Summer Conference, Principal Kirsten Rue from Chinook Middle School, a survey initiated by the State Auditor’s Office, another AWSP survey about inclusionary practices within your school communities, graduation guidance from the Department of Health, planning a virtual ceremony with resources from Jostens, a report from NASSP and the Learning Policy Institute, and a conversation about hope and relationships with Kids at Hope.

In the art and graphic design world, there is a concept known as negative space. Negative space is the area around an image or design – the edges, the background, the “white” of the paper. How does this relate to principals? As we navigate through these weeks where our lives have essentially been turned inside out, we have been given an opportunity to see the “negative space” in our home lives, in our careers, and in our leadership. Negative space that may not have been there previously is now suddenly there, as our usual routines, thought processes, and expectations have fallen by the wayside.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss Governor Inslee's 4 phase plan to slowly re-open our state, this year's Summer Conference and some new possibilities, grading issues, end of year celebrations, an Opening of School Year Task Force, and a question from AWSP President Cameron Grow.

AWSP and WASA can’t wait to gather together in person, but this year we need to prioritize the health and safety of our members and their loved ones. Therefore, both of our Associations, along with the 2020 Summer Conference Planning Committee, have made the difficult decision to convert to a virtual conference.

We can only know our own experiences and must be open to learning the stories of others. But learning from others as we are socially distant is difficult. We are always on a journey of learning and discovery. To better support our students and families, we need to hear (and hopefully understand) how this current reality is impacting them.

Social distancing can make it tough to show staff how much you care, but there are still plenty of options. From e-cards or thank-you videos to classroom goodies or decorations, we’ve compiled a list of many ways you can celebrate Staff Appreciation Week at a distance, plus some other links to help in the process.

As I look to the future of our education system, I challenge all the thought leaders, policy makers, and educational leaders to think differently as we redesign our new approach to serving kids. Whether we are still operating under a distance learning model, blended model, or back to some version of brick and mortar, can we prioritize relationships above all else? Can we build everything around creating time for students and adults to find, build, and sustain meaningful relationships that create hope for everyone involved?

In our massive shift to remote learning, and in the spirit of being a continuous learner, I’ve been trying to learn more about online learning. What are effective ways to teach students online? How do we structure communication (including instruction and feedback) to students via computers or phones? And what are some strategies that AWSP can share with principals as they shift to becoming digital principals who are responsible for managing their culture, systems, and learning in their (now) remote buildings.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss a shoutout to the OSPI team, the incredible school leadership stories of connecting with students, staffulty, and your school community, making it a daily habit to check our website for updates, announcements, and resources, virtual graduation celebrations, the Washington Student Achievement Council and their fantastic resources, self-care and work-life balance with a new activity from our wellness partner, Kaiser Permanente, and the 2020 Census.

AWSL is constantly updating lists of resources and ideas for schools who are searching. Check out AWSLeaders.org/2020Resources for daily updates on senior activities and graduation ideas.

Here is another great activity called a Self-Care Wheel. Use it individually or with your whole staff. It’s brought to us by our fantastic wellness partners from Kaiser Permanente.

These are not normal times. This is not our new normal. We hear that expression used frequently these days about these days. However, rather than thinking of the current situation as ‘normal’, I prefer to see it as a challenge to the comfortable normal of not too long ago. Within that context, we need to remember that we did not plan for this. We should have, but we didn’t. However, we have been flexible and agile. We have been creative and adaptable. We cannot forget that this did really happen. (Just give it 6 months or so after schools reopen!) Because of COVID-19, we have experienced and learned much. So, as we approach the end of the current academic year, and as we look forward to what a new normal will hold, let’s begin reflecting on this experience and planning for the future.