It’s easy to think of attendance as a number. Percentages. Tardies. Absence codes. Thresholds. But when you sit where district leaders sit, you quickly learn: chronic absenteeism isn’t just an attendance problem. It’s a reflection of belonging, access, and often, unseen barriers that stand between a student and the classroom. Every absence has a story,…
Every leader has had that moment. You open a dashboard and feel a rush of pride (look at all that data!) followed almost immediately by a familiar sense of dread. Now what am I supposed to do with it all? Superintendents, assistant superintendents, curriculum directors, technology leaders…no matter your title, you’re being asked to make…
Last week was one of those leadership weeks that makes you pause and smile at the sheer range of what we’re called to do, balancing visibility and vigilance. On Monday and Tuesday, I was right where I love to be: on the ground with my district team. We were solving problems, supporting instruction, and making…
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The other day, I opened Amazon Music and noticed something strange.Suddenly, my “My Likes and More” playlist was full of Blue Da Ba Dee (thanks to our youngest’s obsession with the Indianapolis Colts’ mascot) and tracks from Kendrick Lamar and Lil Tecca. Now, I’m not opposed to those artists or genres. But they’re not exactly…
How to turn strategy into stories and complexity into connection, no matter your role When people hear I started my career as a French teacher, they often raise an eyebrow. “How did you end up in district leadership?” they ask. But the leap from teaching a world language to leading operations and technology at the…
TL;DR: A bipartisan, bicameral working group in Congress wants public input on the future of the Universal Service Fund (USF), the engine behind E-Rate for schools and libraries, Lifeline for low-income households, Rural Health Care, and High-Cost support for rural networks. If you care about reliable, affordable internet in classrooms (and beyond), this is your…
When I was still in the classroom teaching French, my students had a predictable habit: they tried to use Google Translate to “cheat” on their writing assignments. I’d collect beautiful, complex sentences from students who could barely remember the word for “apple.” It was obvious. But rather than get angry, I remembered something my mentor…
There’s a moment, usually about five minutes before class starts, when a teacher realizes a new student isn’t showing up in their learning platforms. The kid is in the room, pencil (and maybe even Chromebook) in hand, eager to start. But the system hasn’t caught up. It’s not a tech problem. It’s a systems problem….
How Story, Structure, and Systems Build Culture and Trust in Schools There’s a leadership myth I’m ready to retire: That communication is a soft skill.That it’s just about sending more emails or speaking more clearly.That it lives only in the hands of the PR person, or worse, “someone else.” In reality, communication is one of…
