The Support School Leaders Deserve but Rarely Get

What We’re Solving For 

In education, we often assume that great teachers will automatically become great leaders. But unlike the for-profit sector, where leaders are deliberately trained to lead, school leaders are too often left without the targeted development and ongoing support they need to succeed. 

Too often, talented leaders are left to navigate complex challenges without the right support — and the stability, rigor, and trust that help school communities thrive become harder to sustain. 

Our Solution

We partner with charter networks, single-site schools, and districts to provide the kind of tailored, sustained leadership development that most systems simply do not have the internal bandwidth to deliver.

Our work spans the full pipeline: from district and charter executives, principal supervisors, and principals to assistant principals and teacher leaders. We create spaces for learning, reflection, and growth so leaders can:

  • Inspire and empower their teams
  • Deliver rigorous and meaningful instruction worthy of our children’s beautiful minds
  • Build schools where every student truly learns

Our Why 

When leaders at every level thrive, they stay — and when they stay, teachers stay, and students succeed. 

Leadership Growth at Every Level

Great schools don’t just have one good leader at the top. They have strong leaders in every role. Each position brings something special to create amazing learning environments:

  • Teachers bring lessons to life and connect with students every day.
  • Teacher Leaders help their fellow teachers while still teaching their own classes.
  • Assistant Principals coach teachers and lead teams to success.
  • Principals create the school’s vision and guide all the other leaders.
  • Network/District Contributors share their specialized expertise across many schools.
  • Network/District Chiefs make sure everyone works together toward broader goals.
  • Superintendents/Executive Directors lead entire school systems to make a big difference.

Ensuring Our Leaders Have the Tools They Need

Our programs give leaders the tools they need to succeed now and prepare for what’s next. Through our work, leaders learn to:

  • Build the skills and mindsets needed for success.
  • Make a bigger difference across teams, schools, and districts.
  • Handle today’s needs while planning for tomorrow.
  • Move confidently into new leadership roles.
  • Build strong relationships with students, families, and staff.
  • Create real improvements in their schools.

Connecting the Whole School System

Schools work best when all leaders are connected and moving in the same direction. We help create this teamwork by making sure:

  • Every level knows how they help the school’s mission.
  • Leaders at each level know how to coordinate with other functions.
  • Systems support leaders at every stage of their journey.
  • Training prepares leaders for both today’s job and tomorrow’s challenges.

Since 2017, we’ve helped nearly 500 leaders in public and charter schools, touching the lives of more than 300,000 students.

92%

of supervisors report measurable growth in their leaders.

98%

of team members see clear improvement in their own development.

100%

of participants recommend our programs to others.

Ongoing Support for Lasting Change

Becoming a great leader takes time. That’s why we provide ongoing support through our cohorts, 1:1 coaching, and targeted projects, including:

  • Applying learning to specific contexts
  • Navigating real-world challenges
  • Building lasting leadership capabilities
  • Creating positive change that endures over time

With the right support, leaders gain the confidence and know-how to make a lasting impact in their schools.

The Impact of Stable Leadership

Research from the Wallace Foundation shows that leadership is second only to classroom instruction in factors affecting student learning. Consider the scale of this impact:

  • Principals influence all of the students in their building; 428 in the average elementary school compared with the 25 students in the average teacher’s classroom
  • Replacing a below-average principal with an above-average principal leads to:
    • 9 additional months of math learning gains per year
    • 7 additional months of reading learning gains per year
  • Greater impact on student performance than 66% of math interventions and 50% of reading interventions

 

Why focus on retention? The true cost of leadership turnover.

The private sector understands that great leaders aren’t born – they’re developed. Yet in education, we often promote strong teachers into leadership positions without providing the distinct skillset required for these complex roles. As noted by the RAND Corporation, “In other sectors, people realize that just because you’re a good doer, that doesn’t mean you’ll be a good manager of the doers. It’s a different skill set. But in the education field, they haven’t really gotten to that.”

The lack of preparation has dire consequences for teacher retention and overall school success.

According to the DC State of Schools Report, “Of effective teachers who plan to leave teaching, more than half (58%) said their top reason involved working conditions related to either school culture or leadership. The number one reason was dissatisfaction with school leadership/immediate supervisor.”

When we fail to support our leaders, the impacts cascade throughout the entire system:

  • Each principal turnover costs approximately $75,000 (RAND study)
  • Schools experience declining test scores for up to three years following a principal transition (Henry & Harbatkin, 2019)
  • Nearly 10% of schools lose multiple leaders within three years, rising to 12% in our highest-poverty schools (Henry & Harbatkin, 2019)

Consider this powerful story from a Ward 8 parent: “In middle school, my son had the same school leader for four years, and I saw him flourish. He built trust with the adults. The teachers were there throughout as well. Even the front office person being the same made a huge difference. When he got to high school, it was completely different. He had two principals in one year. The school really suffered.”

School Leadership: High Stakes, High Pressure

Our current school leaders face unprecedented challenges:

  • 85% of principals report frequent job-related stress compared to 35% of U.S. working adults (Wallace Foundation, 2023)
  • The percentage of principals who say “stress and disappointments of the job are worth it” has plummeted from 85% to 60% (Wallace Foundation, 2023)

Strong Leadership Transforms Our Schools

As TNTP’s Opportunity Myth research demonstrates, in high-performing schools, leaders consistently:

  • Hold their entire school accountable for giving students work worthy of their beautiful minds
  • Create school cultures that demand high-quality academic experiences for every student
  • Support teachers to deliver instruction that asks students to think deeply
  • Ensure all students, especially those behind grade level, have access to challenging instruction