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On the fence about becoming an assistant principal. 

Today we only have one administrator in the building and I, along with our instructional coaches, was asked to help out. While I am excited about this, I am finding it difficult to actually function in this role. For instance, I had a student blatantly disregard something I asked her to do. It wasn't a major thing, but there was no course of action for me to follow since I don't have the authority to really do anything except send her to the only administrator here. If I were actually the assistant principal, I would be able to call her into my office and take appropriate action. Since I am already not sure I want to be an assistant principal, this incident made me really question if being an assistant principal is for me. 
what I would like to hear is how you, as an assistant principal, really feel about the job. I am worried about having to deal with the students, teachers and parents. 

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 31, 2016 at 7:09 AM

    I'm so glad you posted this Traci, because I'm in exactly the same boat as you. I start an administrative internship tomorrow, and I know that it'll be a great litmus test for whether or not I want an AP job in the near future, but I'm going into it with the same feelings that you're experiencing. I'm torn mainly because I absolutely LOVE my current teaching position (Elementary Gifted/Talented), but I've also been assuming important leadership roles in my school lately, and I've enjoyed supporting and leading my colleagues. I'm not naive...I know the headaches that go along with the assistant principal position, and I've always said that it's not for me. However, now I'm also seeing the positive and beneficial aspects of the job (primarily instructional leadership), so I'm wondering if the pros outweigh the cons. Looking forward to our fellow AP colleagues' responses to your post. Thanks!

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  2. UnknownFebruary 1, 2016 at 2:54 PM

    Reading this I want to say to both that being an AP is not for everyone but if you find a way to juggle a lot of things and maintain your sanity it is fun. I am not in my fifth year and love it. At the high school level one of my biggest problems is students not taking AP's seriously enough. Our principal has our back but students and parents often want to plead their case to the principal. He does a good job maintaining our credibility while also allowing parent and student concerns to be heard. Having a strong principal that supports you is essential in enjoying AP work.

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