Education, Inspiration, leadership

A Principal’s Spring Break Message to Staff

Allyson Apsey

August 2014, three teachers stood in the rotunda of Quincy Elementary , holding a sign that said, “Congratulations! Welcome to the Q…”.

It was surreal, I was not sure what to think. I was so excited, but this was a big deal. Moving my family, changing jobs after 14 years at one school, uprooting our lives. I couldn’t say yes quite yet because I needed to talk the position and reality of the move over with my husband. But in that moment, my heart screamed yes!

Many of us have experienced the sudden whirlwind of relocating. Like you, we had to sell our house, buy a new house, settle the kids into new schools, say good-bye, pack and unpack and everything in between. Through the chaos, through the ups and downs, there were times I was homesick for the life we left behind, but I never had a second thought about the decision I made to become the principal of Quincy Elementary.

The staff is crazy, so I fit right in. Not in the looney crazy kind of way, the crazy like, “Woah, you think we can really pull that off? Okay, let’s do it,” kind of way. They are dreamers and doers and hard-workers. They love each other and they love our students. They want to provide an outstanding learning experience for our students.

They are stubborn, they are critical thinkers, they ask lots of questions.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

They smile and do goofy things, and laugh, and cry together.

The bottom line is that they give their ALL for our students and for each other.

I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Thank you Quincy staff for choosing me. I feel blessed beyond measure. I work hard every day to live up to be the principal that you deserve. My palms sweat before every staff collaboration because you deserve your time to be well spent on things that matter to you and to your students. I want to be a ray of sunshine in your life, and a facilitator of continuous growth. I want to ask questions that make you think in a way you never have. When you come up with great ideas, I want to help you make them happen.

Thank you for allowing me to be on this journey with you. Have a restful and peaceful Spring Break! You deserve it!

Published by Allyson Apsey

Allyson is an award-winning school leader, author, and inspiring national speaker. She travels the country to work as an associate for Creative Leadership Solutions.

15 thoughts on “A Principal’s Spring Break Message to Staff”

  5. What a great message! How courageous you were to “leave it all behind” and start over at Quincy. In the Superintendency, we often talk of “finding the right fit” for the Board/Supt and community. Your blog reminds me how magnificent that “fit” can be! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Allyson,
    Your post reminds me of the very first school that I worked at! The principal had just been hired and I was hired just before she was named. The second day of inservice the faculty organized a “fashion show” to explain the school’s culture. I found myself in the middle of a staff I didn’t know being dressed up walking for our new principal…it was the introduction to the “culture” The ten years I spent there were much like your post. I loved and cherish every minute of that experience. It’s so exciting to read of another school where the same thing is happening.

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