To strengthen our internal leadership pipeline and meet the diverse needs of the district, HCS has a strong commitment to recruit current HCS educators that demonstrate exceptional leadership potential. The Aspiring Assistant Principal LEAD program helps interested teachers and district leaders build on their current skill set to prepare for an school administrator role where they will work collaboratively with other school leaders and teachers to improve student learning and achievement.
Training and Practicum of the Program:
- Throughout the year, candidates will engage in monthly, full-day professional learning sessions, facilitated by internal and external experts, that focus on key aspects of the HCS Principal Leadership Standards that are critical for the AP role, including, but not limited to:
- Talent Management
- Observation and Feedback
- Discipline and Restorative Practices
- Data-Driven Leadership
- Operations and Management
- Candidates have the opportunity to engage in job-embedded shadowing of a current assistant principal
- Candidates will complete a leadership residency as a Summer REACH Site Director to experience the planning and execution that are required of school leaders
Eligibility Criteria:
- Current HCS certified employee with 4+ total years of certified experience
- Hold an ILL-A or ILL Administrator license for the state of Tennessee, be currently enrolled in an Tennessee SBOE-approved administrator licensure program, or be enrolled in a program before the program starts in Fall 2025
- Strong record of job performance as a teacher leader
Application Components for Initial Screening:
- Current, up-to-date resume
- Recommendation from the applicant’s current principal (recommendation form will be sent by the Talent team)
- Writing prompts (responses to these questions should demonstrate an understanding of the responsibilities of an assistant principal and provides specific evidence about the skills and competencies that make the applicant a good fit for the role)
- Most recent Project COACH summative evaluation rubric (from T-Eval)
- Most recent summative evaluation overview (from TNCompass)
Selection Process:
- Phase 1: Screening - Each applicant's application components will be screened by multiple district leaders using a screening rubric.
- Phase 2: Interview - Applicants with satisfactory screening scores will be invited to interview with a small panel of district leaders.
- Phase 3: Selection - Candidates will be selected for the program based on a combination of their screening and interview scores. The number of candidates selected for a new LEAD cohort is based on multiple factors and may change from year to year.