As another school year begins under the uneasy cloud of COVID-19, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Miear is drawing on the lessons he learned and the network of peers he developed at the School Leaders Institute.
Run by Virginia Tech’s Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement (COTA), the institute teaches administrators like Miear how to lead during change. The faculty members — four COTA Fellows who are all former school administrators — share hard-earned wisdom that comes from decades of experience.
“There are a set of predictable challenges that every new administrator is going to face,” said E. Wayne Harris, a COTA Fellow and former superintendent of Roanoke City Public Schools. “By sharing some of our experiences, we help people avoid the same potholes.”
That practical approach, Miear said, provides a perspective that most courses do not offer.
Interactive in-person sessions held at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center cover a wide range of topics, from everyday administrative burdens such as budgeting to trickier real-world dilemmas like working with a school board or communicating effectively with the community on contentious subjects.
To ensure the institute addresses those contemporary issues as well as perennial challenges, guest presentations from current superintendents, administrators, and teachers offer a view from inside the schools.
“We’re in the age of rapid change,” said Lois Graham, a former deputy superintendent and principal at Montgomery County Public Schools. “COVID and the way it affected schools — I don’t think education will ever be the same. There’s going to be a lot of catch-up.”
About 70 percent of Virginia’s public school divisions have sent administrators to the institute’s two programs since they began in 2005. More than 500 participants have taken part in the Recently Appointed Administrators Program, and nearly 200 more have attended the Aspiring Superintendents Program.
Miear said his school division has sent several administrators to the institute. “Their participation not only benefits them when they become superintendents, but it benefits them in their current roles and helps them understand the superintendent’s role better on a daily basis,” Miear said.
Written by Diane Deffenbaugh