Achieving Excellence: Leadership Development for Principals

Achieving Excellence: Leadership Development for Principals

By the end of the program, you will understand how to:

• Examine leadership frameworks and develop skills for leading highly effective schools and teams
• Learn specific strategies for fostering a positive school culture, valuing diversity, and communicating effectively with constituents
• Deepen your understanding of the instructional core and how to best support and grow teacher talent
• Explore the science of trauma and resilience and how to create a school environment that supports both the students and the adults
• Grow your understanding of the powerful role families and communities play in education and how to engage them in the work

Please note that the current public health protocols at Harvard require all participants in on-campus programs to attest that you are not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19 and that you have received a negative result from an antigen test taken within one day of your program start time. More information about Harvard’s health and safety policies can be found here.

Please note that applicants who apply directly to The Principals’ Center, Harvard Graduate School of Education will not be eligible for funding from the Charles Butt Foundation. Charles Butt Foundation applicants must complete the application below and do not need to complete an additional application to The Principals’ Center on the Harvard website.

Who is eligible to apply?

To be eligible, applicants must be current Texas public school head principals who intend to remain a principal or district leader in a Texas public school in the 2023-24 school year. A change in role after you are selected and before you attend the Institute may result in forfeiture of your sponsorship.

For the 2023 institute, we are giving preference to principals who serve in rural school districts and/or school districts with 5,000 students or less. Principals who do not serve in these types of districts are eligible to apply and could be selected for the cohort depending on the number of available sponsorships.

Applicants sponsored by Raise Your Hand Texas/Charles Butt Foundation who participated in the Harvard Leadership Program in 2022 are NOT eligible to apply for sponsorship in 2023. Sponsored participants in any previous year (2008-2019) ARE eligible to apply. If you previously attended The Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education through an organization other than Raise Your Hand Texas/Charles Butt Foundation, you may apply.

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Expectations of Attendees

If selected for the Charles Butt Foundation Leadership Program, we ask that participants:

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Apply to Attend

The Charles Butt Foundation is sponsoring individual principals serving Texas public schools to attend the Achieving Excellence: Leadership Development for Principals Institute. Sponsoring includes tuition, airfare, hotel accommodations, and a stipend. The 2023 session will be held from July 9, 2023 to July 14, 2023 with travel to Harvard on July 8 and return from Harvard on July 14.

Application Instructions

1. After selecting the “APPLY NOW” button, there are three tasks that you must complete to submit your application.
   • Create a login and password to begin the application.
   • After logging into your account, select the first task in the application labeled, “Achieving Excellence: Leadership Development for Principals”.
   • Fill out all the necessary fields, and select the “MARK AS COMPLETE” button to move on to the essay questions.
2. You must answer both essay questions individually before moving on to the next stage of the application process.
   • Write an essay that identifies a campus-level problem and explains why you think this institute will help you address this problem. Maximum 500 words. Questions to consider:
     • What is the problem?
     • What data are you using to validate that this is a problem?
     • What is the root cause of this problem?
     • What impact does the problem have on teaching and learning across the campus?
     • What systems and processes must improve to address this problem?
     • What barriers will you face when addressing this problem?
   • Write an essay that describes your leadership framework. Maximum 500 words. Questions to consider:
     • What traits and characteristics must a leader possess?
     • What is your decision-making process and how do situational factors influence the way you lead?
     • What do you view as your formal and informal roles as a leader on your campus?
   • Once you have submitted your essays, you must select the “MARK AS COMPLETE” button, and move to the final stage of the application.
3. To complete the final stage of the application process you must upload a copy of your cover letter, resume, and your 2021-2022 campus TAPR and select the “MARK AS COMPLETE” button.
4. When all three tasks are complete, select the “SUBMIT” button.
5. If everything looks correct, select the “SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION” button.

If selected, you must agree to the terms in the letter of agreement. Please review the terms closely before applying.

Preview the letter of agreement here: 2023 Letter of Agreement.