Corrected: A previous version of this article misstated Kris Hemstetter’s gender. She is a woman.
To principals, the last few weeks of the school year can feel like standing in the eye of a storm—with exams, celebrations, field trips, and upcoming summer school whirling around them. They have to strike a balance between giving in to student and teacher excitement about the year ending, while still maintaining a daily, disciplined routine.
“We are continuing to ask our staff to plan and implement bell-to-bell engaging lessons, to maintain high expectations for student behavior, but also have grace as both excitement and nervousness begin to build in our students,” said Anna Ory, an assistant principal at Marley Middle School in Glen Burnie, Md. Ory has asked her staff to lean on each other’s strengths to get through the last few weeks of school.
The Upper St. Claire High School in Allegheny County, Pa., closes out the school year with a two-day pickleball tournament where all students participate—either as players or costumed spectators who cheer their classmates on. Dan Beck, the assistant principal at the school, leans on teachers to keep the tournament incident-free.
In return, despite how tired the administrators are from the sprint toward the end, it’s important they make time for teacher reflections.
“We need to [provide] moments for them to reflect that share their highlights and positive stories about kids and families,” Beck said.
For Amanda Austin, the director of the Iberville Math, Science & Arts Academy, a magnet high school program in St Gabriel, La., the last few weeks of the year felt like an intense sprint—one that’s not quite over.
The school closed last week for summer, and Austin had to quickly transition from graduation ceremonies to interviews of potential teacher hires, plans for the new school year, and wading through end-of-year feedback from her teachers.
“Even if I wanted to feel tired, our schedule [is] jam-packed,” Austin said.
Amid all the celebrations, field trips, and plans, Ory noted that while summer is a joyous time for some, with well-deserved downtime, not all her students look forward to spending extended periods of time at home.
“Working in a school that is impacted by poverty, … we balance excitement for the end of the year with the concern of some of our students,” she said. “We are the stability in some of our students’ lives”
There is no large schoolwide countdown to summer, at Ory’s school. She and her team plan summer programs and meals that keep students connected to the school through this period.
Principals must plan well to end well
Instead of rushing through the last few weeks, where one event blurs into each other before the year ends abruptly, some principals have taken a more planned approach.
Rasheem Hollis, the assistant principal at New Castle County Vocational-Technical School in New Castle County, Del., planned several “recognition days” for the students graduating this year. Out of 240 graduating seniors, 100 are going straight into the workforce, while the remaining 140 will pursue higher education. Twenty students have been hired as part of a crew that’s adding a new building to the school.
Celebrating these graduates doubles as a great “marketing opportunity” for younger students—it lets them know that they have the option to explore different paths after school. The celebrations are also a way to commend teachers for their hard work through the school year.
“They get to see the fruit of their labor, … and realize that these kids are actually being productive,” Hollis said. This year, the school added an extra event—a cookout at sunset in which students who had gone through the food service career track prepared a meal for the teachers.
Hollis and his team also met every week this school year to plan for the next semester—for instance, picking students to compete in a national career-technical education competition in the upcoming school year, or figuring out how to get more teachers involved with club activities.
Some perennial issues remain, too—like staff shortages, student mental health concerns, and a lack of funding. Kris Hemstetter, the principal at Kent County High School in Worton, Md., said in an email principals need more flexibility in staffing models and more resources to do all the work schools are expected to, so they can better serve students.
But Hemstetter has figured out what keeps her energized through the final sprint.
“I’m reminded that schools are not just institutions—they’re launchpads,” she said. “Places where students find their voice, discover their strengths, and rise together. That’s what keeps me going.”
