Professional Development Video

What Good Principal Coaching Looks Like

By Jaclyn Borowski — November 3, 2021 5:16

For Texas’ Cypress-Fairbanks school district, the practice of providing a coach to each new and early-career principal has been a model that’s proven successful. The district, which serves some 116,000 students, is hiring principals year-round for a challenging role marked by heavy turnover. Sage Papaioannou, principal at Hamilton Elementary School in Cypress, Texas, has found the support of her coach, Donna Sheppard, a former assistant superintendent in the district, critical in her early years as principal. Here, they discuss the dynamics of their relationship, and the benefits of that level of one-on-one support.

Jaclyn Borowski is the director of photography and videography for Education Week.

Coverage of principals and school leadership is supported in part by a grant from the Joyce Foundation, at www.joycefdn.org/programs/education-economic. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.

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