Springdale Principal Achieves Master Status

SPRINGDALE — Debbie Flora said she’s seen students at her school become more engaged in learning because of the strategies she implemented while achieving the master principal status.

Flora, principal at Bernice Young Elementary School, was one of five principals named master principal by the Arkansas Leadership Academy on May 13, according to Diana Peer, Master Principal program leader. The program was established as part of the academy in 2004, Peer said. The main goal of the program is to improve the professional and leadership skills of principals in Arkansas, she said.

“It’s always about getting better,” she said.

Flora said the changes she made included turning staff meetings into study sessions for teachers.

“We don’t really just have meetings anymore,” she said.

The sessions allow teachers to research and develop strategies they can use in the classrooms, Flora said.

“She gives us those opportunities to be able to work together,” said Lottie Secker, a second grade teacher at Young Elementary.

The master program prepares the principals to be able to recognize which strategies will work in the classroom, said Phyllis Stewart, chief of staff for the Arkansas Department of Education.

One teacher at Young Elementary decided to move from the teacher leading the class to the students leading the class, Flora said. The change allowed students to become more engaged in what they’re learning, she said.

“It’s all of us working together to make sure each child has what they need to be successful,” she said.

Secker said she went to Flora with a math teaching strategy she wanted to share. Flora helped Secker work with other teachers on the strategy and implement it in her class, she said.

The strategy allows students to work together to solve math problems, Secker said. Students use their creativity in justifying their answers, she said.

“They enjoy it,” she said. “I wish I had learned math this way.”

Principals from across the state get together about three times a year during the three-year program to share strategies, Peer said. Principals can apply to become a master teacher at the end of the program by submitting a portfolio showing how their newly gained knowledge affected their school.

“They have to demonstrate what they’re doing and how it’s changing school culture,” she said.

Principals also have to participate in a site visit in which education professionals visit the school for three days, Flora said. They speak with the principal, teachers, students and parents, she said.

“We recognize that one person doesn’t do this alone,” Peer said. “It’s everybody’s journey.”

The Arkansas Department of Education pays a bonus of $9,000 to each master principal for five years, as long as they are working full-time as a principal in an Arkansas public school, according to the program’s website.

Five master principals have been named in Springdale since the program was established, according to Peer.