School Principals’ Day
Organize an event or write a card to show your appreciation for the educators that run our schools. School principals work hard to make kids’ lives and educations better.
Drive gift and card sales to parents and students celebrating school principals with appreciation campaigns in May.
- DIY thank-you card tutorials and templates for students
- Gift guides for principal appreciation (chocolates, desk accessories, personalized items)
- Social media challenges: #PrincipalAppreciation stories from students and parents
- School event planning guides for organized appreciation celebrations
No matter how big or small your school is, you’re going to have a principal. Sometimes you’ll even have more than one, but what exactly do these often mysterious and much-maligned members of the staff actually do? You may be surprised to find out they do far more than terrorize students and administer detentions, suspensions, and expulsions.
This was the foundation of what students and parents alike believed them to be, and the Teacher’s Association decided it was time to create a celebration of these hard working heads of school staff, and raise awareness of all that their job entails.
The first thing to understand is that the school is on the principal’s mind, both before the day begins, and long after the school day is over for the students. From the moment they wake till the moment they go to bed the school is on their minds, how to help students be more successful, how to manage students, teachers, and parents expectations.
Most principals are former teachers and just like any other profession, they worked their way up to leading the school. It’s not uncommon for principals to substitute for a teacher who’s off sick. So they know what it takes to engage with pupils and make learning fun. This is why they should be seen as more than authority figures and still thought of as teachers trying to make a difference in the children’s lives.
Throughout their day they meet with the teachers, sharing concerns about students, lesson plans, or goals they’re trying to achieve in their school. Sometimes it’s just to vent, the Principal is everyone’s school counselor. And we do mean everyone! Who do you think your parents see when they’re concerned about your performance, or want to yell about a teacher?
Their work is endless, and they are worthy of honor for the work they do.
Show Appreciation
It’s pretty simple really, put together an organized event to show the principal how much you appreciate what they do. Invite them to your class and when they swing open the door, suddenly shower them with gifts. A typed letter doesn’t have the same sort of emotion so handwritten ‘thank you’ letters from pupils would be an amazing heartfelt gesture.
Give Gifts or Tell Stories
If you’re a person of few words, a nice box of chocolates would be a neat gift too. Also, go around the room and allow each pupil to express one or more things they like about the principal. It can be personal or general, such as the time they cheered you up when you were feeling low or perhaps improving the food in the cafeteria.
Say Thank You
You could go another route, by just going into their office (not during a class period) and thanking them for what they do. Tell them how much you appreciate the efforts they go through to make your school great!
Get Creative
Make a thank you pop-up card! Think of a time or event, where the principal showed how much they care about the school. It’s easy to make a pop-up card, what with all the tutorials on YouTube these days. It’s also a personal gift, because it takes time to make and get right. Bespoke gifts such as this, will be something the principal keeps in their scrapbook, so they can look back on their careers knowing they were loved.
Post on Social Media
We all have smartphones these days. Just this once, children ought to take photos at school, as long as it’s with their principal. Post the photos on social media using the relevant hashtags for the event in celebration. Just a few photos of the principal with pupils wouldn’t look like a momentous occasion. The entire school should get involved so you may want to start a Facebook group in order to organize the event.
Banner It Up
Every class can make a banner which has a sentence that expresses how fond you are of the principal. ‘Thank you for all you do’ or ‘we love your smile’ are along the lines of sentiment you should express. There’s bound to be someone in the school who knows how to fly drones. How awesome would it be to get a drone shot of all the classes holding up their banners? You would really be showing the scale of the school, showing all the faces who the principal has had an impact on as well as, unity in showing thanks. You never know, you could go viral!