Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced Friday the 52 principals who will serve in the inaugural class of the Tennessee Rural Principals Network, one part of Gov. Bill Haslam’s Transforming School Leadership Initiative.
One of those principals is Dr. Melinda Broyles of Ashland City Elementary School.
The Transforming School Leadership Initiative is a comprehensive approach to improve the preparation, retention and development of Tennessee’s principals.
The department is also providing funding for scholarships to support professional development for up to 200 additional rural principals.
Principals in rural schools are often unable to take advantage of leadership development due to the cost of registration and travel and have few networking opportunities to learn from other school leaders.
To address this need, the department is implementing a two-prong approach by creating a professional network for 52 rural principals, who will also receive funding to attend state-led conferences and training opportunities, and by providing scholarships for up to 200 additional rural principals to attend state-provided training opportunities.
The participants selected for the Tennessee Rural Principals Network will receive funding to support their attendance and learning at five events during the 2018-19 school year designed to provide them with professional learning aligned to help address those challenges that are unique to rural leadership.