Principals and Administrators
School principals and administrators are charged with the critical mandate of creating a healthy school environment for students and teachers, one which is conducive to learning and permits each child to mature while developing essential life skills.
Success as a leader requires effective relational skills, a sensitivity to the gifts and needs of each staff member, an awareness of the expectations of parents and students, an ability to motivate a diverse team toward common goals, and a willingness to lead by example.
The harsh reality is that the best intensions to focus on big picture plans and visions for the school can very quickly be overwhelmed by the day-to-day administrative tasks and crises associated with running the school. Sound administration calls for meticulous organization, implementation of policies and procedures that are respected by all, and clearly identified roles for all staff.
The Overseer school management software can assist with management of the school’s vital data by providing an effective set of tools for recording, viewing, and printing information, including report cards. Having a central database accessible to all staff, based on their needs, can be a powerful stimulus to teamwork and an effective way of distributing the administrative workload.
The existence of a current and easily accessible school information management system can be a real asset to a principal or administrator who may need to browse selective information or print any of a variety of reports at a moments notice.
While the bulk of the information managed within the school’s database will be input by the secretary and teachers, the principal (or administrator) is usually the best qualified person to assume the vital role of sponsor or champion of the Overseer installation. Strong endorsement is needed in order to ensure that all stake-holders are aware of the benefits and responsibilities of using these applications, and that there is a timely commitment to its effective use by all staff.
The principal, as senior administrator within the school needs to co-ordinate timely staff meetings so that critical decisions can be made regarding report card design, assignment of students and teachers to classes and home rooms, finalizing teaching assignments for all subject areas and components, and establishing marking schemes for co-operative use. The principal also has to ensure that any custom report card designs used are available and installed at the beginning of the school year. All of these decisions must be finalized before teachers can begin to use Overseer Grades. It is helpful if the principal has familiarity with Overseer's capabilities, if not hands-on experience with it, so that he/she will be able to tap its features for data mining, generating reports needed by Committees or the Board, and for tracking prospects and supporters as part of the community development effort.
