Dr. Kathleen Corley has served as an elementary school principal and Academic Improvement Officer who has received an Elementary School Principal of the Year, Beaufort County Schools in August 2021. She has been a teacher, assistant principal, and district office administrator, but the best job on earth and the one she has held for over 30 years, is elementary school principal. Support for teachers, excellence on behalf of students, innovation, fun. Dr. Kathleen Corley is an award-winning educator, an authority on school culture, and the charismatic principal at Red Cedar Elementary School in Bluffton, South Carolina. She was previously the inaugural principal at “The Salts,” AKA Saltonstall School, in Salem, Massachusetts.
Renowned for her unique communication and leadership skills, Corley has a bachelor’s in music education from the University of Illinois, a master’s in music administration from Chicago Musical College, Roosevelt University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Illinois.
Trenches story: was principal in 3 schools. School #2 was opening- in Bluffton, SC. School split, doubled enrollment. She’d just left the first year-round public school she’d started. The district decided to have schools choose whether or not they’d be year-round. They voted on it. Happened after she spoke w/ a local childcare provider. Had to re-arrange childcare for during school’s intercession. 1 day during school improvement council parents came in w/ metaphorical pitchforks. Person who had agreed to have childcare during intercession didn’t have the authority to provide childcare. Many ppl @ meeting, seemed irate. No one had told Kathleen about this. She made up that the school would have their own intersession program @ the school- made it up on the fly. She said she needed a heads up first. Before they left that night, the tv crew cleaned up, they learned that what you think is going to be right, you can deliver somehow.
Dr. Kathleen Corley’s book THE MAGICAL PLACE WE CALL SCHOOL: Creating a Safe Space for Learning and Happiness in a Challenging World was published this past January.
Tell me about the book writing process. They have some friends in Richmond, VA, she’s told about things that have happened at school over the years of her career. Many parents she worked w/ didn’t support the schools’ decisions on finding medical issues w/ their children. She’s watched great things happen w/ teachers over the years. She was approached about writing the book 2 yrs ago. F.ex. she has a new AP this year who’s coming straight out of the CR. She asks him to try it his way, he can try it his way. She’s more direct, he’s quiet. She talks about how there’s so much to be learned in terms of st behavior. Esp. w/ a student who has had to move around alot. She wants ppl to make sure no matter what we do in our schools-we have the duty to make it a safe space for st’s.Painter of the painting she used on the cover used Lego building blocks for building the Colosseum. She talks about helicopter, bulldozer, gaslighting parents. Every decade gives us a different sort. Like a rolodex.
Highlight book chapter 10: Angels in the Classroom- about t’s not getting enough credit. They want as much latitude as they can have over what is being taught. Yes, there are standards. We need to give them a large area to be creative. They’re all about uncovering things for st’s. They’re inspired to do what they do esp when around like-minded colleagues. Wonderful things happen regardless.
Discovering neurodiversity– when parents are ready, she calls them “crispy”. What’s been going on the past 6-8 yrs, we can’t convince parents too much about what they need. Elementary school is interesting b/c 4-5 y.o. are like toddlers- very young in parents’ eyes. It’s very difficult for some parents to hear about differences. She tells the story of a student who is getting better at telling us what he needs. Ask parents how it works at home w/ “non-preferred tasks”.
Suspensions-few & far between. First actual fight 2 days ago w/ brothers. They suspend a child for a day if they’ve hurt another child- for a fight. They follow a county behavior matrix. Updated every 3 yrs. Stratified how big the incident was. There are different definitions of what a fight is. It could be arguing. A push can’t go un-responded to. You need to talk to both parties.
Sometimes she presents on climate & culture, about what teachers need to perform their job. She can talk about t support- how she does it. There are climate & culture surveys. They take 2 surveys a year. T voice, appreciation, care/concern, commitment on part of the admin, trust of admin. Her school scores well on the regional & state survey. Work-life balance is highest indicator. T’s state they all want to be there. Different for ES than HS in terms of how many admin can go to events.
Out of everything: Parents are their children’s first teachers. Educators are the support team. Understand we see your child through different eyes. Click To Tweet
Where can ppl find you online: IG & Theads @corley.kathy, FB/LinkedIn @kathycorley
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yrNla_CG_4c
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