By "internal" I mean the inner-workings of the school: operational management, instructional leadership for teachers, climate-building, classroom observations, facility maintenance, and keeping up any school-wide initiatives we've started.
By "external" I mean the community and outside stakeholder aspects: fundraising, networking, getting our school's name on other people's radars, letting the world know we exist and are currently enrolling, finding school fairs to present at, diversifying our revenue streams, securing long-term funding, and cultivating community partnerships.
There's also a gray area in between the internal and external, where I also have to keep our school board informed, engaged, and activated. I'm the connecting thread between the board and the school, so I have to make sure information flows freely between the two. Getting the board engaged is a whole other struggle I will probably write about soon. :)
I am starting to understand why so many of the more established private schools that I've visited lately have so many administrators. I used to think, "wow, those schools are so top-heavy," whereas I now see that running a private school is a lot like running a business, so there are more necessary administrative positions: development directors, operations directors, finance directors, community directors, general administrative directors... the list goes on. Given the demands I'm learning that my position entails, and the many hats I'm attempting to wear, I wish there were about 4 more of me to share the load.How do you all strike a balance? How do you maintain sanity while wearing way too many hats?
Build capacity! We were just in an admin meeting today discussing teachers who want more responsibility. We discussed whether our current leadership team comprised of department chairs, coaches, and admin is the right mix or if we should open it up and have those interested in participating in leadership apply for positions. I say this to point out that schools have natural leaders who want to shine. We have to tap into that and help them find ways to step-up. I might suggest you look at The Multiplier Effect by Wiseman, Allen, and Foster.
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