Launched in 2003, the NYC Leadership Academy is an independent non-profit organization that recruits, develops and supports effective school leaders, with a focus on preparing principals to lead New York City’s high-need schools—those marked by high student poverty, low student achievement, and a history of frequent leadership turnover.
New York City, like many other cities across the nation, has faced an increase in principal vacancies due to high levels of retirements and the opening of new schools. However, the demand for principals has outpaced the supply of highly-qualified school leaders. At the same time, aspiring, early-career and experienced principals need leadership development opportunities and support mechanisms that are rigorous, relevant to the actual day-to-day work of principals, and responsive to the New York City Department of Education’s reform priorities.
Leadership Academy programs enable participants to strengthen their abilities to transform schools by focusing on in-depth data analysis, theories of organizational change, and the development of a deep understanding of how to accelerate learning for students and adults. The Leadership Academy’s key success factors include:
Innovative program designs that incorporate problem-based and action-learning methodologies in program sessions and on the job,
Instruction that is fully aligned with the unique and evolving context of the New York City public school principalship,
Curricula that is focused on the skills needed to lead significant instructional improvement initiatives,
Support that is tailored to each participant's individual learning style and development needs, and
Programs that are developed and facilitated by expert educational practitioners.
The Leadership Academy’s programs include:
Aspiring Principals Program (APP): APP puts educational professionals on a rigorous and accelerated track toward successfully leading New York City’s hardest-to-staff schools. Aspiring principals complete a demanding 14-month leadership development program that includes a six-week summer intensive using a problem-based curriculum that simulates the principalship, a ten-month residency in schools under the guidance of an experienced mentor principal, and a planning summer that prepares the aspiring principals to lead their own school.
Coaching Support: Leadership Academy coaches are a dynamic team of former school principals and superintendents, with hands-on school leadership experience and up-to-date system knowledge. The hallmarks of Leadership Academy coaching are flexibility and responsiveness: the majority of coaching takes place at the principal's school and often follows the observation of the principal's leadership practice. Coaching support offers principals a menu of leadership development resources, including 1:1 coaching, school team coaching, retreats, targeted leadership development sessions and peer networking opportunities. The Leadership Academy’s coaching staff covers a range of topics, such as building high-functioning school teams, using data to drive instruction, and implementing instructional improvement initiatives.
New School Intensive (NSI): In collaboration with the New York City Department Of Education, NSI offers leadership development and technical support to principals opening new, small schools. NSI’s pre- and in-service components include targeted leadership development sessions and technical support that helps principals address the unique leadership challenges inherent in building and sustaining a high-functioning educational environment from scratch. The Leadership Academy also serves as a national model for principal preparation.
Since its founding, the Leadership Academy has hosted more than 1000 national and international leaders of school systems, universities and non-governmental agencies who have come to learn about its work firsthand. Additionally, a number of school districts around the country have adapted the Leadership Academy’s leadership development work, including St. Louis, Missouri; Buffalo, New York; and Denver, Colorado.
The Leadership Academy has a prestigious board of directors, which is chaired by Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and Chief Executive Officer, New-York Historical Society and includes Peter A. Flaherty, Managing Director, Arcon Partners; Erik W. Kahn, Partner, Bryan Cave LLP; Jonathan Moses, Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Dr. Sandra J. Stein, CEO, NYC Leadership Academy; Sy Sternberg, Chairman, CEO, New York Life Insurance Company; Scott D. Widmeyer, Chairman, Widmeyer Communications; and Kathryn S. Wylde, President and CEO, Partnership for New York City.