on the NSPRA site.

In more than 25 years of working with schools in a teaching and administrative capacity, one truth just about always rings true – the principal’s style of leadership and communication is the key in making or breaking the image of the school and the school’s commitment to communication. Experienced principals set the tone, model the commitment, set standards, hold staff accountable to those standards, and become the director of first impressions for their buildings. They teach and coach about the communication commitment and provide resources in any way they can
to help improve communication among parents, staff, and students.

Effective principals practice a transparent leadership style, admit that their school isn’t perfect, and include staff and parents in a mission to make the school as great as it can be.

You cannot be a great leader without communication. Clear, positive communication with a focus on kids, teaching, and learning builds confidence in you and your school. And please remember that you cannot delegate confidence-building. NSPRA completes a process called a communication audit for a number of school districts each year. The following findings are common threads we use when we talk to parents and other community leaders about district and school building communication:

• School newsletters are the most read vehicles for parents.
• Teachers are the key credible influentials when talking about your school.
• Parents are less concerned about overall national or state test scores than most of us think.
• Parents are more concerned about the progress,accomplishments, and challenges of their children.
• The schools are primarily judged on how their staff and principals interact with students and
  parents.

Communication maxims often help relate some of the rules of the game. Here are some you should know:

• People techniques (relationships) beat paper just about every time.
• Healthy, respected relationships are critical to communication.
• Perception is reality. (The objective is to make them the same.)
• First graders like surprises; your superintendent doesn’t.
• An invitation to everyone is an invitation to no one.
• The best way to eat crow is fast.
• People support what they help create.
• It is more important to reach the people who count than to count the people you reach.
• If you believe your comments are being taken out of context, maybe you are failing to provide one.
• If behavior gets us into trouble, words are not going to get us out of it.
• You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can never fool the kids.
• When you create a communication void, your critics will surely fill it and flaunt it.
• Rumors spread like a prairie fire and they have an annoying capacity to be seen as credible when bona-fide leadership communication is missing. Don’t create those voids.

Principals are the main creators of a culture of communication in their schools. Good, two-way communication becomes the standard when principals serve as role models, provide resources and training, and hold staff members accountable for their communication efforts and results.