Thomas Brenner, 60, has served as the principal of Cloquet Middle School for the last 24 years. But his history with the eastern Minnesota district runs deeper. He and his three children attended the middle school he now leads. As a principal, he worked alongside teachers who鈥檇 taught him at Cloquet Middle School.
鈥淚鈥檓 fortunate to work in a community I grew up in and give back to a school system that鈥檚 done so much for my family,鈥� said Brenner, who will retire at the end of this school year.
Brenner knows his last day is going to be emotional鈥攈e鈥檚 going to spend it with his teachers and 8th grade graduates at a school lunch.
The average retirement age for principals is between 57 and 65 years. While a newer crop of principals spends an average of four years in a job, older principals鈥攍ike the ones retiring at the end of this school year鈥攖end to have longer tenures in their schools.
School leaders like Brenner, with over two decades of experience, have seen big shifts in education that have reshaped the role of the principal.
Some have been positive, said Terri Daniels, 64, the outgoing principal of Folsom Middle School in Folsom, Calif.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been much more emphasis on getting principals into the classroom and to be able to serve [in] a coaching role,鈥� said Daniels. Principals can mentor teachers instead of just judging their performance.
Other changes鈥攕harp political divides, parenting styles, and rising student misbehavior鈥攈aven鈥檛 been as easy to digest and have made the principal鈥檚 job more complex.
Education Week spoke to three retiring principals about the biggest shifts in education and their advice to new principals about how to tackle their new and challenging role. Here鈥檚 what they said.
Heather Johnson, Tanana Middle School, Fairbanks, Alaska
When politics enter the building
Heather Johnson, 55, has only lost her cool once during her 11-year stint as an administrator, which includes the five years she鈥檚 spent leading Tanana Middle School.
It was when a member of the national right-wing parent group Moms for Liberty tried to enter Johnson鈥檚 school to 鈥済et all the pornography out of the library,鈥� according to Johnson.
鈥淪chools have legitimately become public enemy number one for some people,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚 think that was one of the reasons why I鈥檓 just done.鈥�
State funding for public education has shrunk, which Johnson believes is a direct reflection of how the .
The Fairbanks school district has closed five schools in the last three years. While Tanana Middle School isn鈥檛 one of them, Johnson said it鈥檚 increasingly difficult to tell teachers that they don鈥檛 have jobs next year.
Parents鈥� attitudes, too, have shifted. Early in her career, Johnson partnered with parents to improve their kids鈥� grades. Now, parents are quick to blame a failing grade on teachers. 鈥淭he level of disrespect that I see toward our teachers, from students and parents, has been astronomical,鈥� said Johnson.
Terri Daniels, Folsom Middle School, Folsom, Calif.
Student behavior in the digital age
The rate of increase in student misbehavior has surprised and challenged Daniels, who鈥檚 been a school leader for the last 18 years. Social media has worsened this behavior, enabling students to bully each other, and in some cases, their teachers.
At the same time, school discipline policies have swung from being more punitive to restorative approaches, which are now widely adopted but still debated in effectiveness.
A teacher recently complained to Daniels that students had used artificial intelligence to generate an 鈥渦nfavorable鈥� image of him and posted it online.
鈥淭rying to find who did it is nearly impossible,鈥� Daniels said, which makes it harder for 糖心动漫vlog to talk to students about why their behavior is wrong.
Even when it鈥檚 clear that a student misbehaved, handing out consequences or having a restorative conversation with them isn鈥檛 easy鈥攖hey don鈥檛 see why their actions were wrong.
鈥淭here have always been kids who have done mischievous things [like] flushing things down the toilet. But [things like] TikTok challenges have really impacted schools,鈥� Daniels said.
Last year, she had to prevent students from sticking pencils into their school-issued digital devices to make them spark, a stunt popular on TikTok at the time.
鈥淭hey just thought it was funny because it was on TikTok. You know, those kinds of behavior didn鈥檛 exist when I started.鈥�
Thomas Brenner, Cloquet Middle School, Cloquet, Minn.
The expanding role of schools
Brenner has watched the school鈥檚 role expand to all aspects of a student鈥檚 life.
Earlier in his career, schools in his district had strong partnerships with community-based organizations or access to resources to tackle student mental health or behavioral challenges. All those responsibilities are placed on schools now without much external support, Brenner said.
It puts principals and teachers in a tough position鈥攖hey have to provide the extra support while making sure students are also learning.
鈥淟earning is our big mission. Learning how to read, learning how to do math at a higher successful rate. Sometimes, all that other stuff gets laid on us, and it blocks us from doing what our real mission is,鈥� said Brenner.
Lack of funds has also put pressure on schools to do more with less. As school systems shrink, and schools lose students, principals now have to take away some of the mental health and behavior-support services. This includes piecing together money from different sources or raising grants.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to figure out ways to weather that period and also adhere to your core mission of teaching,鈥� Brenner said.
