Monthly eNewsletter – March 2025
Our collective power expands when we support each other to foster the unlimited potential of each and every student.
Embracing Growth and Collaborative Leadership – A Chat with an Aspiring Principal Fellow
Matt MacLean, Aspiring Principal Fellow, Sandwich High School
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Matt MacLean, a school leader fellow from Sandwich High School. We spoke about his journey as an Aspiring Principal. Our conversation centered around his evolving leadership perspective and how his beliefs and practices have shifted throughout the program. How do these shifts resonate with your own leadership journey?
“Originally, I thought leadership was about telling people what to do.” Through the fellowship, Matt learned that effective leadership involves continuous self-reflection and creating opportunities for others to lead. “Leadership takes a lot of reflection, and looking for ways to continuously improve.”
Another key takeaway for Matt has been learning how to balance leadership demands with his vision. “I need to remember that everything I do should be connected to the core leadership practices, the instructional core, and my focal group,”
Denise Milburn, CLEE Continuous Improvement Facilitator and Coach
“Growth comes from putting yourself through challenges,” Matt emphasizes that stepping into the “risk zone” — engaging in challenging activities that push you outside your comfort zone — is essential for leadership development.
Looking ahead, Matt notes the importance of creating an environment where every voice is heard and valued. “Talk to as many people as possible because everyone can contribute to improvement.”
Explore Your Path to Principalship in MA and RI
Join Our New Grant-Supported Program For School Improvement Support
Differences as Strengths
“Talk to as many people as possible because everyone can contribute to improvement.”
Matt MacLean’s words on leadership underscore a simple but powerful truth: we grow together when we listen to and learn from each other. Why is this important, and how do we put it into action? Building a culture that values multiple perspectives requires intentional structures, practices, and mindsets. Too often, differences are seen as something to be ranked (better or worse, right or wrong), when they can be leveraged to become our greatest strength in building something new.
Embracing human diversity is essential for any workplace or community that seeks to foster belonging and eliminate discrimination. When we recognize that every person’s background, identity, and lived experience brings something valuable, we unlock deeper learning, more creative problem-solving, and a greater ability to dream and achieve together. By doing so, we create environments where differences are not barriers but building blocks for innovation and learning.
The Strategic Planning highlight below explores how incorporating multiple voices into long-term planning leads to stronger outcomes for students and communities. It highlights the power of diverse perspectives and how meaningful engagement from multiple stakeholders can shape a future of possibility. When we design structures that actively seek and integrate different viewpoints, we don’t just plan for change; we build communities where everyone has a voice in shaping what comes next.
Creating an environment where every individual is heard and respected fosters a true professional learning community. Belonging doesn’t mean uniformity; it means recognizing differences as essential strengths and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to contribute. These are the foundational skills participants develop in CLEE’s Facilitator Training. When we commit to learning from one another, we cultivate mutual respect and trust, to add divergent thinking to our vision and goals. This trust becomes the foundation for meaningful collaboration, empowering us to tackle complex challenges as educators, global citizens, and members of a shared world.
Build Belonging in your Community
Create Shared Vision With Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the process of defining a path forward and pursuing your vision of the future. It is crucial to improving your organization. Engaging staff, students, families, and community stakeholders in this process is essential, and in turn builds a shared responsibility and ownership of the plan and recommended improvements.
“CLEE’s collaborative process has been key to our quick progress. CLEE has tools at every step to quickly gather input and feedback from all of our stakeholders: students, parents, and staff. We are collectively building a vision of a graduate to anchor our plan to student outcomes. This collaboration also allows me to fully listen and participate with stakeholders rather than being seen as “The Leader” in this process. Importantly, the plan belongs to all of us because it is being facilitated by CLEE.”
– Sheila Hoffman, Agawam Public Schools Superintendent
More on Strategic Planning with Agawam Public Schools
Michelle Li, Director, CLEE Learning Leader Network
“The investment of community members across the district is remarkable and enduring. You can see and hear evidence of the plan living in classrooms, at Board meetings, at committee meetings, and in conversations with the school community and extended community. As a result, this sense of community authorship has led to broad commitment in delivering on our promise, which is to unleash the full potential of every student.”
– Christopher Haskins, Head of School, the Paul Cuffee School
More on Strategic Planning with Paul Cuffee School
CLEE’s process makes stakeholder engagement fast and efficient. Our experienced team can quickly guide your team to identify areas of priority and strategies to improve the learning outcomes for students. Take your improvement plan to the next level with our proven methods!
Get Strategic Planning Support with CLEE
Boost Student Outcomes with Free, Comprehensive School Improvement Support
Available in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Plan, Lead, Act, Network, and Sustain (PLANS)
Join CLEE’s grant-supported professional development program! We can support you with Individualized Coaching, High Engagement Learning Sessions, Anytime Learning and Resources, and Data Monitoring for Student Impact. Our work together will engage stakeholders, staff, school improvement/leadership teams, school leaders/principals, and principal supervisors.
Benefits to District and Schools
- Increase high and equitable ELA/math learning outcomes
- Retain school leaders
- Achieve school-wide goals
- Activate stakeholder engagement and widespread leadership agency
- Boost school improvement processes
- Increase district and school coherence through effective leadership practices among school leaders, school teams, and principal supervisors
Become a Principal in 11 Months!
Now in Massachusetts and Rhode Island!
For 25 years, Principal Residency Network (PRN) has empowered graduates to step confidently into leadership roles, to foster collaboration, strengthen school communities, and improve schools to impact student outcomes. It is one of the longest-running residency-based prep programs in the country. By partnering aspiring principals with experienced mentor leaders in residency-based training, PRN prepares future administrators to make data-informed decisions and build inclusive, high-achieving school environments. PRN has a track record of success, 92% of PRN graduates are hired into leadership positions, and 95% of those hired remain in leadership roles for at least 5 years.
Apply to PRN in Massachusetts
Applications are due June 1, 2025
Apply to PRN in Rhode Island
Applications are due March 21, 2025
I Am Interested in PRN
The PRN Interest Form will help us to better support you as you continue to explore the PRN.
CLEE Fall Meeting 2025
Rhode Island November 13-14, 2025
This will be an opportunity to (re)connect with educators from across the country as we explore what student-focused leadership looks like in our current world.
Join us to:
- Learn and use facilitative leadership tools and protocols to make improvements for student outcomes
- Share our collective learning and expertise on leveraging adult learning and collaboration
- Connect with a larger community
We will practice the heart, hand, and mind work together for two full days through tools and protocols to impact outcomes for each and every student.
Each month, CLEE offers a question or two to help you reflect on what you are experiencing. Thinking about the importance of questioning and what your answers mean is one more step in your growth as a leader.
Join CLEE on social media to follow the monthly questions and share your answers.
How are you bringing multiple perspectives and stakeholder voices to create belonging in your community?