Leading with Collaboration: Jackson Reilly (PRN ‘19), Principal, Nathanael Greene Middle School

Finding collaborative solutions to complex challenges is one practice developed through CLEE services and embedded in our principal preparation program, Principal Residency Network (PRN). Jackson Reilly is a PRN grad and principal at Nathanael Greene Middle School, in Rhode Island. His commitment to working alongside teachers, staff, and families has led to many school improvements and a renewed sense of joy and pride among students.

What skills/practices did you build in your work with CLEE/PRN that helped you as a new principal?

“One of the things that helped me as an early principal was really figuring out systems, structures, and routines. One early challenge was just moving 900 students between classes. Without a system, kids were late, causing disruptions, instruction was starting late, and some kids were not feeling safe.”

“I collaborated with teachers to come up with a plan. We made a system, so now teachers walk students in pods class to class. We now move 900 students in 45 seconds. This came from working with teachers as a team and really getting their buy-in and input to solve challenges together.”

Jackson Reilly (PRN ‘19), Principal, Nathanael Greene Middle School

Are there connections to the skills/practices you built with CLEE and your project to reduce chronic absenteeism that you wrote about in the Principal Project?

“The attendance piece was huge for us. Students were 50% chronically absent the year before I got there; one out of every 2 kids was missing 18 or more days of school the previous year. We could do as much great teaching as we wanted, but if the kids weren’t there, it didn’t really matter.”

“We looked at the attendance data and focused on students that missed 18-40 days, which turned out to be 180 kids. We divided that up between the 15 of us, so every adult was assigned about 10 kids. Every day the students we focused on had to check in with their designated adult. If that kid wasn’t in, their designated adult would call home to see what was going on. If that phone wasn’t picked up, that kid knew that adult was going to their home that day.”

“It was that collective buy-in that helped. These kids knew these adults care about me. They knew they were being focused on for their attendance the previous year. They also knew they could graduate out of this program. Every month we looked at the data. We could take a student off that had only missed a day in a few months and add a new one that was almost or chronically absent to make sure they stay at a lower rate.”

How do you stay resilient and joyful in your role?

“One thing I do is focus on student joy and a culture of building student joy. We brought back honor roll night, student of the month, dances, and clubs. This all came with the caveat that you could do things like attend the dance if you didn’t get suspended this quarter, weren’t chronically absent, and you weren’t failing more than two classes. Without that culture there, academic and student culture, you really would not be able to move the needle the way that we did.”