With the help of The Breakthrough Coach, Jim Rose, Principal of Running Brushy Middle School in Cedar Park, TX, turned in his “enforcer gavel” and once again donned his “Instructional Leadership” cap.

What challenges did Running Brushy face with student discipline coming out of the pandemic and how did those challenges affect you? 

Coming out of the pandemic, our middle school students, like many around the country, forgot how to behave alongside each other in school. In 2020, most of the student discipline incidents showing up in our front office were incredibly juvenile, running the gamut from “horseplay” to consequential disruptions of the learning environment. Nevertheless, my school leadership team and I made a point to hear out each and every student, which amounted to 4-6 hours of administrator intervention per day. 

In addition, our original discipline reporting system forced students to come to the front office to file their concerns. If one of my APs happened to be out of the office, all incidents would be funneled to me for review and disciplinary action. I felt like I was spending 8-10 hours a week running a small claims court, which didn’t allow me to consistently visit classrooms or provide needed feedback to teachers and students. During some weeks, I barely left my office. 

How did The Breakthrough Coach Educational Leadership Program change your mind about these challenges and your role in solving them?

The program reemphasized for me that a school principal’s job is to provide instructional leadership, not to wait around the front office for discipline issues to show up. I finally accepted the fact that I wasn’t hired to be a glorified AP – I had three APs! I realized I had to get out of “the enforcer” role and instead spend time in classrooms where I could actually impact student outcomes – both academic and behavioral. I hadn’t been in classrooms nearly enough to impact either. This had to change. 

What changes did you make to your management style and practices when you returned to work? 

After Phase 1 of the program, I had a very direct conversation with my school leadership team in which I explained, “I’m the Principal here. My primary responsibility is to make sure our instruction is top-notch. I am not a highly paid AP. My role as “the enforcer” stops now. Unless it’s a true emergency, when I’m in classrooms, I’m not available.” I took this stand for myself, and my APs sincerely agreed with me.

We then redesigned our discipline reporting system, which eliminated the need for students to come to the office to document their stories, and streamlined the time it took my APs to deal with each incident.  

For my part, I knew I needed to untether myself from the front office in order to be an effective instructional leader. To do this, I let go of all of my principal trappings, including my office, and moved into one of our school’s conference rooms. My conference room-office is now very minimalist. It provides space for collaborative conversations, but for the most part I no longer want to be in there – which is exactly the point! Instead, I carry around a laptop and find other locations in the building to get work done, while being present to observe and coach in the learning environments. 

Not only did I remove myself from the enforcer role, I quit being my own secretary and empowered my executive assistant, Katie Duncan, to act as my gatekeeper and administrative partner. Katie and I started meeting every morning to review my daily and weekly priorities. I delegated operational tasks to her and taught her how to manage the flow of information to me so she could keep the office moving forward when I was out in the building. I gave up scheduling myself and instead relinquished my calendar to Katie. She ensured that my high-priority work was scheduled, that I stayed on track, and that I spent consistent time in classrooms every week. 

What have been the results of this new way of operating as a leadership team?

• I am in classrooms for 16-20 hours every week, coaching our teachers in real-time.
• Major discipline issues have gone to almost zero, (whereas by February of any other year, we’d be in double digits), and new teachers are having fewer issues with students.
• The number of daily incident reports have been cut by 30%.
• Teachers tell me they love seeing me in their classrooms; if there’s something we need to talk about, discipline or otherwise, they know where to find me.
• My being present out in the building has shifted what our school feels like. I’ve had more than one student say, “I really like when you’re in my classroom because it makes everybody pay attention, which makes me a better learner.” That’s what I’m most proud of – our kids are attuned to, and pointing out the improvement.

Conclusion

Through a strategic shift in his management practices and a commitment to instructional leadership, Jim Rose successfully transformed the post-pandemic discipline climate at Running Brushy Middle School. By leveraging the Breakthrough Coach Program, he optimized administrative efficiency, empowered his school leadership team, and created a culture of proactive discipline management. Jim’s story highlights the power of intentional instructional leadership and systems design to cause a breakthrough in student behavior and academic outcomes.