Last Updated: March 3rd, 2022 by
Schools are a crucial institution in any community, responsible for shaping the minds of the next generation of adults. At the helm of those schools are principals responsible for providing leadership to both staff and students alike.
The path towards becoming a principal starts with getting a formal education in academic administration and gaining first-hand experience as a teacher. You’d also need to take on leadership positions throughout your career until you find an opening for the principal position.
In this guide, we’ll discuss how to become a principal.
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Job Description
Before we get into how to become a principal, let’s take a brief look at what a principal is.
As a school principal, your overall responsibility is to ensure that the everyday teaching and learning processes are successful.
Part of that will include working with staff to devise and deliver education through effective teaching methods. That’s why having a solid academic and professional background in school administration is crucial to pursuing this career.
Just like in any role in academia, you must also maintain strong relationships with your stakeholders. Engaging with parents and students alike is a critical part of your job as your school’s leader.
Your job will go beyond day-to-day teaching and learning. As the leader of the school, you must also act as a general manager to ensure that it has the finances to operate without interruptions.
You’ll also need to work closely with support staff to make sure the school’s facilities are in good working order for the benefit of your teachers and students.
Read More: How to Become a School Counselor. Learn to recognize and address student problems in this career.
What Does an Average Day For a Principal Look Like?
According to the U.S. Department of Education, here’s what an average day on the job might look like:
Visiting Classes and Extracurricular Activities
One reason you’ll love this job is that you won’t be chained to a desk all day long.
Sure, there will be office work to do (which we’ll look at below), but you’ll spend part of your day walking around the school and visiting ongoing classes.
Besides that, you’ll also visit ongoing sports and extracurricular activities to see if the school’s policies and programs are being carried out as planned.
Engaging With Parents and Counsellors
Being a school leader also makes you a vital member of the local community.
So, a part of your day will include engaging with students’ parents. This task includes working closely with both parents and counselors to help resolve issues affecting their children in your school.
Meet With Department Heads
A school is a complex institution with many different departments covering sports, arts, the sciences, and so on. The heads of each department are responsible for carrying out their part of the school’s overall strategy.
So, these educators will need to meet with you from time to time to discuss lesson plans, strategies, and other school policies.
Managing School Finances
Schools have limited funding and need to spend each dollar wisely. As the school leader, you’ll be administering those funds carefully on a day-to-day basis.
You’ll work with your staff to allocate budgets to different departments based on priorities that you’ll continually assess.
Working With Local Education Authorities
On top of all the previous activities, a part of your day will also be spent communicating with the local education authorities.
Even though you manage the policies at the school level, your work will be subject to the policies set at the district, state, and national levels.
Problem-Solving
In addition to all of the daily responsibilities mentioned above, you’ll also be a ‘firefighter’.
That means you’ll have to solve problems creatively as they appear. As you might imagine, a principal will never have any shortage of problems to solve involving school facilities, policies, staff, and parents and students.
How to Become a Principal: Process
The process for how to become a principal is relatively straightforward, and you won’t have to worry about choosing between too many different paths.
Here’s what that process generally looks like:
1. Get a Degree in Education
The first step for how to become a principal is to get a formal education. At the very least, you’ll need an undergraduate degree in the field of education.
This step is non-negotiable, so think of it this way: You must get a formal education for yourself before you can give the same to others.
You can also transition towards a postgraduate degree in education at this stage, though it’s not compulsory. It’s always possible to do it later once you have some work experience.
2. Work as a Teacher
You have to learn to walk before you can run. Just like most industries, you must work your way up the ladder towards becoming a leader.
When it comes down to how to become a principal, you must first work as a teacher before you can progress towards being a principal. This step of the process begins with obtaining your teaching certification before working with students directly.
At the very least, you’ll need 3 years of work experience as a teacher before you can think about progressing to higher positions.
Read More: Top 5 Positions in The Temp Industry. Learn about 5 temp positions, including substitute teaching, to build your resume.
3. Apply For School Leadership Positions
On your journey towards becoming a school leader, it can be very beneficial to gain leadership experience. Thankfully, schools have plenty of opportunities for you to take on more responsibility.
For instance, you can volunteer to take the lead on certain school events, clubs, sports, and more.
Not only will these responsibilities prepare you to be a leader, but they’ll also reflect well on you when it comes time to apply for an open position as a principal.
4. Pursue Further Training and Education
Your college degree is a fantastic foundation for your work as a teacher. However, it’s crucial that you continually grow by attending training sessions for teachers.
For example, teachers often go for pedagogy-related training or training that helps them sharpen their teaching methods. These courses will help you become a better teacher overall, and will benefit your students and the school as a whole.
This part of learning how to become a principal also includes pursuing a Master’s degree, if you don’t already have one. You can do so in the field of education, school administration, or anything similar.
5. Pursue The Necessary License(s) and Certification(s)
In the United States, school administrators and principals require a licence or certification before they can take those leadership positions.
These licenses are handled by state-level education departments, so the requirements are different from state to state.
6. Always Look For Open Principal or Vice-Principal Positions
Unfortunately, each school only has one position for principal, which means that you might not get the one in your current school.
So, you’ll want to keep an eye out for open Principal positions at other schools in your area or further away.
While you wait for a position to open up, it’d be a great idea to first take an available vice-principal position. Not only will this provide you with a lot of valuable work experience, but it will also make it much easier to move up to a principal role later.
As the Association of California School Administrators points out, you’ll often find vice-principal positions in larger schools. They, too, add that this position is an excellent stepping stone towards a principal position in the future.
Are You Suited For a Principal Career?
Now that you know how to become a principal, you should decide whether or not the role is a fit for you!
To know whether or not you’re suited for a role as a principal, consider the following personality traits, skills, and credentials and proficiencies necessary for the job.
Personality and Skills
As a principal, you must be excellent at multitasking. Earlier in this guide, we saw what an average day looks like for a principal.
The tasks and responsibilities involved cover many different areas, so you’ll need to juggle them all successfully.
On top of that, a school leader must be able to communicate well with both adults (their staff and parents) and children. That way, a principal can make full use of another critical skill: creative problem-solving.
Credentials and Proficiencies
To become a principal and stay ahead, there are also a number of credentials and proficiencies that you’ll need.
For starters, you must practice what some people call ‘lifelong learning’. That means you’ll continuously attend new training sessions and gain certifications from time to time.
Doing this will give you a significant advantage by helping you keep up to date with the latest developments in education.
Besides that, a principal cannot afford to be unfamiliar with the latest tech trends.
Education technology or ‘edtech’ has become increasingly important to schools all over the world. So, you’ll need to be familiar with learning management systems (LMS), online learning, and more.
How Does a Principal Find Work?
We know how to become a principal, what the job entails, and requirements for the position; but how does a principal find a job?
The role of a principal is a limited and highly sought after school position. Here are a few tips to help you get ahead in your search for work as a school leader.
- You may have to expand your search geographically. To become a principal, you might have to search for open positions in neighboring districts or even further away in other areas.
- Always remember the importance of networking. Build relationships with people you meet, like teachers from other schools and people who work for the local education department. These relationships can help you find open positions in the future.
- You must have the necessary value-added skills to benefit the local community. For instance, learning an additional language commonly used in your school’s community will go a long way to building rapport with students and parents, making you a more valuable asset to the school.
- Never underestimate the power of social media. A platform like LinkedIn isn’t just for those in the corporate world, but it’s also very useful for principals, as well.
Even before you have a chance to meet other educators face to face, you can build relationships online that could eventually lead you to an open principal position.
The Average Salary of a Principal
Learning how to become a principal is fairly simple, but are the wages worth it?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, school principals at the elementary, middle, and high school levels earn an average of $98,490 per year.
The lowest 10% earn an average of $65,150 per year, while those at the 90% percentile earn an average of $152,500 per year.
The Top 5 states that offer the highest average salaries for principals are:
- New York: $141,020
- California: $132,400
- Connecticut: $131,830
- New Jersey: $130,540
- Washington: $125,600
As a principal, you can raise your earning potential by obtaining specialized skills. For example, having the ability to teach foreign languages or work with special-needs students will undoubtedly set you apart from your peers.
In the field of education, these specialized skills will raise your earning potential in the long run.
Principal Job Growth
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 4% job growth from 2019 to 2029, which is an excellent reason to be optimistic about pursuing this field of work.
Top 3 Most Popular Job Paths
Here are the 3 most popular job paths for principals in the K-12 education industry:
Kindergarten School Principal
Kindergartens specialize in working with students aged 4-6. As such, these schools require leaders with the experience and knowledge in delivering early childhood education.
Elementary and Secondary (Middle and High) School Principal
Elementary and secondary school leaders work with a broader range of student ages. The subject areas and activities are also broader than that of kindergartens.
A school leader at one of these levels will need to be a jack-of-all-trades to ensure students receive the well-rounded education they need.
Private School Headmaster or Director
In private schools, the top leadership role is sometimes referred to by other titles like headmaster or director.
For the most part, their responsibilities are the same. However, private schools aren’t funded by the government, so their leaders must also engage in fundraising from donors.
This added responsibility ensures that the school has enough funding to continue operating.
Professional Associations
National Education Association
National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
International Society for Technology in Education
Top Colleges and Universities
Vanderbilt University (Peabody)
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Final Thoughts
The process for how to become a principal is one that will take years and requires experience in the field of education. If you’re already a seasoned teacher, you’re halfway there!