Principles of Principals

I'd taken a post in a large unified school district north of Phoenix, Arizona, in a primarily middle class K-8 elementary school. As the newly minted Assistant Principal, I'd established my career understanding how to mitigate and manage behavioral crisis in classrooms - this particular campus housed a self-contained program for Emotionally Disabled students - and they hoped to lean on my so called expertise. Mid-way through the year, and in context of dealing with most of the code of conduct issues across campus, I got to know a group of students for whom navigating school structure was complicated. One student in particular was often in my office for increasingly physically violent actions - hitting a female student in the side of the head with a basketball - and I was working closely with his family and teachers to support rapid changes. It heightened my anxiety around school safety, and stressed my awareness. Cafeteria duty was part of my routine, not my favorite, but...