Strong Principals Make All the Difference

Strong Lutheran schools need strong principals. They need leaders who set the bar high for student achievement. Who create a Christ-centered culture. Who cast long-term visions for the future of their school and simultaneously handle the day-to-day details. Who supervise instruction, create a budget, and implement a marketing plan—all while maintaining meaningful relationships with faculty, parents, and students.

The principalship is a demanding calling—one that requires training. “The idea that a good teacher will automatically be a good principal is naïve,” says Dr. John Meyer, director of MLC Graduate Studies and Continuing Education. “Being spiritually mature, organized, and friendly provides a good foundation, but skills like supervision, curriculum leadership, and communication require training and practice. Putting a nice guy in the role of principal and asking him to figure it out harms the school and the person. We want our principals to be in the best position for success from day one.”

That’s where the WELS Principal Credential Cohort comes in. This cohort is a cooperative venture of the Commission for Lutheran Schools and Martin Luther College to prepare teachers for the principal role. It was created to ensure that when a new principal steps into their role, they have the experience and training the call demands. Members of each year’s cohort are usually recommended by fellow called workers who recognize their leadership gifts, but any teacher with at least three years of experience can request to be admitted to a cohort as well.

The cohort experience is comprised of several components:

• being paired with a principal mentor,
• attending at least one national conference, and
• completing MLC’s master’s degree in educational administration.

As the name implies, these steps are completed with a cohort—a cadre of like-minded principals-in-training who take the journey together, sharing their own personal and professional experiences and encouraging one another along the way.

As further encouragement, cohort members take their first master’s course free of charge and then receive a 50% scholarship for all subsequent courses in the program.

Jarred Beduze MLC ‘17, has just completed the three-year program. “I joined the Principal Cohort program because I have a high interest in and a passion for administration,” he says.

Jarred is first in line to encourage others to consider joining a WELS Principal Credential Cohort. “If you are at all interested in administration, being a principal, or just being a leader, put yourself out there and join a cohort. You’ll make relationships with your colleagues in ministry that will be a blessing to you. You’ll learn so much that will benefit you, whether you are called to serve as the principal of a school, you are a leader as a teacher, or you lead in another role.

“The professional and spiritual growth that you gain through this opportunity will impact you for the rest of your life.”

Strong principals make all the difference. Dr. Meyer says he cannot emphasize enough the importance of strong principals. “A 2021 Wallace Foundation study concluded that principals really matter. Schools want the person filling the vital role of principal to be highly skilled so that their school, students, and teachers succeed.”

The WELS Principal Credential Cohort is one important step in identifying and training these highly skilled principals.