Ronnie Cantu, Executive Director of Elementary School Leadership and Robert Arredondo, Executive Director of Secondary School LeadershipSchool systems invest significant time in how teachers develop their craft, providing professional learning, coaching and feedback because great instruction is something educators continually refine. Principal development deserves that same intentionality, and our job is to create the conditions that empower our principals to lead it.
As Hutto ISD’s executive directors for elementary and secondary leadership, our priority is developing principals who develop others. Today’s principals are instructional leaders, culture builders and systems designers, so their development must be embedded in how we operate and not reserved for occasional professional development.
From Managing Schools to Leading Learning
Our approach begins with a simple premise. If we want principals to coach instruction, we first have to develop their capacity to see it clearly, which depends on shared expectations and a common instructional language across the district.
Hutto ISD's Power 6 instructional framework is one example. It names six high-leverage practices: framing the lesson, turn and learn, student "At-Bats," academic monitoring, exemplar utilization and pacing and closure. The Power 6 aligns directly to the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System rubric, but its value extends beyond evaluation. It creates clarity.
That shared language matters most for principals. Rather than asking whether a lesson was good, a leader can ask who was doing the cognitive lift and how the teacher knew which students had mastered the content. Questions like these turn a walkthrough into instructional coaching.
Coaching the Coach
Principals deserve the same meaningful, intentional coaching we expect them to provide for their teachers. We model the cadence we want them to lead: regular time in classrooms to celebrate progress and identify opportunities for growth, coaching conversations that build teacher capacity and strengthen their impact on student success and a consistent seat at the PLC table grounded in a continuous improvement cycle of ‘Plan → Do → Study → Act’
For the 26 to 27 school year, much of that coaching will happen one campus at a time, in a standing session between an executive director and a principal. Together we review the campus goal and its lead measures, revisit the root cause behind the numbers, celebrate the movement and set the next commitment. The purpose is to build capacity, not enforce compliance, and a strong conversation should leave a principal better prepared to lead the next one without us.
Removing Barriers and Empowering Principals
Developing principals is not only about building their skills; it is about creating the conditions for them to lead. Through strategic planning, we strengthen campus structures so they can absorb new initiatives and strategies without creating unnecessary burden or fragmentation.
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Principal development is student achievement work. Stronger principals strengthen teachers and leadership teams, ultimately improving learning for students.
We remove barriers, streamline demands and protect principals’ time for instructional leadership. With clear expectations and strong systems in place, we give principals the autonomy and trust to make strong decisions and lead.
Building Systems that Outlast Individuals
Leadership development requires strong systems because sustainable improvement cannot depend on one person. Weekly campus coaching and monthly network meetings create a consistent cadence for principals to align around shared goals, monitor progress, learn from one another and strengthen effective practices.
The Power 6 high-yield instructional strategies anchor this work without prescribing identical teaching or leadership. Our role is to set clear expectations, provide practical tools and opportunities to practice and coach principals toward excellence while preserving the judgment and authenticity strong leadership requires.
Leadership Development is Student Work
Principal development is student achievement work. Stronger principals strengthen teachers and leadership teams, ultimately improving learning for students. Our measure of success is whether the adults they lead and the students they serve are continuously getting better.
Our Principal PLCs are intentionally designed as workshop style learning experiences, giving principals opportunities to collaborate, problem solve, share effective practices and learn from one another in a true PLC model. By developing, supporting and empowering principals, we equip them to do the same for others.
Empowered leaders empower others, creating a culture of ownership, growth and continuous improvement.
