Principals and/or Heads of private schools with a private school affidavit on file with the California Department of Education and serving six or more students are eligible to participate in the program. Participants will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, there is no charge for participation in the Private School Principals Academy. Moreover, each participant who completes the program will receive a free handheld device (utilizing the PalmTM operating system) which will be used throughout the Academy. Participants are responsible for ancillary costs (e.g. travel, lodging and meals, if necessary).

All Private School Principals Academy sessions will be conducted by specially trained County Office of Education professional staff members.

Training sessions will be conducted throughout the state and throughout the year. Dates, times and locations of Private School Principals Academy sessions will be established by the various county offices of education.

The scheduling of Principals Academy sessions allows for flexibility. The program consists of eight three-hour modules. One group of principals might request that the training be provided over the course of eight total days—one day per month over the course of eight months. Another group might prefer that the entire program be completed over the span of one or two months, and in a lesser number of meeting days. Yet another group may opt for a multi-day retreat format during which the entire 24-hour curriculum would be accomplished. (Please note that all travel, lodging and food costs must be borne by participants.)

If your school is affiliated with a CAPSO member organization, that organization, in conjunction with CAPSO, may be able to help place you in a training cohort and facilitate the scheduling of training sessions. CAPSO has also requested the provision of web-page listing all currently scheduled dates, times and locations of training sessions. Please continue to check the CAPSO web site for updates.

What is the content of the program?

Topics covered by the program include:

• The relationship between technology and instructional leadership.

• Professional learning communities and leadership.

• What it means to be a data-driven school and how to get there.

• Technology planning tools and resources.

• Hands-on use of technology applications such as presentation software, spreadsheets, and simple databases for the site administrator.

• Key on-line resources and networking for the school administrator

• Using a handheld computer from basics to beyond.

• Special tools for the handheld designed for this training.

• Free on-line technology assessments for the school site of participating principals.

Download Curriculum Outline (PDF)