ABSTRACT
Effective principals have a strong core of beliefs: principles that guide their decisions, touchstones that help them distinguish right from wrong, and goals that define their vision for the school. I would like to share the core beliefs I followed in my years as a principal. I realize that these are personal. Each of you must have your own core of beliefs. I outline my beliefs here for three reasons. One is just to let you know how simple they are. Another is to help build an understanding that the clearer our beliefs are, the more effective we can be in working toward them. A third is to illustrate how these core beliefs frame the way we work in schools.
