This final report is an overview of my internship time working with the Portville Central School District

and doing administrative work at Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES. It is an overview of the activities I

completed at those locations.

What is most interesting about my focus during my School Building Leader internship was that there was
none. I wanted to be fully immersed into what administrators do to get a well-rounded experience and not
just a single focus. Administrator positions are multi-faceted with a different obstacle and/or focus every
day. In order to know what a principal handles on a day-to-day basis, I didn’t want to limit myself to one
entity. Throughout the months I worked on the 400 internship hours and 200 practicum hours, I hardly
had a similar day. Sometimes, the workshop or activities were the same, the scoring day connected to the
previous or next day, or the meetings covered similar content, but the dynamics were different because of
the change in participants.

During my internship experience, I was able to meet and work with two principals and a superintendent. I
worked with Mr. Corder (PK-6 principal), Mr. Welty (7-12 principal), and Mr. Simon (superintendent). It
was apparent that each administrator is passionate about the school district and how important it is to
create a community that works toward the goals of the district that benefits the students. Portville’s
building offers a uniqueness to the community, which works in their favor. The building operates as two
separate schools, but it is conjoined. This makes a sense of community even greater at the school, and the
administration team acknowledges and takes advantage of this opportunity, which I noticed further
strengthens their sense of community.

In the elementary, one major entity I was able to observe and help was the One Book, One Community
initiative. This initiative was inspired due to the release of the movie to the book, Wonder, that was
chosen and to encourage not only students but the community to read. The goal was for students to be
able to go anywhere in the community and be able to talk to anyone about the book, realize the
importance of reading, and that everyone of all ages reads. The finale would be a trip to the movies,
which would lend the community to discuss differences and similarities between the book and the movie.
Though this initiative started before I started the internship, I was still able to jump onboard and see the
impact in had on students, teachers, families, and the community. Fortunately, I ventured out into the
community and asked a few businesses and organizations to participate by reading the book, hanging a
poster in their window, and putting a sign in their yard to let others know they were participating. It was
great to see the reactions, first that we weren’t asking them for money, then how grateful they were to be
asked, and finally eager to read the book and discuss it with students. This initiative further strengthened
the bond between community and school by involving all stakeholders. It made me realize how important
it is for administrators to make and continue communication within the community by asking them to be
involved with their initiative. I was glad to be part of it and hope to one day recreate this type of
community involvement.

Additionally, I was able to work with data and grade level teachers in regard to response to intervention.
The principal, curriculum coordinator, grade level teachers, learning support teachers, school
psychologist, and myself were able to analyze data of students at several benchmark points. These
meetings were designed for the group to make sure students were receiving the supports needed to be
successful within the classroom and how to respond to needs. At some points, these meetings endured
conflict but were resolved. I was fully immersed in this aspect of the principalship of working with
teachers and other administrators to make decisions about what is best for students and how to make it
happen with schedules. It also allowed me to experience conflict/resolution administration handles with
teachers when they are voicing their concerns about their positions and students they instruct.
In the Jr./Sr. High School, I assisted and participated in meetings with faculty, bus drivers, staff, and
students. I was able to see the district as other stakeholders perceive it. I also saw how stakeholders were
treated by the administration and how the administration is viewed by the stakeholders. Social media,
unfortunately, played into this role as well. It was interesting to see both sides of an issue. This stint of
shadowing the principal also make me have great respect for administrators since they are the first to
arrive, the last to leave, and eating lunch on the go due to a myriad of responsibilities (various meetings,
after school activities, before school activities, squeezing in individual time with stakeholders, etc.)

One of my favorite pieces of knowledge gained from this building’s principal (Mr. Welty) was his
respectful rapport with the students in his building. For the first half of the year, Mr. Welty takes the time
to personally meet any new student that enters the building. This includes the students who move up from
the elementary and enter the Jr./Sr. High School. Some of these conversations stem from his previous
meetings with the sixth grade teachers to try and get to know the students before they arrive. The
principal didn’t ask about school, but about their personal lives and things that matter to them. In addition
to these meetings, Mr. Welty and I would visit the cafeteria to interact with the 7-12 students on almost a
daily basis. These interactions were again about students’ interests rather than school content to get to
know the students better and provide open communication. I think these types of interactions are
something to commend and remember as a future administrator.

There were various professional development opportunities to help me grasp an administrator’s spectrum
of duties including state meetings in Albany concerning the new science standards, regional elementary
principals’ meeting, regional curriculum forums, and regional technology coordinator and integrator
forums. Each of these opportunities gave me an opportunity to see the scope of work that’s involved in
running a school district as I tried to put my feet in the shoes of an administrator of a building. The
implementation of the new science standards provides an opportunity to bring educators together for a
similar cause: the betterment of our children’s education and how science should be instructed. The
Network Team trips to Albany provide first-hand knowledge of changes at State Ed and best practice
ideas for our districts. Fortunately, being a member in the professional organizations of STANYS,
NYSCATE, and NSTA, aids me with keeping current to changes in science for school districts.

Professional development opportunities I was able to facilitate during my internship included, but are not
limited to: designing and running MakerSpaces trainings, Breakout EDU trainings, STEM Circuit
trainings, developing a collaborative learning community for middle school and high school science
teachers, publishing a science curriculum that meets the new science standards for K-3 with trainings, and
other workshops needed for my CoSer. I helped run other in-service day trainings on various topics as
districts requested. Some of these workshops and trainings were from a push made by the internship
through the SBU administrative program that will become a yearly workshop I will provide as a staff
specialist. I have also tried to branch out in my position rather than just focusing on science or STEM
curriculum. I started working closer with colleagues that have a specialization in math to analyze regional
data in order to plan data-driven workshop to change instruction through the region. This is something I
might not have done without being in the SBL internship cohort.

The self-evaluation survey results reveal that through this SBL Internship process I’ve improved on all six
standards addressed. Standard 2 on Student Learning and Professional Development I believe would be
my strongest attribute and it showed that in the final results as one of the highest average scores. Teachers
constantly inform me how important and meaningful this is to them.

Although I do feel competent in all of the standards, the three standards that I’ll continue to work on are
Standards 1, 3, and 6. I would like to improve with Standard 1 to learn how to focus and make sure
everything the district does aligns to the vision and is best for the community and students. I can almost
see myself digging deep with the mission and making sure all members involved know what the mission
is as well. For Standard 3, I need to continue to grow with the district's operations. There are so many
components that go into the operation that I need to continue learning. As a leader in the district, it's
important to know as much as possible to help all constituents within the community. Most of the lower
scores for Standard 6 are do to the fact that I don't engage and facilitate the activities associated with these
indicators. From this lack of participation, I don't feel like my self-mastery of the indicators is that high
either. During the snapshot of my internship, I participated in few community activities but didn't know
the extent of all activities or how much influence a school district has on the community or vice versa.

At the beginning of my classes, I viewed the SBL as just paper to attain and a necessity for my position.
I’ve had the ability to present and attend at many different administration meetings as well as shadow
different educational administrators throughout my program. Through this time, it has changed my
viewpoint of becoming a school administrator. My administrative class experience has helped me develop
into a well-rounded individual and educator. I appreciate all of the support and patience shown by
Portville Central School, Mr. Simon, Mr. Welty, Mr. Corder, Mrs. Windus, and St. Bonaventure. Thank
you for this learning experience.