The hardest part of leadership isn’t knowing what needs to be done. It’s knowing what matters most and keeping it front and center when everything else starts competing for your attention.
The school year doesn’t start quietly. There are students to welcome, teachers to support, problems to solve, and decisions waiting before the first week is over.
For school leaders, the challenge isn’t finding something to work on.
It’s deciding what deserves the most attention.
That takes clarity. And clarity rarely happens in the middle of the daily rush.
Keeping the main thing the main thing is what lets a leader actually reach the goals they’ve set for their students.
This summer, 196 school leaders across 70 schools made the decision to step out of that rush and create space for strategic thinking. Through Accelerate Institute’s two flagship programs, Leadership Academy and Ascend, leaders came together to clarify their priorities, strengthen their leadership practice, and build plans they could put into action when the school year began.
Now the real work begins.
Four Days. One Clearer Starting Point.
A month before she started Leadership Institute, the four-day program that kicks off her yearlong Leadership Academy experience, Karla Fought already had a 90-day plan for her school, built from her district’s improvement plan.
Four days later, she had something more: a living strategic plan her team could actually use, built on a deeper understanding of the thinking behind it, not just another document to complete.
Fought, principal of Lansing Elementary in Aurora, Colorado, was one of the leaders who spent part of her summer with Accelerate Institute building her leadership skills and turning her plan into one her team could lead with all year.
Accelerate Institute gave me the building blocks I needed to become a transformational leader. The experience challenged me to think differently about leadership, deepen my understanding of instructional excellence, and lead with greater purpose and confidence.
Karla Fought, Lansing Elementary (Aurora, CO)
The value of strategic planning isn’t the plan itself. It’s the clarity that comes from stepping back long enough to decide: What matters most? What will success look like? And where should I spend my time?
For Leadership Academy participants, the impact of that work was measurable.
Four days. Measurable change.
19% → 67%
Leaders rating themselves proficient or advanced at managing competing priorities.
14% → 53%
Leaders rating themselves proficient or advanced at creating a strategic plan with clear outcomes.
28% → 58%
Average percentage of leaders rating themselves proficient or advanced across all eight competencies measured.
And 100% of participants said they were satisfied with the experience and would recommend it to a peer.
These numbers are an early signal. The real test is what leaders do with that clarity over the course of the year, and whether it holds up against the goals they’ve set for their schools.
Latasha Carter of Kipling Elementary in Chicago put it simply:
Leadership Institute reminds leaders of our whys and provides us with the tools necessary to reach our goals.
Latasha Carter, Kipling Elementary (Chicago, IL)
The plan matters. But knowing what the main thing is matters more.
What Changes When the Whole Team Owns It?
One leader having clarity is powerful.
An entire leadership team sharing it is different.
That’s the idea behind Ascend, Accelerate Institute’s team-based leadership program. Ascend teams begin the year together, building shared priorities and ownership through a Strategic Planning Day guided by the school’s Accelerate Institute coach.
This year’s participants were clear about the value of that experience: 97% rated the session high-quality and valuable.
And the work doesn’t end when the plan is finished. Ascend teams continue the work throughout the year through strategic planning sessions, cross-team professional development, and coaching.
Alignment comes from coming back to the priorities again and again, making decisions against them, and adjusting together when the year doesn’t go exactly as planned, not from getting everyone in a room once.
The Plan Isn’t Tested in July
It’s tested when the school year gets complicated.
When a staffing change happens.
When the data isn’t what you expected.
When a new challenge demands attention.
When your calendar is full and the thing you said mattered most suddenly has no time left on it.
That’s why strategic planning has to become a leadership practice, not a once-a-year exercise.
The year will get complicated. That’s certain. What matters is whether you and your team have enough clarity to navigate it without losing sight of what matters most, and whether you have someone to help you think it through when you get stuck.
What’s Your Next Move?
If your school could use a little more space, clarity, or thought partnership this year, there are two ways to engage with Accelerate Institute.
Need space to step back and plan?
Join us for the Mid-Year Strategic Planning Retreat (MYSPR), December 7–8, 2026, in downtown Chicago.
We’re bringing school leaders together for an in-person opportunity to step out of the day-to-day, work on the school rather than simply in it, and clarify the priorities that will guide the rest of the year.
Accelerate Institute really hones in on creating a strong, solid SP for school success. It gives you the chance to really step back from your school, audit, look at all of the data, and create an intentional, targeted plan, not just with goals, but the milestones, strategies, and the forcing function and progress monitoring tools to ensure you’re following through with discipline, consistency, and excellence on delivering on your plan, which is ultimately your promise to students and the community you serve.
Katie Kirley
You don’t need to be part of Leadership Academy or Ascend to participate.
Already have a plan, but need a thought partner?
Explore one-to-one coaching with Accelerate Institute.
Sometimes the harder challenge is knowing how to respond when the plan meets reality, not knowing what to do in the first place.
Coaching gives school leaders an experienced thought partner to pressure-test decisions, work through challenges, and stay focused on the outcomes that matter most.
Coaching packages are currently available for school leaders who want that kind of partnership this year.
We are deeply grateful to our funders who invest in our leaders, the schools they serve, and the students who benefit from their leadership by supplementing the cost of our programs and services.
The Plan Is Only the Beginning
Across 70 schools, 196 leaders are starting the year with clearer priorities and a stronger foundation for the work ahead.
We’ll measure success by what happens after the plans leave the room: what leaders do with their time, what teams choose to prioritize, what they stop doing, and how they respond when the unexpected happens.
Because the goal isn’t a perfect plan. It’s a school led with purpose, so leaders can reach the goals they’ve set for their students, even when the year gets hard.
That’s the work we’re excited to be part of.
