Who is it for?

The Instructional Leadership Academy (ILA) is designed to support early career assistant principals. The transition from the classroom to administration is a difficult one. ILA will help participants develop and sustain instructional leadership, build their capacity, and more importantly, help them reflect on how they build instructional capacity in the teams and schools they serve.  Assistant principals enrolled in ILA focus on leading adults to improve instruction, understanding state and federal requirements, instructional vision, data literacy, serving each student, and building a community of support. Additionally, each participant will create a personalized learning outcome based on personal and school needs. 
 
Contact: Frank Robinson, frobinson@ed.sc.gov

What does it look like?

Assistant principals enrolled in ILA focus on leading adults, understanding state and federal requirements, vision, data literacy, equity and building a community of support. We believe instructional leadership is a way of thinking and not a program. Participants develop a WHY statement based on who they are and what they believe about leadership, teaching, and learning. Here are a few examples of why ILA participants say they lead:

• “To continuously improve and grow in instructional capacity and interpersonal skills so that I can support and encourage others.”

• “To foster growth in others and build relationships so that we can become more, do more, and learn more for our school and community.”

• “To make teachers feel valued in their role as the instructional leader by helping them facilitate innovative ideas, strategies, and relationships so that all students achieve their personal best.”

ILA participants are also required to create a personalized learning outcome (PLO) based on personal and school needs and visit two schools and write a reflection.

What are people saying?

• “This class was truly beneficial to me as a new administrator. Every session was engaging and relevant to what I do every day. The interactions, discussions, learning tasks, and the relationships formed with other members of the group helped me to see that other people in this same position were experiencing some of the same things I experienced. That let me know I was not in this alone. This class helped me to celebrate the positives, work through the negatives/hardships, and turn them in to positive learning experience that will contribute to my knowledge and growth as an administrator (who is a lead learner).”??

 

• “ILA gave me a great opportunity to discuss challenges as a new assistant principal with others in similar situations. Doing this helped to strengthen my understanding of issues and helped me to grow as a leader.”

 

• “Tom Smith is a blessing! I hope to do more classes with him in the future. I wish more teachers were like him.”

 

• “Mr. Smith was organized, available and genuine. I appreciate his wealth of knowledge as we navigated this most interesting year.”?

What do you need to know?

There is no fee for this course. The participant/school/district is responsible for travel and lunch on your own. Each session runs from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm with an hour for lunch. Principal permission is required prior to session one and attendance and laptop are required for all sessions. Participants are eligible for 120 renewal credits upon completion of all sessions and required work.

Contact: Frank Robinson, frobinson@ed.sc.gov

ILA Cohort 21

Registration Link for ILA Cohort 21

ILA Cohort 21 Class Dates

• Session 1: September 22, 2025
• Session 2: September 23, 2025
• Session 3: October 14, 2025
• Session 4: November 17, 2025
• Session 5: January 6, 2026
• Session 6: February 17, 2026
• Session 7: March 9, 2026

ILA Cohort 22

Registration Link for ILA Cohort 22

ILA Cohort 22 Class Dates

• Session 1: October 21, 2025
• Session 2: October 22, 2025
• Session 3: November 20, 2025
• Session 4: December 10, 2025
• Session 5: January 7, 2026
• Session 6: February 18, 2026
• Session 7: March 10, 2026