Reflecting Success: Spotlight on Principal Ashley Hoggatt

Over 18 years as a school administrator, Putnam City Childcare Center and Denver Dee Kirkland Elementary School principal Ashley Hoggatt has embraced continuous feedback as a powerful driver of school improvement, coining the term “facilitated reflection” for the strategy she uses to address emerging issues and champion change.

Recognizing the critical role that parents and guardians play as a child’s first teachers, Hoggatt engages caregivers in the learning process from as early as 48 months. Building relationships with multiple events and constant communication, she sets academic expectations and celebrates student successes to make parent participation irresistible.

Principal magazine asked Hoggatt about parental outreach, her leadership philosophy, and other topics. Here’s what she said:

What are the goals that drive how you approach the job of principal?

Every adult at our school has two jobs: To make sure that everybody is safe at school, and to ensure that everybody is learning. We exist to help our community get stronger, [knowing that] these little people are going to be taking care of us one day.

How do you reach out to families to engage them in the learning process?

Our door is always open to parents. Even before the school year begins, we have opportunities to meet the teachers, and the teachers are intentional about giving parents skills and strategies to support their child. Build bonds, and parents get to participate in the school environment and support their child and their teachers.

How does your school’s MTSS system help kids thrive? 

We screen boys and girls three times a year and reflect on multiple pieces of data to determine who needs intervention. We create an intervention plan, and we monitor students to measure their progress in academics, attendance, and social-emotional skills. We have an arsenal of research-based interventions.

What is your favorite part of the school day as principal?

My favorite part of school is celebrating student successes. When a child accomplishes an academic goal, they get to pick a toy out of the treasure chest, a book off of the bookshelf, or a little candy treat, and I get to be in the middle of that.

What hidden talents do you have that aid in your leadership role?

My supervisor identified this. She said, “Ashley, you are relentless. When you get an idea [or] think something is going to benefit your school and enhance the learning environment, you’re all in. You just won’t stop until you accomplish your goal.”

What is “facilitated reflection,” and how do you use it to effect change?

You identify the problem, you get the experts in the room, you make a plan, and you work that plan. Then, you reflect: “What do we want to do differently next time?” In education, you don’t ever arrive at perfection; you have to be in a creative, problem-solving headspace constantly. You can never laminate your lesson plan.

What is the best book you’ve read in the last year (for personal PD)?

Strengths-Based Leadership from [Gallup self-assessment system] CliftonStrengths. It has four stories about different leaders in history, and any leader—not just a principal—could read this book to identify and understand their strengths based on their personality, skills, and passions.

What do you like to do in the off hours?

I love spending time with my family. I am so thankful for my husband, who’s a high school counselor, and for our three daughters, who are all in high school.