Chandra T. Phillips

Seaford Central Elementary School
Seaford, Delaware
chandra.phillips@seaford.k12.de.us

Best Practices

1) Balancing the administrative work from day to day with instructional leadership necessary to grow an assistant principal is challenging. However, it is obtainable when you connect the goals of the school with the processes developed to manage and lead instructionally. Ms. Phillips continuously makes the. never-ending connections between how to intertwine the social, emotional, and instructional targets of students and staff. After doing needs assessments, Ms. Phillips takes all of the major goals and maps out a plan to make connections for focus and implementation. She works with the School Leadership team to develop a plan that is coherent and manageable for all involved. Nothing is left to chance with Ms. Phillips leading the charge and developing the systems and processes with preciseness. This mindset of integrating needs has launched a process that continues with everything done at Central Elementary.

2) Ms. Phillips believes in authentic relationships and developing individualized plans for students with behaviors that are not improving. She sets out on a mission with other staff members to develop a specific plan along with the students, to develop better goals and targets that will ultimately set the student up for success. She is also very mindful that these plans do not always work right away, however, that does not deter her from analyzing the data, strategizing, and then acting based on the ideas and suggestions from all stakeholders. While some may take longer than others may, Ms. Phillips reaches out to many people to try to get the best possible, and most personal, plan for that specific child. It is not unusual to hear Ms. Phillips say, “What if we tried … ” From there, the wheels start turning and another iteration of the plan begins. Many students that are now older still reach out to her to thank her and share with her that although they struggled, she never gave up on supporting them through troubling times.