National Principal Supervisors Academy

A fellowship program that enables system-level leaders to effectively lead change across multiple schools through the coaching and development of school-based leaders.

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Program Participants

The National Principal Supervisors Academy (NPSA) is for principal supervisors and other system-level instructional leaders (e.g., Instructional Superintendents, Chief Academic Officers, Heads of Leadership Development, etc.). Participants work in a variety of K-12 settings including traditional school districts, independent schools, and charter management organizations across the U.S.

Program Focus

In highly effective school systems, principal supervisors play an essential role in improving instructional leadership across multiple schools. In this program, participants will dive deeply into areas such as:

  • Centering Equity: Strengthening awareness and strategies to systematically increase opportunity and remove barriers for historically underserved students.
  • Instructional Rigor: Building deep knowledge of the rigor required by grade level standards, and supporting school leaders in aligned instructional planning that meets students’ needs.
  • Coaching: Building skills to coach principals to be more effective instructional leaders.
  • Data-Informed Instruction: Leading principal teams in effective lesson internalization and response to student learning needs.
  • Strategic Planning: Supporting principals to identify priority areas and highest leverage actions to drive meaningful improvement across schools.

Program Experience

NPSA is a one-year program consisting of an 8-day hybrid (in-person and virtual) Summer Intensive followed by three hybrid multi-day Intersessions throughout the year. Based on a cohort model, leaders learn alongside their colleagues from across the country, including participation in virtual Learning Teams and submission of job-embedded assessments. 

Participants will benefit from:

  • Expert faculty: Learn from experienced practitioners who have demonstrated effectiveness in the field.
  • Feedback: Receive regular feedback on video assessments from experienced, Relay-trained coaches who have demonstrated success as effective principal supervisors.
  • A network of peers: Join a national network of instructional leaders who can help support implementation and problem-solve critical challenges.
  • Electives: Attend optional, virtual elective sessions before Intersession 1 and during Intersession 2. Electives provide additional resources to support inclusion and equity.

About Partnership

What makes a great partnership? Learn more about what kind of organizations we work with and how we support them in Conditions for Effective Partnership.

Or, look for answers to any general questions you may have on our FAQs page.

Program Schedule


The National Principal Supervisors Academy (NPSA) begins alongside the National Principal Academy Fellowship (NPAF) with the Summer Intensive, enabling alignment within teams. 

NPSA participants will have the option of attending the Summer Intensive in either June or July. The time commitment and the content are the same for each cohort.

Summer Intensive

Option 1: June Cohort | Houston, TX

June 18-21, 2024

Virtual Orientation 

Note: Participants will pick two half-day sessions within this date range

June 24-28, 2024

In-Person Summer Intensive Sessions

July 24-31, 2024

Virtual Triathlon (Live practice & feedback)

Note: Participants will pick one 3-hour session within this date range

Option 2: July Cohort | Chicago, IL

July 10-12, 2024

Virtual Orientation 

Note: Participants will pick two half-day sessions within this date range

July 15-19, 2024

In-Person Summer Intensive Sessions

July 24-31, 2024

Virtual Triathlon (Live practice & feedback)

Note: Participants will pick one 3-hour session within this date range

Intersessions

Oct. 17-18, 2024

In-Person (Houston, TX) Intersession 1

Jan. 27- Feb. 7, 2025

Virtual Intersession 2

Note: Participants will pick four half-day sessions within this date range

May 8-9, 2025

In-Person (Chicago, IL) Intersession 3

Program Cost

$16,500 per participant

The program fee covers:

  • High-quality professional development from experienced leaders
  • All course materials, licensing fees, and online access to electronic versions of resources
  • Hotel room on in-person session dates
  • Breakfast, lunch, and snacks during in-person sessions

Additional costs apply for the optional implementation coaching.

Deadlines

Partner organizations should request seats for their leaders by the following deadlines. Seats are filled on a first-come, first-served basis and may fill up quickly. 

Seat Request Form Opens: January 8, 2024
June Cohort - Seat Request Deadline: May 15, 2024
July Cohort - Seat Request Deadline: June 5, 2024 

For more information about how to request seats, see The Partnership Process page.

For general questions about Relay Leadership Programs, see our FAQs.

Jeanine Zitta
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Relay’s leadership programs were really a turning point in my career path. While I thought I was a strong leader before, Relay gave me specific tools and language to use that supported my work in ways that made it more effective and efficient.

- Jeanine Zitta

Jeanine Zitta's Story

"Relay’s leadership programs were really a turning point in my career path. While I thought I was a strong leader before, Relay gave me specific tools and language to use that supported my work in ways that made it more effective and efficient.  By taking this work back to my schools, we were able to really ground ourselves in common work that transcended school environments and allowed me to support across the district.  The leaders I supported found their own common language to use when working with teachers and students, and leaders were growing in their coaching abilities at an exponential pace.  We got deeper and deeper into our work and became our own subset of experts supporting one another in this very difficult work of leading schools.

During Relay sessions (and even beyond), I found myself connecting with leaders from all over the world with similar values and passion for student growth and teacher effectiveness, that I was learning not only from the facilitators, but also from colleagues.  Staying connected with the teachings and participants of Relay is a way that I stay current in the work of school leadership, and a way to always have a partner in the conversation that I know will push me to be better for those I lead."

Jeanine Zitta, Network Superintendent, St. Louis Public Schools
National Principal Supervisor Academy 2017
Leverage Leadership Institute, Cohort 4, 2018

Ready to Request Seats?

Complete the form below to begin the process of registering your leadership teams for Relay’s School Year 2024-2025 Instructional Leadership Academies.

Have Questions?

We would love to discuss your team's needs and identify which programs would be a good fit. To get in touch, use the interest form linked below and add any questions you have in the “Optional” box.