Reflecting on the Future: My Final Takeaways from the 2026 National Conference on Education

This is my final blog entry as a featured blogger at the 2026 National Conference on Education. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience and am incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to share my reflections with colleagues across the country. A heartfelt thank you to AASA for providing this platform!

On the final day of the conference, I attended two outstanding breakout sessions before wrapping up with an inspiring closing keynote. Here is a look at my biggest takeaways as I prepare to head home.

Session 1: One-Degree Shifts in Central Office Culture

My morning kicked off with One Degree Shifts: Small Moves, Big Impact on Central Office Culture, led by Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Dyson and Chief of Staff Sarah Sirgo.

Their presentation tackled a fantastic question: How do we ensure our central offices aren’t just functional, but genuinely inspirational? They shared how they have intentionally shaped their central office culture to be rooted in transparency, integrity, and service to their schools. Grounded in values-driven leadership, they emphasized how small, one-degree shifts in collaboration and communication can build psychological safety and internal cohesion.

They introduced a brilliant "culture alignment tool" that challenges central office leaders to evaluate their culture across four areas: Psychological Safety, Clarity, Rhythm, and Symbolism. Within each of those areas, leaders must consider three key factors: People, Practices, and Priorities.

To give you an idea of how this looks in action, they broke down their approach to Rhythm (communication cadence and meeting patterns):

• People: They maintain quarterly listening tours, bi-weekly principal advisory check-ins, and semiannual climate conversations with staff and student representatives.

• Practices: They enforce formal "quiet hours" with a no-email rule after 6:00 PM. They also utilize a “School First” agenda rule for cabinet meetings, dedicating the first ten minutes exclusively to school feedback.

• Priorities: They established a rapid-response micro-resource fund to address urgent school issues within 48 hours, along with micro-grants for school-based innovations.

(Note: They shared specific examples for the other three areas as well. If you are interested in seeing the full breakdown, please reach out to me via email or social media, and I’d be happy to share a copy!)

As they shared their experiences, I felt a deep sense of pride realizing that our district is already implementing many of these practices. For example, we utilize our "Know, Do, Share" memo for cabinet members and building leaders, which keeps our team aligned while drastically reducing email traffic.

We also leverage Asana to track communications and ensure my bi-monthly meetings with building leaders are purposeful and dedicated. Our district directors hold similar protected meeting times with building leaders. Furthermore, we are firmly committed to respecting personal time; we do not send emails outside of the workday. If a team member prefers to draft emails in the evening, they are expected to schedule them to send the following morning.

To keep us aligned, our district directors meet every Monday morning. As Superintendent, my own meeting rhythm is intentionally designed to support our team: daily touchpoints with our Communications Strategist; weekly meetings with our Directors of HR and Business/Finance; bi-monthly meetings with our Directors of Teaching & Learning, Food & Nutrition, and Community Education; and monthly meetings with our Directors of Buildings & Grounds, Instructional Technology, and Student Services.

This session was a great validation of our current practices, but it also challenged me to remain intentional. One immediate takeaway I plan to implement is consistently asking these three simple, powerful questions during my leader check-ins:

1. What are you excited about or proud of right now?

2. What are you currently struggling with?

3. How can I better support you?

Session 2: The Power of "Rounding" in Community Partnerships

Next, I attended Powering Strategic Priorities Through Trust, Transparency, and School-Community Partnerships. This panel featured leaders from Studer Education alongside superintendents from Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, and California.

Instead of treating the community as just an audience to be informed, this panel explored how to turn families and neighbors into co-creators of school improvement. They discussed opening school doors for community walks and using consistent, multi-channel messaging to build a culture of shared purpose.

My biggest takeaway from this session was the concept of "rounding." In healthcare, rounding is how doctors check on patients. In education leadership, rounding is the intentional, systematic practice of getting out into the district to ask specific questions of staff, students, and community members.

To stay truly abreast of the district's pulse, a superintendent must proactively ask questions like:

• What are we doing well?

• What is one thing you’d change about the district?

• What do you want to hear more about?

Closing Keynote: Dr. Marcelle Haddix

The conference concluded with an exceptional keynote from Dr. Marcelle Haddix, Dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Education.

She opened by sharing two things she does every single morning to ground herself: she begins with a gratitude journal (using the prompt: Today I am grateful for...), and she intentionally practices joy by listening to music.

Dr. Haddix shared her rules for predicting the future: learn from the past, respect the law of consequences, be acutely aware of your own perspective, and always count on surprises.

A major theme of her keynote was the profound impact of representation. What happens when students do not see themselves, their stories, or their language reflected in books or in the professions around them? Seeing oneself in literature and in leadership builds the confidence to dream. When we fail to provide those mirrors, we actively limit a child's imagination.

Leadership matters. It shifts cultures, drives change, and ultimately improves student outcomes. Dr. Haddix noted that she used to say "leadership chose her," but she realized she needed to be far more intentional about her why. Quoting Tony Robbins, she reminded us: "If you have some power, your job is to empower someone else." Her own leadership style is deeply rooted in community. She views her mission as building leadership pipelines, specifically for Black women, so that future generations are inspired and encouraged to lead.

She left us with a call to action on how we must lead now to prepare for the future:

1. Broaden our definition of literacy: We must uplift diverse stories and experiences so everyone sees themselves in what they read. We need to build a true, inclusive culture of literacy.

2. Reclaim the narrative on teaching: We have to fix the teacher shortage by strengthening our pipelines and changing how the education profession is talked about.

3. Work collectively: None of us can do this work in silos. As she often tells her team, "We are stronger together." True partnership involves not just those inside our school buildings, but our broader communities as well.

As I pack my bags and head back to my district, I am leaving with a full notebook and a full heart. Thank you again to AASA for an incredible conference, and thank you for reading along with me this week!

Daring Greatly: Lessons from the Arena and the Mat

Day Two of the National Conference on Education began with a powerful sense of community and a deep dive into the "Hero’s Journey." I started my morning at the MASA breakfast, celebrating with my fellow Minnesota colleagues. We had the privilege of hearing the inspirational leadership journey of Dr. Lisa Sayles-Adams, Minnesota’s Superintendent of the Year and the current Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools.

Following breakfast, I connected with my fellow featured bloggers: Kelly Aramaki (Washington), Michelle Osterhoudt (New York), and Heather Perry (Maine). It was a fine example of the networking power this conference provides; reading their entries confirms they are inspirational leaders we can all learn from. The morning momentum continued as Minnesota’s own David Law kicked off the keynote session, reflecting on his impactful year as AASA President and celebrating the great work being done by superintendents nationwide.

The Keynote: Marcus Whitney’s Unlikely Journey

Our keynote speaker, Marcus Whitney, shared a story that is the definition of "daring greatly." In 2000, Marcus moved to Nashville as a college dropout with a young son and another baby on the way, living in a week-to-week efficiency hotel. Two decades later, he is a venture capitalist, a bestselling author, and co-founder/owner of Nashville’s Major League Soccer team.

Marcus walked us through how he turned his dreams into reality, explaining the path to success, and challenging us to dream beyond our comfort levels.

The Foundation: Parents and Preparation

A significant portion of Marcus's message was dedicated to the "investments" others made in him. He credited his parents for pouring everything into him, placing him in environments where he could succeed, and instilling the belief that he could do anything.

Reflecting on his story made me think of my own parents. While they didn't have a lot of income, they made sure my siblings and I had everything we needed, from sending us to wrestling camps at the University of Iowa to supporting us in ways we didn't fully realize at the time. Loving parents have an immeasurable impact. As leaders, it forces us to ask: How can we enhance learning for students who have that support, while simultaneously providing a foundation for those who may not have it at home?

The Arena and the Lessons of the Mat

Marcus also spoke about the impact of the Hero’s Journey (Joseph Campbell) on his life. Interestingly, Marcus was a wrestler, a sport close to my heart. He noted that the lessons of the mat, perseverance, hard work, and sacrifice, were the very tools he used to transform his life.

He closed with the iconic Teddy Roosevelt quote, "The Man in the Arena." It was a perfect reminder for every superintendent in the room:

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."

As we navigate the challenges of public education, we are the ones in the arena. We are the doers of deeds. Today’s session was a reminder that our journey, and the journeys of our students, require the courage to dream and the resilience to stay in the action.

Be the Tide: Fulfilling the Public Education Promise

The first Keynote session at this year’s AASA conference served as both a compass for our collective future and a high-energy reminder of why we chose this path in the first place. We kicked off with a powerful call to action: The Public Education Promise. This is a commitment to providing every child, in every community, an education that prepares them for real life in the real world.

The Five Pillars of Our Promise

As Executive Director David Schuler shared, as school system leaders, we are converging around five guiding principles that will define the next era of American public education:

• Principle 1: Prioritize Student-Centered Learning – Nurturing the unique potential of every young person by creating environments where they feel they belong and have a voice.

• Principle 2: The New Basics: Real Skills for Real Life – Balancing traditional core curricula with the "New Basics"—adaptability, digital literacy, financial literacy, and problem-solving.

• Principle 3: Attract, Hire, Retain, and Reward the Best People – Recognizing that the heart of any successful system is its people and building a culture that empowers them to lead.

• Principle 4: Build Highly Engaged Family, Community, and Business Partnerships – Moving beyond the school walls to create a seamless learning ecosystem.

• Principle 5: Measure What Matters – Moving beyond high-stakes testing to adopt multiple measures that reflect real-world competencies and student well-being.

Give Yourself a Chance: The Sanfelippo Spark

After laying out the framework, we were joined by Joe Sanfelippo, a former superintendent turned leadership coach. His message was a lesson in the "human" side of our roles. One of his favorite taglines, “Give Yourself a Chance," struck a chord with me.

Joe reminded us that because everyone went to school, everyone thinks they know how to run one. In that environment, every interaction matters. We’ve all heard it before, but it necessitates repeating: people may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Every high-five in the hallway or brief chat with a bus driver could be the one interaction that person talks about for the rest of their lives.

Stop Defending, Start Defining

Aligning perfectly with our earlier sessions today, Joe encouraged us to stop "defending" our work. Defending is exhausting and reactive. Instead, we must define our work by telling our own stories. If we don’t provide the narrative, others may invent one. We need to give our staff, families, and students a constant stream of reasons to speak positively about their lived experiences in our schools.

The Superintendent’s Source of Energy

One of the most practical pieces of advice from the Keynote was simple: Get out of the office. Use your feet. Visit classrooms. It is easy to get bogged down in the "business" of the district, but we are at our best when we are with students. Whenever I am around students, I feel energized. I have never walked out of an elementary school building without a smile on my face or a funny story to tell. Those visits are the essential reminders of why we do what we do.

As Angie Hooper said, "The rising tide lifts all boats. Be the tide." As superintendents, we set the tone. If we are the "tide" of positivity and recognition, that energy ripples throughout the entire organization.

Celebrating Excellence

We closed the session by recognizing the Superintendents of the Year from each state. It is always a humbling experience to see our colleagues acknowledged for the hard work they do every day.

The four national finalists were:

• Demetrus Liggins (Kentucky)

• Roosevelt Nivens (Texas)

• Heather Perry (Maine)

• Sonja Santelises (Maryland)

A huge congratulations to Roosevelt Nivens from Texas, who was named the National Superintendent of the Year. His acceptance was a beautiful tribute to the personal and professional support systems that make this work possible. Roosevelt, you represent the best of us!

Important Links/Sources:

The Public Education Promise

From Customers to Partners: Redefining Family Engagement

Having been a former 1st grade teacher, if there is one universal frustration in elementary education, it’s the blank reading log. Many of us have seen them, which created my excitement to attend the breakout, "15 Minutes to Impact: A Scalable System for Family Engagement That Actually Drives Literacy Growth," featuring Jessica Sliwerski (Ignite! Reading), Jose Escribano (Springfield Public Schools), and Jennie Bachmeyer (Red Bluff Union Elementary District).

The panel proposed that most family engagement fails not because parents don’t care, but because the engagement isn't actually designed for most families. Traditional literacy nights often draw the same 12 families, while parent workshops rarely reach those who need them most. Yet, the research presented shows that when we get this right, students can gain an average of 10 points on standardized reading tests.

The Science of Connection: What the Research Says

The session leaned heavily on the School Transition Study (STS), a decade-long investigation led by researchers like Dr. Heather Weiss and Eric Dearing. They followed 390 low-income, ethnically diverse children from kindergarten through fifth grade to see exactly how family involvement impacts literacy.

The findings offered a roadmap for those of us leading districts:

• Consistency over Intensity: High levels of involvement, from attending conferences to volunteering, predicted significant literacy gains over time.

• The "Added Reward": Interestingly, family involvement had the strongest positive impact on children whose mothers had the lowest levels of formal education. It is a powerful tool for closing the achievement gap.

• Emotional Pathways: Involvement doesn’t just teach a skill; it increases a child’s positive feelings about reading, which in turn drives their performance.

• It’s Never Too Late: Because involvement is dynamic, parents can become more engaged at any point in the developmental continuum and still produce measurable results.

Differentiated Engagement: Families are "In" the System

One of the most profound shifts in mindset came from Jose Escribano. He challenged us to stop treating families as "customers". If they are customers, they are outside the system. Instead, we must view families and students as being within the system.

This means we have to move toward Differentiated Engagement. Just as we differentiate instruction for students, we must differentiate how we reach families. Jose and Jennie Bachmeyer shared that we need to stop asking how families fit into our school schedules and start asking how our schools fit into their lives.

Real-World Solutions: Meeting Families Where They Are

Jennie shared how her rural district has reimagined engagement by removing every possible barrier. In her district, if an event doesn't include childcare and a meal, participation is nonexistent.

They’ve also taken literacy "on the road":

• The Restaurant QR Code: They place QR codes in local restaurants. Instead of kids sitting on tablets, families can scan a code that leads to literacy games or math activities.

• The Mobile Library: Rather than waiting for families to come to the school library, they use a mobile library, and literacy leads go to community events and pass out free books.

• Facilitated Instructions: Programs like Raising Readers go home every Friday with QR codes that walk parents through how to facilitate reading at home.

Funding the Village

Of course, this work requires resources. Panelists discussed leveraging Title I funds, literacy grants, and community donations. But more importantly, they are leaning on "the village", community volunteers, civic organizations, and "grandparent volunteers" to provide the human power needed to sustain these systems.

Final Thought

My big takeaway? Literacy isn't just a classroom goal; it's a community effort. When we design engagement with the "hard to reach" family in mind, we often find they weren't hard to reach at all, they were just waiting for an invitation that fit their reality.

Important Links

Ign!te Reading

Raising Readers

Dolly Parton Imagination Library

The Attendance Puzzle: Solving for the Whole Child

If my first session this morning was about the "Why" of our school's identity, the second was a deep dive into the "Where", specifically, where are our students? I joined Dr. Mary Catherine Reljac (Superintendent of Fox Chapel Area School District), Benjamin Master (RAND Corporation), and Lydia Rainey (Center on Reinventing Public Education) for a session that challenged the idea that there is one simple fix for the attendance crisis.

The reality presented by the American School District Panel (ASDP) research is significant: chronic absenteeism isn't just a lingering "pandemic blip"; it remains a pervasive issue that is hitting our urban centers the hardest. Perhaps most concerning is the communication gap identified by the latest survey data: a significant number of both parents and students report they simply haven't heard from their schools about their absences.

Moving From Data to Dialogue

Dr. Reljac’s work at Fox Chapel provides a roadmap for how we can close that gap. They aren't just looking at the numbers; they are changing how they talk to families about them. One strategy that resonated with me was the "comparative re-frame." By showing a parent that the district average is one absence while their child is at ten, the data becomes a tangible marker of missed opportunity rather than just a cold statistic.

The Framework for Re-engagement The research highlights that winning this battle requires a "very comprehensive" multi-pronged strategy:

• Family Engagement: Moving beyond robocalls to consistent outreach through home visits and personalized meetings to build early relationships.

• Positive Climate: Shifting the culture from punishing lateness to celebrating attendance through mentorship and incentives like rewards or finals exemptions.

• Student Engagement: Ensuring that instruction is relevant and that students have access to CTE and work-based learning options that make school feel "worth it."

• Wraparound Supports: Utilizing on-site counseling and community partnerships to address the root causes of absenteeism, like transportation or mental health barriers.

• Systems & Data: Implementing MTSS for attendance and using "rising rosters" to identify and support at-risk students before they disengage completely

Community-Powered Solutions: The Grandma Brigade

The highlight of the session was a creative idea being explored by Fox Chapel: the "Grandma Brigade." This initiative involves community volunteers, local grandmas, who call families in the morning to offer a friendly wake-up call and help get children to school. It’s an example of how we can use the human element to build community while solving a logistical problem. It reminds us that families often trust the voices of their peers and elders more than a formal district office.

The Bottom Line

Attendance is the ultimate correlate to student achievement. We can have the best brand and the most innovative programs, but they mean nothing if the desks are empty. As leaders, we must be relentless in our pursuit of these students, not through mandates alone, but through bold storytelling, authentic relationships, and a superior "customer experience" that makes every student feel missed when they are gone.

From Defense to Definition: Winning the Enrollment Challenge

There’s a unique kind of energy that accompanies the AASA National Conference on Education, a mix of urgency, professional camaraderie, and the shared understanding that the work we do matters now more than ever.

One of the best parts of this conference is the immediate connection with colleagues. Before I even finished checking in, I ran into my good friend Dan Frazier. Dan is the former superintendent at Litchfield, MN, and is now doing great work down in Texas. We’ve known each other for about 14 years, and that’s the beauty of this event: it doesn't matter how many miles or years have passed; you can always pick up right where you left off. It was the perfect way to start the week.

My first session started at 9:00 am, and the focus shifted to the significant challenges facing our industry. I spent my first breakout session with Bill Good, Chief Communications Officer of Denver Public Schools (and a remarkably resilient Detroit Lions fan), and Greg Turchetta, a strategic communications advisor at Apptegy. Their session, “Alternate Realities: Winning School Choice in Blue, Red, and Purple States,” was an outstanding case for shifting our mindset from defense to offense.

The Three Rs: Reality, Revenue, and Response

The presenters didn't sugarcoat the "Reality" slide. Since 2019, 1.2 million students have left public education. Let that sink in. This isn’t just a "pandemic blip"; it is a systemic shift and a looming budget crisis for districts nationwide.

The logic is simple but brutal: Enrollment goes down, revenue follows, and staffing cuts follow revenue. Bill and Greg made a compelling case that in times like these, the communications department is not a "luxury" to be cut; it is the very team that can help solve the problem. Essentially, strategic communications is revenue protection.

Stop Defending, Start Defining

One of the most striking points made was how we, as district leaders, often fight "choice." We treat choice like something that is happening to us. But the truth is, families are making these decisions independently of our arguments.

The shift we need is to move from Defensive Leadership to Definitive Leadership.

• Defensive Leadership explains, apologizes, reacts to the vocal minority, and argues through press releases. It feels responsible, but it rarely moves the needle on public opinion.

• Definitive Leadership proactively sets the narrative. It boldly shows proof of success, promotes exclusive learning opportunities, and drives enrollment through marketing.

The message was clear: Don’t waste energy fighting school choice. Spend that energy defining why you are the best choice.

The Power of Brand and Experience

We have to remember that "people are people." The way families purchase and engage with private-sector brands is exactly how they expect to engage with their schools. In the private sector, 90% of marketers consider "brand experience" to be absolutely critical.

In public education, we need to focus on that "brand experience" by mastering Experiential Marketing. 

This means:

1. Building Brand Awareness: Does the community know what you're great at?

2. Fostering Brand Loyalty: How do families feel after their first interaction?

3. Generating Word of Mouth: Are your parents your best marketers?

Denver Public Schools shared a brilliant example of this by redefining the "P" in Public Schools. They aren't just "Public"; they are Denver Prestigious Schools, Denver Passionate Schools, and Denver Proud Schools. They took a label that is often used as a catch-all and turned it into a brand of excellence.

Action Steps: The 90-Day Sprint

The session concluded with some very practical, "boots-on-the-ground" advice for superintendents. If we want to win the enrollment battle, we have to scale our storytelling. We need to create more storytellers, teachers, students, and parents, and use systems that allow us to "create once and publish everywhere."

Here are a few takeaways I'm bringing back with me:

• The "Amazon" Test: Evaluate your enrollment process. Is it easy? Or is it buried under jargon and 15 different forms? We need to make it "Amazon easy."

• The 90-Day Sprint: Pick one or two programs or schools to pilot an enrollment-focused marketing plan. Measure the inquiries, the tours, and the applications. Results change budgets, but momentum changes behavior.

• The Secret Shopper: When was the last time you "secret shopped" your own district? Call the front office, look at the enrollment page in a different language, or try to find a video of why a teacher chose to stay at your school.

The Final Leadership Shift

The most provocative thought of the morning was this: Your Communications staff should become your Chief of Brand and Enrollment Management. If no one in your organization wakes up every morning owning these areas, you are leaking opportunity by default.

Enrollment loss isn't just about declining birth rates or legislation. It’s an identity problem. Winning districts don't wait for the world to change; they define who they are, tell their story relentlessly, and create a superior experience for every family that walks through their doors.

As we move through the rest of this conference, I’m challenged to look at our "Brand" not as a logo, but as the promise we make to our community. It’s time to stop debating and start bragging.

For those of you looking to dive deeper into this mindset, I highly recommend checking out School CEO Magazine for more resources on school branding and marketing.

Stay tuned for more updates from NCE!