Illinois Principals Foundation

School leadership matters.  While this may seem obvious, research now makes it clear that principals set their school’s culture, whether the best teachers are attracted to and stay in their schools, and whether continuous school improvement efforts occur.  To make these things happen, principals must be growth-minded, visionary, mentors, capacity builders, results-oriented, and equity minded. Furthermore, principals must be focused on doing what is best for their students.

However, research has also delineated a challenge we must address: only 1 in 4 principals serve in a leadership position more than 5 years. As you might expect, this leadership churn makes it difficult for a school community to produce sustained, systemic change that dramatically improves student performance.  Additionally, it is easier to understand why teachers become cynical about school improvement initiatives and reiterate the famous cliché, “This too shall pass”.

To meet this challenge head-on, the Illinois Principals Foundation (IPF) is focused on supporting the Illinois Principals Association’s (IPA) vision of ensuring effective, sustained leadership for every Illinois school community.  To that end, the IPF supports principals by providing them tools, resources, and learning experiences that allow them to deepen their knowledge, spend time learning from their peers and experts, improve their schools’ culture, build the capacity of their teachers, and ultimately improve student performance.

Consider making a one-time $180 donation or recurring monthly gift of $15 per month.  However, we are grateful for all contributions.  For more information about the Illinois Principals Foundation and our efforts to ensure effective, sustained leadership for every Illinois school community, please contact: