AUSTIN The Charles Butt Foundation, a nonprofit pursuing a more equitable and prosperous future for all Texans through education and community partnerships, is seeking applicants for its 2024 cohort of the Raising School Leaders program, an initiative designed to support stronger school leaders who will enhance the quality of education across Texas.
Principals serving Texas public schools selected for the cohort will attend the Achieving Excellence: Leadership Development for Principals institute, a week-long summer institute at the Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This year’s program is geared toward Texas principals from rural and/or small districts. To be eligible, applicants must be current Texas public school head principals who intend to remain a principal or district leader in a Texas public school in the 2024-25 school year.
Up to 30 principals who serve in rural schools, rural districts, and/or school districts with 5,500 students or less will be selected as part of the 2024 cohort.
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, Texas has more than 2,000 campuses classified as being in rural areas. Nationally, Texas has more schools in rural areas than any other state with more than 20 percent of campuses located in rural areas.
“An important component of the Raising School Leaders program is to build a space for these school leaders to find common ground with one another and form the foundation for a network of support,” Tim Miller, director of leadership development at the Charles Butt Foundation, said in a news release. “While rural schools often serve as the heart of their communities, school leaders in rural communities often have less immediate access to professional development and training resources than those in urban and suburban areas. We want to ensure rural school leaders have access to high-quality leadership development programs that ultimately will benefit rural teachers and students.”
The application for the 2024 Raising School Leaders program closes at noon March 15. Visit tinyurl.com/bddvy9xw to submit an application.
Since 2008, the Charles Butt Foundation has sponsored more than 1,500 principals across the state to attend training at Harvard. Expenses covered for attendees include tuition, travel, hotel, and other discretionary costs.
