Alabama State University recently received a $100,000 grant from the Alabama State Department of Education to establish and implement the Principals’ Center in School Reform at the Southern Normal campus in Brewton.

The Principals’ Center in School Reform is a leadership development program held one Saturday each month from February to July for 25 principals and 25 aspiring principals. The program recognizes that school principals have one of the nation’s most critical and complex jobs and that the pool of individuals prepared to successfully meet the challenges of school reform through academic and fiscal accountability needs to be increased and diversified, said Dr. Margaret Breland Bradley, program director and director of the Southern Normal campus.

The Principals’ Center is emphasizing the development of leadership skills designed to increase student learning, fiscal responsibility and leadership competencies.  Relationships and the personal commitments that contribute to leadership development are also explored.

Participants will develop an individual development plan that will enable them to tailor learning activities to meet their own leadership styles. They will also participate in the Distinguished Authors series, which gives them opportunities to talk to renowned educational authors.  In addition, they will have access to the Student Success Resource Center for Educational Leaders, which consists of resources for best practices in school reform.