I was appointed principal of Southwest High School after six and a half years as a vice principal. Our school faced severe challenges as we sought to raise the level of student achievement. Located near the Mexican border, Southwest's 2,800 students included 57% qualified as economically disadvantaged, and 34% designated as English Language Learners. The initial API* assigned to the school was 450; only 13% of our students were enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes.

Staff relationships were positive, but everyone - including me - seemed to be working in isolation, without a coherent plan. My experience as a vice principal - primarily an administrative role - had conditioned me to focus on operational issues. I would go to the office each day and hunker down for fourteen hours at a stretch, handling multiple district office requests and chasing bus schedules. My teachers desperately needed my instructional leadership, but I wasn't providing it.

I turned to The Breakthrough Coach (TBC) for help, and they guided me to two powerful insights that have defined my leadership style ever since:

• I had to stop working in the system as the operations manager and start working on the system to improve the delivery of our services;
• I needed to exert my leadership by developing a clear vision for Southwest, then using my time and energy to make that vision a reality.

I saw Southwest as "the #1 California high school qualifying seniors to be college-eligible when they graduated," as measured by the number of students enrolled in our AP program, and I was determined to share that vision with everyone in our learning community.

TBC gave me the help I needed to begin reaching my leadership goals. My first step was to rid my office of everything that had kept me stuck in operations and made my workspace feel like a shrine to the past.

Next, I instituted a daily 30-minute meeting with my secretary, using TBC methodology to train her to manage me and my time, and asked that she carve out time for her own professional development, as well as that of the teaching staff. She embraced the idea enthusiastically and learned to manage my schedule in a way that respected my time, talent and energy. I notified our various constituencies (parents, district office, and school staff), about our new procedures so that they could navigate our system. Now I was ready to focus on working with my teachers on our school improvement plan.

I thought my new approach was working, but I did have some doubts until a particular situation convinced me that I needed to take full command as the school's instructional leader. One teacher was balking at mainstreaming all our students. Specifically, she wanted me to remove "those kids" from her class, and divert them from our standard curriculum. I couldn't imagine a school in which all our students didn't have equal access to our programs. I made it very clear that it was the teacher's responsibility to educate every child to his or her maximum potential. If she didn't know how to do that, then it was my job to train and develop her.

By the end of my first year under TBC's guidance:

• I was averaging a 50-hour work week;
• I was able to spend 50% of my time in classrooms.

After 4 years:

• the percentage of students enrolled in AP classes tripled from 13% to 40%;
• the number of students taking AP exams rose from 344 to 872;
• Southwest's API score jumped 100 points.

I know I am now giving my best to every one of our students and staff members. Thanks to The Breakthrough Coach, my vision is on its way to becoming a reality.