TruPath recently placed a new head of school — who made the move all the way from Kansas to California. Our team had just eight weeks to not only identify quality candidates, but also vet them through our internal process, submit to the client, coordinate interviews and hopefully get a green light. Because it turned out to be such a successful role placement, we wanted to delve into some excellent head of school interview questions to ask.

Are you growing the administration at your school? These interview questions will come in handy.

Best Head Of School Interview Questions

Describe your vision for improving your current school. What particular challenges has the school faced? To what extent have you made this vision a reality?

Every great head of school should have a clear idea of how to improve the school where he or she currently works. Ask the candidate to delve into specific challenges the school has faced, and how his or her vision for the school has come alive. Has the candidate researched your school? How might the candidate approach any challenges moving forward in this role?

Provide an example of how you have developed innovative solutions to minimal funding. What was the outcome?

A head of school should enter this role prepared with the creativity to work around budget restraints. Schools don’t have an endless stream of funding rolling in — so how does the candidate manage that? This is one of the top head of school interview questions, as it reveals how well the candidate can bring innovation and conscientiousness to the table.

How do you embody your current school’s vision for excellence each day?

This question allows the candidate to define what excellence means to him or her (and to the school). Then, the candidate can address how this vision for excellence applies to his or her daily life. This is also one of the best head of school interview questions to ask the candidate’s references later on.

Give us an example of when you facilitated change in your current school.

What was the impact of this? What did the candidate learn throughout the process of facilitating this change? Dig deep on this question to discover how your potential head of school handles change implementation.

What are the two or three most critical things you would do to accelerate school growth and ensure every child is learning?

How does the candidate plan on moving your school forward? What measures would he or she take to make sure all students are benefiting from coming to school? Any top-tier head of school is armed with ideas to push the school and its students toward success.

Describe a time when you had to resolve a difficult situation with a student. Talk about the situation, the actions you took and the results.

The ideal head of school candidate has faced challenges such as this. Look for one-on-one experience with students. How did the situation turn out? This will tell you how the candidate might approach future conflicts. You might also follow up by asking the same question framed around a difficult situation with a teacher or parent.

What is the administrator’s role and the parents’ in disciplining a child? If problems ever arise with a student, what support services should the school provide?

As one of the top head of school interview questions, this unveils whether the candidate can differentiate between various kinds of student discipline. When should parents step in? When should administrators or teachers? Another important topic to touch on is services available at the school to help children facing academic issues or troubles at home. Is the head of school a trusted, wise figure for students to approach in these situations?

What other head of school interview questions would you add to this list? Let us know! Contact TruPath if you’re looking to hire a school administrator.

As a trusted recruitment source for more than a decade, TruPath has the industry knowledge and a proven model to help our partners feel comfortable in their search for a candidate.

Through our TruProcess, we are able to consistently deliver exceptional candidates that help organizations continue down successful paths. Contact TruPath today to tell us about your staffing needs.