Fifty-seven school administrators, including principals and vice-principals, graduate today, May 29, as the second class of the Nova Scotia Instructional Leadership Academy.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s graduates for their commitment to teaching and leadership excellence,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Karen Casey.

“This program directly helps students by ensuring the leaders in their schools have modern, practical and proven teaching strategies that will help students and teachers.”

Introduced in September 2010, the Nova Scotia Instructional Leadership Program is a three-year diploma program that provides principals and other instructional leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to improve their instruction and leadership abilities.

“The program has been a great support for me,” said Ben McNeil, vice-principal, Digby Regional High School. “It provides well-reasoned, evidence-based approaches to education instruction that I can use when working with staff to provide the best quality learning environment.”

The program was designed with principals, school boards, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, universities, and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Principals had asked for more effective instructional leadership support.

For more information on the program, visit nselc.ednet.ns.ca/ .

Source: Release