The importance of principals. The school has had six principals in less than four years. That alone tells you a lot. I interviewed several people who are or were involved in the school and they all pointed to leadership as a problem. “Leadership sets the tone for everything happening in a building,” Knox said.
Lighthouse moved through several principals in rapid order at the start. Other circumstances around the school may have had an impact, but the bottom line is simply that having a good principal who provides steady, effective leadership is crucial to any school.
The importance of leadership more broadly. Adam Peck, current chair of the local Lighthouse board, summed up what went wrong: “Number one, leadership. You have to have the right leadership in place to run a school. And that’s leadership at all levels.”