The First 90 Days: How a New Principal Sets the Tone for Everything
Nothing you do as a school leader will matter more than what you do before your staff has decided who you are.
That window, those the first 90 days is when every person in your building is watching, testing, and forming a judgment about whether you are someone worth following. They are not cruel for doing this. They have been burned before. Most school leaders in high-needs buildings inherit staff who have watched two or three principals cycle through, each one promising change and delivering chaos.
Your first 90 days are not about proving yourself. They are about earning the right to lead.
The three phases of the first 90 days
I break the first 90 days into three distinct phases, each with a different primary goal:
Phase 1 (Days 1–30): Listen
Your only job in the first month is to understand the school as it actually is, not as the data says it is, not as the outgoing principal described it, and not as you imagine it from the outside. Talk to every staff member individually. Walk every hallway. Sit in on every class. Ask questions and say almost nothing else.
Leaders who arrive with a 100-day plan they built before they walked through the door often spend the rest of their tenure correcting for what that plan got wrong.
Phase 2 (Days 31–60): Diagnose
Once you have listened, you can begin to see patterns. What keeps coming up? What does everyone agree on, even if they disagree on everything else? Where is there fear? Where is there hope? What systems are quietly holding the school together, and which ones are causing invisible damage?
This is also when you start building your diagnostic picture of the school’s three core operating conditions: culture, systems, and capacity. We will spend future posts unpacking each of these in depth.
Phase 3 (Days 61–90): Act — Selectively
By day 60 you have earned the right to begin moving. Not everything. Not even most things. One or two high-leverage, high-visibility changes that signal to staff that you see what they see and you are prepared to do something about it.
The worst mistake new principals make in phase three is overreaching. You have not built enough trust yet to absorb a big swing that does not land. Choose carefully.
“Your first 90 days are not a sprint. They are the foundation everything else will be built on. Rushing them is the most expensive mistake a new principal can make.”
What principals get wrong in the first 90 days
Announcing changes before understanding what they are changing and why it exists
Spending the first month on operations and logistics instead of people
Letting urgency override relationship-building, especially in a turnaround context
Assuming that what worked in their last school will transfer directly
Trying to be liked instead of trying to be trusted
What the research says
The evidence on leader transitions is clear: principals who take time to understand context before acting have significantly better outcomes than those who move quickly on a pre-formed agenda. A study from the Wallace Foundation found that sustained principal effectiveness is strongly correlated with the quality of early relationship-building. Not the boldness of early decisions.
In turnaround contexts specifically, the research is even more stark. Schools that see quick, dramatic leadership changes like mass staff replacement, sweeping new programs in the first 90 days are more likely to destabilize than improve.
Your 3 reflection questions this week
If you are a new or newer principal: what are you learning in your first 90 days that surprises you?
If you are an established leader: looking back, what do you wish you had done differently in your first 90 days?
What is one thing your staff believes about your leadership that you are not sure is accurate?
This week’s free resource
The First 90 Days Planning Template is a structured, printable guide that walks you through each phase with prompts, observation frameworks, and reflection tools. Download it below and use it whether you are stepping into a new building or coaching a principal who is.
Download: First 90 Days Planning Template, available at skmeducationalservices.com/resources
Next week
Week 3 · April 13: Why your staff doesn’t trust you yet — and what to do about it.
About the author
Stephanie Kallis Meek, M.Ed., is an educational leader, speaker, and systems consultant specializing in school turnaround, principal coaching, and special education systems. She is the founder of SKM Educational Services.
Book a free consultation: skmeducationalservices.com
Contact: stephanie@skmeducationalservices.com
