It takes a special person to lead a rural(鄉(xiāng)村的) school.
Like school leaders throughout the country, rural school principals must recruit teachers and deal with often lower funding than needed. But in rural areas, depending on the geographic （地理的）location, there are other problems such as declining enrollments, and the threat of consolidation（合并）.
While many urban and suburban schools have enrollments increating faster than they can hire teachers and build facilities, rural schools can have the opposite problem. Some rural schools have declining enrollments and, as a result, lose state funding.
Rural principals often take on many different types of responsibilities compared with principals of larger schools that have more administrative staff. “In larger schools, people are assigned to do many different tasks, in rural schools, principals do it all.” Says Donald Buckingham, principal of Sedgwick Elementary School in Sedgwick, Maine. As the leader of a consolidated school（農(nóng)村小學(xué)） district that faces a steady decline in enrollment, school finance is a key concern for this rural administrator who must, by definition, “wear a lot of hats.（身兼多職）”
Despite the workload, educators choose to become school leaders for several reasons. Sara Johnson, principal at Henry L. Stater Elementary School in Burns, Oregon, was inspired. She once overheard a woman administrator colleague say: “If you believe you could go into administration to make a difference, you have a moral obligation to do it.” Johnson took those words to heart and knew she had a calling to become a principal, who would face unique challenges every day.
Like school leaders throughout the country, rural school principals must recruit teachers and deal with often lower funding than needed. But in rural areas, depending on the geographic （地理的）location, there are other problems such as declining enrollments, and the threat of consolidation（合并）.
While many urban and suburban schools have enrollments increating faster than they can hire teachers and build facilities, rural schools can have the opposite problem. Some rural schools have declining enrollments and, as a result, lose state funding.
Rural principals often take on many different types of responsibilities compared with principals of larger schools that have more administrative staff. “In larger schools, people are assigned to do many different tasks, in rural schools, principals do it all.” Says Donald Buckingham, principal of Sedgwick Elementary School in Sedgwick, Maine. As the leader of a consolidated school（農(nóng)村小學(xué)） district that faces a steady decline in enrollment, school finance is a key concern for this rural administrator who must, by definition, “wear a lot of hats.（身兼多職）”
Despite the workload, educators choose to become school leaders for several reasons. Sara Johnson, principal at Henry L. Stater Elementary School in Burns, Oregon, was inspired. She once overheard a woman administrator colleague say: “If you believe you could go into administration to make a difference, you have a moral obligation to do it.” Johnson took those words to heart and knew she had a calling to become a principal, who would face unique challenges every day.