AP Summit: A Fast Climb to Stronger Leadership
Assistant principals carry some of the most complex and consequential responsibilities in a school. From student discipline and family communication to legal compliance, school culture, staff relationships, and your own evaluation, the role requires clarity, confidence, and practical tools.
Join AWSP for the 2026 Assistant Principal Summit, a one-day, in-person learning experience designed specifically for assistant principals, deans of students, principal assistants, and vice principals who want to sharpen their leadership, strengthen their systems, and build a network of colleagues across Washington.
Led by AWSP Associate Director Kamrica Ary-Turner, this institute brings together legal guidance, leadership strategy, peer-tested practices, and real-world insight from award-winning assistant principals.
Event Details & Registration
Date: Monday, October 12
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: AWSP Olympia Office
Cost: $149 AWSP members | $300 non-members
Included: Lunch and 5 leadership clock hours
Featured Guests
AWSP’s School Law Attorney
Assistant Principal of the Year Guest Speakers
Melyssa Stone
Shorewood High School, Shoreline School District
2026 Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year
Traci Schultz
Southworth Elementary, Yelm School District
2026 Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year
James West
Cascade Elementary, Kennewick School District
2025 Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year
Lacey Griffiths
R.A. Long High School, Longview School District
2019 Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year
What You’ll Learn
During the AP Summit, participants will explore practical strategies and timely guidance on:
- Understanding your legal rights and responsibilities as a school leader
- Maintaining relationships while managing discipline and restorative practices
- Crushing your own evaluation this year with support and guidance designed for assistant principals
- Assessing your school’s climate and culture
- Using AWSP’s School Leader Planning Guide for self-management, leadership efficiency, and sustainable systems
Agenda
Time
Session Topic
Description
9:00–9:20 a.m.
Finding Your Bearings: Welcome and Leadership Check-In
Name the current realities of the assistant principalship across elementary, middle, and high school settings. Participants identify where they are in their leadership journey and the challenge they most need help navigating.
9:20 – 10:20 a.m.
Know Your Guardrails: Your Legal Rights and Responsibilities
One-hour legal counsel panel addressing AP rights, responsibilities, employment protections, professional boundaries, documentation, due process, personal liability, and areas of legal exposure.
10:20 – 10:30 a.m.
Pause and Reset
Refreshments and informal networking.
10:30-11:15 a.m.
Navigating Tension: Relationships, Discipline, and Restorative Leadership
Work through grade-level scenarios involving student discipline, restorative practices, family pressure, staff expectations, due process, disproportionality, and maintaining relationships while making diffi cult decisions.
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Voices From the Journey: AP Leadership Panel
Award-winning assistant principals representing different grade levels discuss principal–AP partnerships, authority, confl ict, school culture, discipline, instructional leadership, professional identity, and lessons learned along the way.
12:15 – 12:45 p.m.
Refeul and Connect: Lunch
Participants connect by elementary, middle, high school, or a shared leadership challenge.
12:45 – 1:25 p.m.
Chart Your Impact: Your Own Evaluation
Understand the evaluation process, connect assigned responsibilities to the AWSP Leadership Framework, collect meaningful evidence, communicate leadership impact, and prepare for evaluator conversations.
1:25 – 2:00 p.m.
Reading the Terrain: Assessing School Climate and Culture
Examine what attendance, discipline, belonging, student voice, staff trust, family experiences, and identity safety reveal about the school’s climate and culture.
2:00 – 2:10 p.m.
Pause and Recalibrate
Refreshments, reflection, and informal networking.
2:10 – 2:55 p.m.
Setting the Course: Prioritize, Share, Delegate, or Stop
Use the October section of AWSP’s School Leader Planning Guide to identify what APs should own, share, delegate, postpone, or stop doing to build sustainable leadership systems.
2:55 – 3:00 p.m.
Your Next True North: Leadership Commitment and Closing
Identify one legal question to clarify, one leadership move to make, one system to strengthen, and one conversation to initiate after the summit.
Register Today
CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY: All refund requests must be made in writing. A 20% processing fee will be deducted from all refunds.
- Full Refund: Requests must be received 20 business days before the workshop. (Minus a 20% processing fee.)
- 50% Refund: Requests must be received 10-19 business days before the workshop. (Minus a 20% processing fee.)
- No Refund: No-shows or cancellation requests received within 10 business days of the workshop will not receive a refund.
For any questions or assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Professional Learning Coordinator, Dameon Brown.
