Posts by Sarah Rosskamm
Summer: The Strategic Bridge for School Leaders
For school system leaders, the “summer break” is a bit of a misnomer. While the hallways may be quieter, the mental load of leadership does not disappear. Despite leaders not “taking the summer off,” this season does offer a vital opportunity to step off the treadmill of daily operations and engage in the deep work of restoration and personal strategy.
Effective leaders use the summer months as a strategic bridge—connecting the lessons of the past school year with a proactive vision for the one to come. They do their future selves a favor and use the change in tempo to set up systems to help them be effective for when the pace steps up.
Prioritize Restoration and Rejuvenation
Before diving into plans, systems or schedules, the first priority for any leader should be rest. You cannot lead your students and staff effectively from a place of burnout. Restoration is not a luxury; it is a professional commitment to your staff and students. Here are some ways we’ve seen leaders create space for rest during the summer months:
- Set clear “off-campus” times where you are unreachable for non-emergencies.
- Use this time to read, travel, or engage in hobbies.
- By taking your own rest seriously, you give your team permission to do the same, which is essential for long-term sustainability.
Reflect on the Year that has Passed
Summer provides the space needed to look at the previous year objectively. While reflection on the year that has passed and planning for the future year begins much earlier than the summer, the quiet of the summer months provides a chance for reflection focused on the leader’s own personal systems.
Consider these questions for your reflection:
- What were the 1–2 biggest successes in my leadership this year?
- What were the most significant challenges or areas where my leadership could have been stronger?
- What personal systems worked well in my leadership this year? What are ways I could improve?
Personal Effectiveness: Setting Your Own Routines
Most system leaders know that planning for a successful school year launch begins long before summer hits. And, the slower pace of summer provides time to affirm the personal systems you will use to maintain balance and focus given your broader strategy. This includes creating schedules; routines; templates; and other systems that will help you balance the work when staff and students return in the fall.
For example, using the summer months to create your personal schedule can help you protect the sacred time you need to drive instructional improvement. A leader’s schedule should protect “sacred” times for:
- Teacher Observations and Support: Proactively blocking time before the year starts.
- Intellectual Preparation (IP) Time: Ensuring you are as prepared as the teachers you support.
- One-on-One Check-ins: Establishing a regular cadence for direct reports.
- Strategic White Space: Time reserved for response to data and troubleshooting.
By balancing restoration with personal strategy, you ensure that when the doors open in the fall, you aren’t just starting another year—you are leading a more effective, energized, and focused school. Our work coaching school system leaders often focuses on this balance of ensuring a strong strategy for your school with being able to execute on that strategy given strong personal systems. Are you interested in learning more about how we can support you with this balance? Reach out to Jess.
Announcing an Exciting Leadership Transition at Hendy Avenue Consulting!
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We have exciting news to share: Sarah is passing the baton and the wonderful Jessica Wilson has been named the new President of Hendy Avenue Consulting!
Jessica Wilson has been a cornerstone of the Hendy Avenue Consulting team since 2017, bringing unparalleled expertise, dedication, and vision to our work. Jess is an experienced consultant, school district leader, school board member, and all around warrior for kids. Her leadership has been instrumental in driving our mission forward, and I am confident that she will guide Hendy to even greater heights. Jess has the full support of the entire Hendy team and is looking forward to working with them to continue to improve our client support and grow our impact.
I am extremely proud of the Hendy team and the work we’ve done together over the past 12 years. We’ve grown from me and my laptop, a long contact list and some big ideas, to a thriving organization with an unparalleled team of education consultants and coaches. Together, we’ve served more than 40 school systems and facilitated multiple cohorts for more than 50 district and charter leaders. We are trusted partners to education leaders across the country, supporting schools and districts with their talent and academic strategies, people development, leadership transitions, curriculum changes, and initiative implementation. We have accomplished this all within the tumultuous time of the last decade including a global pandemic, racial equity movements, the introduction of AI, political divides, culture wars, and so much more. We’ve gained long-time partners and friends in this work as we’ve provided a unique level of arm-in-arm support to school and district leaders.
I’m particularly proud of not just what we’ve accomplished, but how we’ve approached it. For Hendy, the bottom-line has always been about improving educational opportunities for kids by supporting the teachers and leaders they depend on. We approach our work with curiosity, integrity, kindness, and commitment, resulting in strong relationships and multi-year engagements with our partners. We’ve also created a work environment where experts in their field can make a difference while maintaining autonomy and flexibility to meet the needs of their personal lives. And we have a great time doing it.
Thank you so much to the very best team I could ever hope for. Jess, Jeremy, Erica, Rachel, and Grant. I admire and adore each of you and cannot thank you enough for the magic you’ve each brought to the Hendy team.
Looking ahead, I will continue as an Executive Advisor to Hendy, supporting the team’s continued success, cultivating opportunities, investigating challenges and solutions in the field, and exploring new ways to impact our collective mission of educational opportunity for underserved children. The challenges we face at this moment are extraordinary and I look forward to finding new ways to contribute to more equitable and opportunity-filled lives for all.
It has been an honor to partner with so many of you to improve educational opportunities for students and empower leaders to create lasting change. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported Hendy Avenue Consulting, and me personally, throughout this journey. Your partnership and trust have been invaluable, and I look forward to supporting the continued success of Hendy Avenue Consulting under Jess’s capable leadership.
Please join me in congratulating Jess on her well-deserved new role. And please reach out to her directly if the Hendy team can support you in the upcoming school year: jessicawilson@hendyavenue.com.
I am excited for the road ahead and remain deeply committed to the mission and vision of Hendy Avenue Consulting – and to you as our partners and friends.
With gratitude and optimism,
Sarah Rosskamm
Founder, Hendy Avenue Consulting
sarahrosskamm@hendyavenue.com
415-577-2789
Unlocking Excellence in Teaching with the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric
At Hendy Avenue Consulting, we believe every child deserves excellent instruction, every day, in every classroom. This foundational belief has guided our work with schools and districts across the country for over a decade. Now, we’re thrilled to share a tool that embodies this commitment: the Instructional Excellence Rubric.
This free, equity-focused tool is designed to provide a clear and actionable vision for teaching and learning. With its detailed structure and emphasis on both teacher actions and student outcomes, the rubric is more than a framework—it’s a roadmap for achieving excellence in classrooms.
At Hendy, we have had the privilege of partnering with school systems across the country as they endeavor to implement observation rubrics that support great coaching and development for teachers, and improved outcomes for students. The Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric is the product of several engagements over several years. With our partners, we saw the need for a higher quality observation rubric that better met school systems’ needs, and we worked to create this rubric in partnership with teachers and school leaders from across the country. We’ve supported several systems to successfully implement versions of this rubric, and have seen the positive impact it has had on schools. We are excited now to make this rubric available, for free, to everyone for the benefit of schools, teachers, and students.
What Makes the Instructional Excellence Rubric Unique?
The Instructional Excellence Rubric stands apart because it balances rigorous academics with social-emotional learning, ensuring that all aspects of a student’s success are prioritized. It reflects years of experience working directly with teachers, leaders, and schools to define what truly works in classrooms.
Here’s how the rubric is structured:
- Classroom Culture: Focuses on creating a predictable, joyful, and equitable environment that maximizes learning time.
- Lesson Content & Implementation: Emphasizes rigorous, purposeful, and differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students.
- Student Thinking: Highlights the importance of students doing the thinking, speaking, writing, and creating during lessons.
- Responsiveness to Learning: Centers on using feedback and data to adapt teaching and ensure every student grows and succeeds.
Each domain contains clear indicators of excellence, articulated across four levels of performance. These descriptors help educators identify what success looks like and provide actionable steps for improvement.
How Can the Rubric Help You?
Whether you’re a school leader, instructional coach, or system administrator, the rubric can:
- Provide a shared language for excellence across your school or district.
- Guide teacher coaching and development with clear, equity-focused expectations.
- Support classroom observations that prioritize student outcomes.
It’s a comprehensive tool for anyone committed to improving teaching and learning at scale.
The Power of Training and Support
While the rubric is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, its full potential is unlocked through thoughtful implementation and training. That’s where Hendy Avenue Consulting can help.
We offer tailored training and support packages to ensure schools and systems:
- Norm around expectations: Build consistency in how the rubric is used across classrooms.
- Develop coaching capacity: Equip leaders to use the rubric as a tool for meaningful teacher development.
- Customize for your context: Adapt the rubric to align with the unique needs and goals of your school or district.
Our team has a proven track record of helping educators implement tools like this successfully, driving real change in teaching and learning.
Ready to Get Started?
The Instructional Excellence Rubric is available for free download:
Let us help you bring it to life. Reach out to Jess to schedule a call!
Together, we can ensure every child experiences the excellent instruction they deserve.