National Principals Month: 45 Ways to Celebrate Your Principal
National Principals Month runs the entire month of October. It is organized by the National Principals Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the American Federation of School Administrators. It is a separate observance from School Principals' Day, which falls on May 1.
In my experience, the hardest job in education is the principalship. For those of you in education, you know I am right.
Principals are in the trenches with staff and students, talking with parents and the community all day, filtering every situation that comes through the building. Every decision happens in full view. What they cultivate, they grow. What they permit, they allow.
I was a principal for over a decade across an elementary, a middle, and a high school, and I now oversee six principals as a superintendent. They run instruction, connect people, find resources, and manage a building, which leaves almost no time to advocate for themselves or for education in general.
Most principals do not like to toot their own horn. The best ones put everyone else first, well before their own needs get met. They spend the year hunting for reasons to celebrate their staff, right down to the end-of-year evaluation. So who celebrates the principals? Here are nine ways, with five variations on each. Many of them I have lived through myself.
When Is National Principals Month?
National Principals Month is observed every October. It is sponsored by three organizations: the National Principals Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the American Federation of School Administrators. The National Principals Association is the same organization school leaders knew for more than a century as NASSP, which expanded to include elementary principals and took the new name in 2026. You can find the official observance materials at principalsmonth.org.
Here is the part that trips people up. October is not the same thing as Principal Appreciation Day, and plenty of schools plan for the wrong one.
| Observance | When | Who organizes it |
|---|---|---|
| National Principals Month | All of October, every year | National Principals Association, NAESP, and AFSA |
| School Principals' Day, also called Principal Appreciation Day | May 1 | Observed nationally, no single sponsoring body |
If your PTA is planning something and someone says "principal appreciation," ask which one they mean. A whole month in the fall gives you room to spread ideas across four weeks. A single day in May does not. The ideas below work for either, but they were built for October.
1 - Role Model Writing of Appreciation
What does a role model look like? Defining and answering this question with the principal in mind can be the most powerful celebration a principal ever receives. I have a three-inch binder full of letters from students from kindergarten to sixth grade. It is the greatest gift I have ever received. The total cost was paper, brainstorming, a binder, and some valuable writing instruction time.
The perspective that students bring to such an assignment can leave a principal in tears. I have kept a rainy day file since I started in education. I pull this binder off the shelf, start re-reading those letters, and it brings a smile every time.
TRY THESE FIVE...
- School-Wide Writing Prompt
- Grade Level Themed Letters
- Digital Portfolio of Letters and Audio Messages
- Students Reading to a Principal on a Video Tribute
- Writing Buddy Partners (Kinder+Sixth Grader, First Grader + Fifth Grader, etc…)
2 - Dress Like a Hero
Picture this, on a Walk-a-thon themed day, "Dress Like a Hero," the whole school secretly shows up dressed like you. You see your face photocopied off and used as masks for students as they walk. I won't lie, I did shed a tear as I didn't know the students and staff would go to this extent to "Dress Like a Hero."
The power of this activity started with our student council, who created the theme. As an elementary principal, I was the student council advisor. Not once did I know that students, staff, and PTA were plotting behind my back to dress like the principal. How humbling and compassionate!
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Dress Like a Principal
- Walk-a-thon Themed Event for Principal
- Grades Dress as One of the Principal's Interests (fishing, hunting, sports theme, etc…)
- Create Meme Shirts Describing Principal
- Alphabet shirts that spell out words that describe the Principal (ie...C-O-M-P-A-S-S-I-O-N-A-T-E, which would take 13 students!)
3 - Grade Level Themed Baskets of Praise
One easy way to appreciate the principal is a themed basket gift by your grade level. Ownership of these baskets can hit all students as they feel like they have contributed. Principals will be appreciative of the group effort to celebrate them.
Start small, and check your school or district policy first. Collecting money from students can run into fundraising, gift, and equity rules that vary by building, so clear it before you announce it. Keep any contribution completely optional and make sure no student feels pressured to give. Students can donate an item instead of cash, and having spare items on hand means every child who wants to contribute can.
TRY THESE FIVE...
- Food
- Outdoors
- Scents
- Pumpkin Spice or Fall
- Sports
4 - Unique Gifts for The Job
Over the twelve years as principal, I never expected a gift from anyone, but was definitely appreciative when the PTA, staff, or students wanted to celebrate me. I have received some unique gifts that have helped me do my job. Many of these gifts I still have and use in my current position as superintendent.
Coming together as a school community, PTA, students, and staff, a pretty good chunk of change can be used to celebrate the principal. One of the most unique gifts I received was a pair of specialized sneakers. After ditching my dress shoes due to outside destruction on recess and crossing guard duty, I moved to sneakers. 10,000-12,000 steps was my goal daily, and I surely wasn't going to do that in my expensive dress shoes. I still wear these sneakers routinely, which remind me of these fabulous people.
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Portable Principal Rolling Desk
- Specialized Lanyard, Matching Belt, and Designed Socks
- Massage, Tips, Toes, and Hair
- Gift or Donation In Honor of Principal's
- Designer Bag or Backpack with School Logo
5 - Dedication Song and Dance
A dedication song or dance is a cheap idea; it can spread fast, and it can put the principal in tears. Each classroom or grade level practices a song and/or a dance to perform to celebrate the principal. Time and effort are the only things you need to create a unique gift that shows your appreciation for your principal.
Nothing is more powerful than a kindergarten class singing a song of praise for you in the office. I would take this any day as a principal. This idea first started when we celebrated our secretary. We would video some of these expressions of kindness, especially for the school secretary, and garnered thousands of hits in our community to celebrate her! Try it with your principal.
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Grade Level Themes Songs
- Student Created Dances and Songs
- Song Writing Contest for Students and Staff in Honor of Principal
- Create Video Dance Tributes
- Mascot Makeover Dance Competition in Honor of Principal
6 - Fundraiser for a Fun Cause
In my last school district, our school foundation was phenomenal. One of the exciting aspects that community members could do was donate to the foundation in your honor. With the money coming back to kids in our district, this is a noble gesture to celebrate your principal.
I was lucky enough to have community members donate to our school foundation and earmark the money for students at our elementary school. Every dollar ran through the foundation and its own approval process, which is what made it work. I then got students involved to help decide what we were going to do with this money.
I took the donated money a step further and created a "Shark Tank" competition between teams. I even invited those donors back to be the "sharks." The community members would then vote on which projects would be funded. Of course, the "sharks" tried to fund all projects the students brought forward, partially or fully.
Before you start any of this, check how your district handles it. Fundraising and gift acceptance run on district policy and school-foundation rules, and those rules decide who can accept a donation and who signs off on how it gets spent. In most places, a principal cannot receive or direct donated money on their own, and that is by design. Route it through the foundation or the district office, honor the principal in the naming, and let the existing financial controls do their job.
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Start a Shark Tank Competition with Donated Money
- Donate to a School Foundation Honoring the Principal
- Create a fundraiser where proceeds go to the Principal to spend back on School
- Donate to Shelter, Food Pantry, etc...honoring the Principal
- Start a Matching Funds Campaign to Purchase something for School in Honor of Principal
7 - Flash Mob Dinner Date +50
In one of my colleagues' schools, she shared that the PTA and staff set up a fancy dinner date for her and her husband. When she and her husband started eating, PTA and staff members started filling the empty tables around them one by one. They didn't interact with her and her husband; they continued to act like everything was normal. Within 15 minutes, the entire restaurant was full of PTA and staff members. It was now an adult school party in honor of the principal.
Her husband was "in" on the whole ploy as he continued to talk to her like normal while everyone was filing into the restaurant. The excitement was building the whole time. The comical piece was that the PTA and staff bought them another gift card for dinner to be used any other night for themselves.
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Gift Card for a Meal
- Adult Night with the Principal
- Adult Dance Night with a DJ in Honor of Principal
- Dollar Donation Dance (most commonly seen at weddings) for Principal
- Formal Dinner Night Where PTA and Staff Serve Principal (no kids...LOL!)
8 - Radio Raves
In my tenure in my school district, I was able to make connections with local radio announcers. In fact, I even called basketball games for one season as an announcer. These relationships proved important as I took some of my ideas to the airwaves to celebrate other people. We celebrated students and staff on the radio with some 30-second spots. Listening to students talk about their teachers on the air was something else. Why not do this for the principal?
Get your staff and PTA involved in creating radio spots to celebrate the principal of the school. Make sure to highlight the things that the principal does that make your school the best place to work and learn. If you are in a district with multiple schools, take this idea district-wide to celebrate principals during the month of October. We need great stories like these hitting the airwaves.
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Radio Raves About the Principal by Students, Staff, and PTA
- Radio Advertisement to Come Work for Principal, include Great Qualities
- Create Audio Spots that Can be Played at School During Announcements
- Get the Principal's Mother or Father On Board to Talk About Them
- Get the Principal's kids to talk about Funny and Rewarding Moments at Home (Screen the moments before they go live and know your principal!)
9 - Sensationalized on Social Media
In my current school district, we celebrated our whole administrative team by creating social media posts about each of them. We included a picture, why they chose to be a principal, and other fun facts that could be used to build an informational graphic.
The comments people left were powerful for several reasons. The principals got to see them, the community saw them, and the overall support for our administration came through. That was in October of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and it was exactly what we needed at the time.
Our district later moved to a website provider that includes an app, which pushes information to families through notifications and connects our social accounts. We can post once and hit Facebook, Instagram, and X at the same time. Think of the power you can have on social media celebrating your principal.
TRY THESE FIVE…
- Create Memes by Students Celebrating the Principal
- Create short TikTok videos or Instagram Reels Celebrating the Principal
- Create a social media celebration calendar and divvy responsibilities to several groups (kindergarten team week 1, high school freshman core week 2, etc.)
- Go Virtually Viral -- Create a social media post celebrating a principal and have every student, staff member, and community member like and share it out.
- Interview the Principal and put on Social Media.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is National Principals Month?
Every October, all month long. It is sponsored by the National Principals Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the American Federation of School Administrators. Because it runs a full month, you can spread ideas across four weeks instead of cramming everything into one day.
Is National Principals Month the same as Principal Appreciation Day?
No, and this catches a lot of schools out. National Principals Month is October. School Principals' Day, also called Principal Appreciation Day, is May 1. If your building celebrates in May, you are marking the spring observance, not the October one.
How do we celebrate a principal with no budget?
Most of what lands costs nothing. The binder of student letters I still keep cost paper and writing instruction time. A hallway of artwork, a song from a kindergarten class, or a school-wide writing prompt all run on effort rather than money.
Should assistant principals be included?
Include them. Assistant principals absorb much of the discipline, supervision, and scheduling load, and they are usually the last people recognized for it. Extending the celebration to the whole administrative team costs almost nothing.
What do principals actually appreciate most?
Anything that came from students. Gift cards are kind, but the letters and drawings are what end up in a desk drawer years later. If you only have time for one thing, have students write.
- October, not May - National Principals Month runs the full month of October, sponsored by the National Principals Association, NAESP, and AFSA. School Principals' Day is a separate observance on May 1.
- Student-made beats store-bought - the celebrations principals keep are letters, drawings, songs, and video tributes, not gift cards.
- A month gives you room - spread the nine ideas across four weeks rather than stacking everything onto one day.
- Include the whole admin team - assistant principals carry a large share of the load and are the most often overlooked.
If reading this made you wonder what the job actually takes, requirements to become a principal vary by state and may include a master's degree, approved administrator preparation, relevant education experience, assessments, and a state-issued administrator credential. The sponsored programs on this page include online and part-time options built for teachers who are still in the classroom full time.
As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 Jon won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award.
Jon is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com)
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