30-60-90 day plan for school principals
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A new principal inherits a building full of people who were there first: teachers, staff, students and families with long memories of the last principal. They are also immediately responsible for safety, legal compliance and the learning of every student in the school. A 30-60-90 day plan for school principals needs to separate what must be checked on day one from what should wait until the principal has listened, and then commit to one instructional priority the school can move.
This plan is for the superintendent, assistant superintendent or principal supervisor who oversees a newly appointed principal. It works for a start in summer or mid-year, with the timing adjusted. The 30-60-90 day plan for teachers is the companion plan for new staff in the same building, and the general structure is in the 30-60-90 day plan template for new hires.
What must be checked first
Some responsibilities cannot wait for a listening tour. Rules vary by state and district, so confirm the exact list with the district office and counsel. This section is a general checklist, current as of October 2026, and not legal advice.
| Area | What to check in the first two weeks |
|---|---|
| Safety | The school safety or emergency plan, the drill schedule required by state law and district policy, visitor procedures and supervision at arrival, lunch and dismissal |
| Child protection | That staff know how to make a mandated report under state law and whom to tell inside the school. The Child Welfare Information Gateway links to each state's requirements |
| Special education | Upcoming IEP meetings, overdue evaluations or annual reviews, and 504 plans. Under the IDEA regulations, each IEP team must include a representative of the public agency who can supervise special education and knows the curriculum and available resources (34 CFR 300.321); confirm who fills that role at the school |
| Student records | Who has access to records and how they are shared. The Department of Education's FERPA page explains the federal rules |
| Staffing | Every class covered by an appropriately licensed teacher or an approved substitute; open positions and pending hires |
The 30-60-90 day plan
30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Principal, [school]
Supervisor: [name] Start date: [date]
Enrollment: [N] Staff: [N] teachers, [N] support staff
Grades: [range] Improvement status: [state designation, if any]
DAYS 1-30 — Check, listen and visit
Goals:
- Complete the first-two-weeks compliance checks above
- Meet every staff member, individually or in small groups;
ask what is working, what is not and what they would keep
- Visit every classroom at least once, briefly and without
evaluation forms; note routines, engagement and student work
- Meet the parent organization, student leaders where age-
appropriate, and the school's community partners
- Be visible at arrival, lunch and dismissal every day
Deliverables by day 30:
- A data baseline: achievement by student group, attendance and
chronic absenteeism, discipline by student group, staff turnover
- A short summary of what staff, students and families said
Check-in: day 30, with supervisor
DAYS 31-60 — Choose a priority and build the team
Goals:
- Agree one instructional priority with the leadership team,
drawn from the baseline and classroom visits
- Set a regular cycle of classroom walkthroughs with feedback
- Start the formal evaluation cycle for staff on the state and
district timeline
- Fix one operational problem staff raised most often
Deliverables by day 60:
- The priority, with a measure of practice and a measure of
student results
- A walkthrough schedule and feedback format shared with staff
Check-in: day 60
DAYS 61-90 — Act and report
Goals:
- Run professional learning tied to the priority
- Review the first walkthrough data and adjust support
- Present a plan for the rest of the year to staff and families
- Align the plan with the school improvement plan
Deliverables by day 90:
- Early walkthrough evidence on the priority
- A year plan agreed with the supervisor
Check-in: day 90 — full reviewThe data baseline
The day-30 baseline should show trends over several years where the data exists, and break results down by student group. A school's average can hide large differences between groups, and state accountability systems look at those groups. If the school has a state designation, such as comprehensive or targeted support and improvement under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the baseline should explain why it was identified and what the exit criteria are. The Institute of Education Sciences describes these designations in its study of schools identified for comprehensive support.
| Area | What to include | Usual source |
|---|---|---|
| Achievement | State assessment results and interim assessments by grade and student group | District assessment office, state report card |
| Attendance | Average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism by grade and group | Student information system |
| Behavior | Referrals, suspensions and their reasons, by group | Student information system |
| Special populations | IEP and 504 counts, compliance timelines, English learner progress | Special education and language program staff |
| Staff | Turnover, absences, vacancies, years of experience | Human resources |
What "on track" looks like
| Checkpoint | On track | Worth a direct conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Day 30 | Compliance checks done; every classroom visited; staff heard; baseline by student group | Principal mostly in the office; compliance gaps found by someone else |
| Day 60 | One priority chosen with the leadership team; walkthroughs running; evaluations on schedule | A long list of initiatives; evaluation timelines at risk |
| Day 90 | Early evidence on the priority; year plan shared with staff and families | No feedback to teachers yet; plan written without staff input |
A filled example
Principal: Angela Moreno (invented), a former assistant principal starting in July at a 600-student elementary school with a new state support designation for one student group.
Day 30: Found two overdue annual IEP reviews and scheduled both. Changed dismissal so bus riders left before car riders after watching three chaotic afternoons. Visited every classroom in the first three weeks of school. The baseline showed the identified group's reading results trailing in grades 3 and 4 and chronic absenteeism highest in kindergarten.
Day 60: With the leadership team, chose small-group reading instruction in grades 3 and 4 as the priority. The practice measure was the share of walkthroughs where small groups were working from current assessment data; the result measure was the winter interim assessment.
Day 90: Walkthroughs showed small groups in most observed classrooms, though grouping was not yet updated from new data. She added a monthly data meeting for each grade team and presented the year plan at a family evening.
What the supervisor owes the new principal
- A clear handover: open personnel matters, family complaints, legal issues and any commitments made by the previous principal.
- The district calendar of required tasks: evaluation deadlines, state reporting dates, budget timelines and testing windows.
- A mentor principal outside the supervisory line, especially for first-time principals.
- Protected time in classrooms. District meetings can consume the first months; keep them to what is necessary.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Result | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Big changes announced in the first week | Staff resistance before trust exists | Fix operations early; bring instructional change after listening |
| Office-bound principal | Teachers and students do not know them | Daily visibility and every classroom visited by day 30 |
| Too many priorities | Professional learning spread thin, nothing measured | One instructional priority through day 90 |
| Compliance assumed | Missed IEP timelines or drill requirements | Checks in the first two weeks |
Adapting the plan
- Secondary schools: add the master schedule, course access and graduation credit tracking to the baseline, and meet department chairs early.
- Mid-year appointments: do the compliance checks immediately, keep the listening phase short and choose a priority that can show progress before the end of the year.
- Assistant principals: narrow the plan to their assigned areas, such as a grade band, discipline or special education, and align it with the principal's priority. The 30-60-90 day plan for new managers helps if it is their first supervisory role.
If the principal will be hiring staff soon, the special education teacher screening questions and substitute teacher screening questions cover two of the hardest roles to fill. The 30-60-90 day plan for executives covers the listening tour in more depth.
Questions people ask
What should a new principal do before the first day of school?
Confirm the safety plan and drill schedule, check that every classroom has a teacher and every student a schedule, review special education and 504 plan compliance, read the school's improvement plan and latest results, and meet the leadership team. If the principal starts mid-year, do the same checks in the first two weeks.
Should a new principal make changes in the first 90 days?
Operational fixes, such as arrival and dismissal problems or unsafe supervision gaps, can and should happen early. Changes to curriculum, schedules or staffing structures usually work better after the principal has visited every classroom and listened to staff and families, often for the following term or year.
What data should a new principal review?
State assessment results and any interim assessment data by student group, attendance and chronic absenteeism, discipline referrals and suspensions by student group, special education timelines, and staff attendance and turnover. The goal at day 30 is a baseline with trends, not a plan.
Who should supervise a new principal's 30-60-90 day plan?
Usually the principal supervisor or assistant superintendent who evaluates the principal. The plan should align with the district's principal evaluation framework and any state requirements, so the 90-day goals feed the formal evaluation rather than sitting beside it.