CAS Annual Conference 2025

Achieving academic excellence requires leaders to foster a culture of trust, inclusion, and belonging. Teachers thrive when they feel safe to take instructional risks and innovate, while students excel when high expectations are paired with appropriate support.
Leaders must navigate staffing challenges, financial constraints, and daily demands while staying steadfast in their vision and mission. This requires intentional practices such as clear communication, data-driven feedback, and a relentless focus on content standards, all while prioritizing teacher empowerment.
In this session, a veteran Principal who achieved Blue Ribbon status and a new Principal striving for the same distinction will share proven strategies and fresh perspectives on building trust, fostering belonging, and driving excellence. Participants will gain actionable insights and develop personalized plans to implement trust-building initiatives, empowering teachers and creating meaningful learning outcomes for students, even amid the complex realities school leaders face.

Are you addressing chronic absence with a cohesive, all-hands-on-deck approach? This workshop focuses on building a district-wide attendance team with all voices at the table, ensuring school attendance teams meet with fidelity, and breaking down silos to avoid duplicating efforts. Participants will reflect on creating a culture that prioritizes attendance and engagement, shifting mindsets, improving systems and structures, and implementing smarter, more effective practices. Through collaborative discussions, problem-solving, and shared insights, attendees will leave equipped with powerful agenda templates and actionable strategies including reflection activities, incentives, and high impact tiered interventions using a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). Participants will learn about one such high impact intervention – CSDE’s relational home visit model, the Learner Engagement & Attendance Program (LEAP), proven to lead to a 15 percentage point increase in attendance for students who received a LEAP home visit.