Principal Cover Letter Examples & Writing Tips

As the leader of a school, a principal is responsible for setting the tone for the school, ensuring that the curriculum meets the needs of the students, and maintaining a safe environment.

A principal cover letter is an excellent opportunity to explain how you can do the job.

Follow these examples and tips to write a principal cover letter that highlights your leadership skills and experience.

Principal Cover Letter Example 1

It is with great enthusiasm that I write to submit my name for a school leadership position. I have earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education (Biology), a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and a Principal’s Certificate, and have completed some coursework towards an Ed.D. With 2 years experience as a Principal, 12 years experience as an Assistant Principal and more than seven years experience in hands-on teaching, I am confident that I possess the qualifications required to help your district promote its philosophy and goals.

As the attached resume will detail, I am currently serving as Principal at Lower Hauphin Area High School, where I am the educational leader and administrator in charge of all programs and initiatives. I am working closely with faculty to realign the curriculum to the Common Core and modify instruction to best prepare students for the Keystone exams. As an Assistant Principal at State College Area High School, I supervised a diverse staff and more than 2,500 students. As Activities Administrator, I spearheaded a faculty task force that successfully maintained over 90 student clubs and activities on a significantly reduced budget by encouraging faculty and staff to donate their time and expertise at little or no cost to the district. I have coordinated Classrooms for the Future and have utilized Standards Aligned Systems, Measures of Academic Progress and PA Value-Added Assessment to improve the effectiveness of instruction. Additionally, I served five years as a Chairperson for the Middle States Association, an experience that has magnified my site planning and instructional leadership abilities.

My greatest strengths include collaborative leadership, strategic planning, empowering educators to develop their leadership and instructional skills, independent academic program development in technology, science, and math, coordination and leadership in the community and pedagogical programs, and identification/implementation of organizational programs. I foster strong working relationships with local and school communities and facilitate the integration of initiatives designed to enhance the school environment.

As Principal, I aspire to create a culture and educational program conducive to student learning and development. Families are under tremendous challenges today, and I seek to foster positive behavior, student and faculty teamwork, and cooperation in the school environment. I initiate and lead programs to provide clear, concise information both internally to professional staff and externally to students and parents. My belief is that students make choices, and most of the time there are natural consequences for these choices. They should be held accountable in a consistent and fair manner.

I would appreciate the opportunity to meet you personally to discuss, in detail, how my diverse skills and experience will allow me to make a valuable contribution to your school district. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Principal Cover Letter Example 2

I wish to apply for the position of High School Principal, as advertised in the July edition of The News-Times. I studied your requirements carefully and believe that I have the required qualifications and experience for this position. I request you to accept my resume enclosed with this application.

As noted on my resume, I hold a masters degree in education and a professional license in teaching. I have been working as Assistant Principal at Mayoor School since 2006. Before 2006, I was teaching middle school English at the same school.

My key job functions and responsibilities include:

• Supervising all school personnel
• Formulating and implementing programs, curriculum activities, policies, and budgets in a manner that improves the educational development prospects of each student and promotes the professional development of all teachers
• Identifying the annual objectives for the instructional, athletic, and extracurricular programs of the school
• Evaluating the progress of the students and supervising and appraising the performance of the teachers

My resume highlights specific examples of my administrative and leadership duties. During my tenure as Principal, I have been complimented on numerous occasions by the school superintendent on my strong problem-solving, creative thinking, and long-range planning abilities. Additionally, I am adept in communicating with a diverse population.

I relish the range of challenges that are part of this job and enjoy working with students, parents, and teachers. My interests, strengths and abilities, along with my over 6 years of experience I believe, are exactly what you want for this position.

My enclosed resume provides more information on my education, professional experience, and achievements. I hope you will give me the opportunity of a personal interview to help me understand your needs better and explain to you in greater detail how I can contribute to your school system.

Principal Cover Letter Example 3

I am an enthusiastic professional educator with 17 years of successful experience. As you will note on my attached resume, I hold a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Arkansas State University. I bring to the table six years of experience as a middle school principal, one year of experience as an assistant principal, and ten years of experience as a school counselor. Currently, I am the principal of East Middle School in Memphis TN and am in charge of 630 students. In this role, I work collaboratively with teachers to ensure that students achieve academically in a safe learning environment.

Although successful in my career as a middle school principal, I am now seeking to combine my school leadership experience with my passion for mentoring and coaching new and aspiring school leaders as well as teachers at the high school level. Listed below is a summary of what I have to offer your organization:

Leadership Competence: Promoting student achievement by making learning a top priority; creating a shared vision; evaluating instructional practices; analyzing data in order to monitor progress and set goals; monitoring lesson plans; managing the curriculum; and designing, guiding, and leading professional development.

Administrative Competence: Maintaining a safe learning environment; selecting, inducting, and evaluating staff; managing the school budget; and overseeing day-to-day operations of the school.

Greater details of my qualifications and what I have to offer can be found on the attached copy of my resume. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you so that we can discuss the contributions that I can make to your organization. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Principal Cover Letter Writing Tips

Keep it short and sweet

It’s important to keep the cover letter short and sweet while still effectively communicating your skills and accomplishments.

A great approach is to begin your cover letter with a brief introduction that describes the position you’re applying for and highlights why you’re qualified for it. Then, quickly move into an overview of your experience.

Once you’ve covered your experience, use this section to provide a brief overview of your education and training (keep these sections short too!). Finally, end with a sentence or two about why you want this job; refer back to the job posting if possible.

Showcase Your Leadership Experience

It’s important to show that you have the right leadership skills in your cover letter by providing examples of your success in this area. Specifically, you can mention how you’ve led a team to achieve a goal or overcome a challenge. Here are some examples of how you can showcase your leadership abilities:

• Developed an innovative new teaching program that increased student scores on standardized tests by 20%
• Led my team through an organization restructuring process while maintaining positive morale and retention rates among staff members
• Secured funding for the construction of two new playgrounds within our district by presenting to local government officials on behalf of our district’s needs

Showcase your big picture thinking

When applying for a principal position, it’s important to show you have the skills to look at the big picture while also completing the day-to-day tasks.

You might do this by demonstrating how you’ve managed multiple projects simultaneously while working on tight deadlines.

Additionally, you can show that you’re strategic by providing insights into how you’ve implemented technology solutions that have improved efficiency or effectiveness of an operation.

Proofread your cover letter

As a principal, your attention to detail is imperative in the success of the school. Ensure you provide the hiring manager with excellent proofreading skills in your cover letter by double-checking all contact information and grammar.

It’s essential for you to communicate your strengths as an administrator through a cover letter that is free of errors. Be sure to use correct spelling and grammar, as these types of errors will undermine any professional image you want to project.