Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Secondary school principal skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Rolf Straubhaar,

Dr. Patricia L. Jones Ed.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical secondary school principal skills. We ranked the top skills for secondary school principals based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.7% of secondary school principal resumes contained curriculum development as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a secondary school principal needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 secondary school principal skills for your resume and career

1. Curriculum Development

Here's how secondary school principals use curriculum development:

Constructed students' master schedule and curriculum development; new data-driven assessment implementation; and disciplinary action for staff and students.
Provided the leadership in curriculum development, professional development and technology resulting in significant district-wide improvements in student performance.

2. Student Achievement

Here's how secondary school principals use student achievement:

Monitored rigor, relevance, student achievement through lesson planning and the delivery of instruction and assessment.
Analyzed and responded to student achievement data using a systematic and collaborative inquiry process focused on literacy and great teaching.

3. Staff Development

Here's how secondary school principals use staff development:

Initiate appropriate curriculum/instruction staff development programs
Implemented staff development and management processes to increase the districts' planning, staffing, supervisory, management and organizational capabilities.

4. School Administration

Here's how secondary school principals use school administration:

Provided support and other services for school and community activities; collaborated with school administration and departments.
Worked with members of the administrative team to gain hands-on work experience in Public School Administration at a Blue Ribbon school.

5. Instructional Program

Here's how secondary school principals use instructional program:

Supervised program implementation including; instructional programs, extracurricular activities, and discipline systems to ensure a safe and orderly climate.
Assisted and assumed leadership role in the administration of instructional programs and in the implementation of educational activities

6. Classroom Observations

Here's how secondary school principals use classroom observations:

Communicate, analyze, monitor classroom observations) provided coaching and feedback, evaluate performance and recommend corrective action.
Evidenced through SIOP lesson plans, classroom walkthroughs and classroom observations.

Choose from 10+ customizable secondary school principal resume templates

Build a professional secondary school principal resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your secondary school principal resume.

7. Student Performance

Here's how secondary school principals use student performance:

Assist in developing instructional strategies using school data and individualized student performance.
Monitored the evaluation of student performance and utilized related data to assess the effectiveness of the instructional program.

8. Professional Development

Professional development means to have the essential training certification or education with the purpose of earning and having a successful career. Every job requires a different set of skills. However, new skills may be needed in the future. Professional development, in this regard, helps people to develop and polish the skills and become efficient workers.

Here's how secondary school principals use professional development:

Monitored and evaluated teacher performance/planning/professional development.
Enhanced professional development, particularly in the current technological areas of instruction achieved through staff meetings and workshops.

9. K-12

K12 is a term that incldues all 12 years of education in the US education system. It includes the education offered at the primary stage, middle stage, and secondary stage. It includes children of ages as young as 5 to 18 years. The grades included in K12 are Kindergarten, the initial 5 stages, grades 6 to 8, and 9 to 12. This system is followed specifically followed in the US and may vary in other countries.

Here's how secondary school principals use k-12:

Assisted Director of Curriculum & Instruction with creation and implementation of three year plan for new K-12 curriculum alignment.
Collaborated with Oklahoma legislators to develop rules and regulations for K-12 online learning.

10. Student Learning

Here's how secondary school principals use student learning:

Conducted regular operational staff meetings and communicated regularly with parents in order to create a cooperative relationship to support student learning.
Collaborated with Benjamin Franklin Middle School administrative staff to incorporate computer based curriculum for student learning and assessments.

11. Mathematics

Here's how secondary school principals use mathematics:

Instructed religion education and mathematics, while coordinating all school religious educational events and seasonal activities.
Presented at the International Polar Year summer Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

12. Educational Programs

An educational program is a program primarily concerned with the provision of education, including but not limited to early childhood education, primary and secondary education, post-secondary education, special education, vocational training, career and technical education, education for adults, and any program managed by an educational agency or institution.

Here's how secondary school principals use educational programs:

Organized and monitored educational programs and school facilities.
Developed and coordinated educational programs through meetings with staff, review of teachers' activities, and issuance of directives.

13. Student Discipline

Here's how secondary school principals use student discipline:

Addressed student and teacher concerns related to student discipline and classroom management.
Supervised and evaluated faculty, introduced student discipline program, and managed maintenance, food services and transportation.

14. Community Organizations

Community organizations refers to a form of social or volunteer work that focuses on bettering a community. This may be a community defined by geographic boundaries or by a person's racial or sexual identity. These organizations are often nonprofits that help groups of people affected by natural disasters or hate crimes.

Here's how secondary school principals use community organizations:

Established and maintained relationships with colleges, community organizations, and other schools to maximize educational opportunities and services.
Strengthened relationships with parents, community organizations, school personnel and licensing entities.

15. Oversight

Having oversight of someone means to monitor a process or a situation. If someone has oversight of something, they are responsible for the completion of the project. Oversight is usually given to experts as they monitor their juniors or newbies as they go through a project.

Here's how secondary school principals use oversight:

Served as Co-Athletic Director with oversight responsibilities of 27 interscholastic athletic teams and coaches.
Executed tenure reviews and faculty search efforts under faculty oversight.

5 Secondary School Principal resume examples

Build a professional secondary school principal resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your secondary school principal resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Secondary School Principals find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What secondary school principal skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Rolf Straubhaar

Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Website

Due to the many political pressures on public education right now (including culture wars about book banning, what curricula are used in classrooms, and funding fights over school vouchers in most statehouses), many potential school leaders are choosing not to enter the profession right now. That is a shame, as their leadership is particularly needed at this time-it is a time when school leaders who are willing to advocate for and on behalf of their schools and communities can do an incredible amount of good.

What type of skills will young secondary school principals need?

Dr. Patricia L. Jones Ed.D.

Chair, Presbyterian College

Graduates need good writing and communication skills in the workforce. They also need skills for working well with people and helping to solve problems that arise. They also need a strong work ethic. Absences in the workforce continue to rise, and our graduates need to have a strong work ethic to compete and keep a job.

What technical skills for a secondary school principal stand out to employers?

Jennifer McCreight

Associate Professor of Education, Hiram College

Tech skills have increasingly played a central role in K-12 classrooms, as educators have at their fingertips devices and applications that are incredible assets to learning - from accessibility features, to interactive presentations that gather real-time info on students' understanding of content, to the ability of the students themselves to create videos, podcasts, and more. Teachers entering classrooms must be able to recognize the powerful gains that can be made in students' learning as a result of incorporating technologies, and know when and how to use it to support them. And of course, recent graduates entering classrooms will be expected to move between the platforms of Zoom or Google Meet, to bring in learners who may be at home, and to engage them actively in learning experiences - which is no small task!
Just as importantly, though, as we come out of the pandemic and reckon with children's and adolescents' increased use of screens, educators may also find that we need to use technology in classrooms more sparingly when possible. They will continue to ask themselves, even more urgently than they did pre-pandemic, whether technologies add to educational experiences or complicate them. Graduates will be faced with these questions as they move into their own classrooms, and we joyfully adjust to the eventuality of more in-person learning. This will be a wonderful challenge to face - that is, determining what innovations have resulted from the constraints of the pandemic, and what we will be happy to let go of when we are able. I am sure educators will embrace these conversations with zeal!

Do you want to know more?

List of secondary school principal skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a secondary school principal resume and required skills for a secondary school principal to have include:

Curriculum Development
Student Achievement
Staff Development
School Administration
Instructional Program
Classroom Observations
Student Performance

Professional Development
K-12
Student Learning
Mathematics
Educational Programs
Student Discipline
Community Organizations

Oversight
Professional Learning Communities
Chemistry
Master Schedule
Social Studies
Ethics

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs