layout: podcast title: Creating a school kids are dying to attend with Andrew Marotta Transformative Principal 464 comments: true date: 2022-01-16 categories: middle, student driven learning, mindset, permalink: https://jethrojones.com/podcast/episode464

Andrew Marotta is an energetic and enthusiastic leader who has put his positive imprint on his beloved Port Jervis HS, in Port Jervis, NY. With the release of his first book, “The Principal: Surviving and Thriving”, Andrew is expanding his impact on the education leadership community.  The 2nd edition, The School Leader, Surviving & Thriving was released in November 2020.

• Surviving & thriving a keep rolling mindset, & the power of storytelling
• ADHD is not a disability, it's a superpower.
• Moving from High School to Middle School.
• Change is good.
• Right move for me to have a different challenge while staying in the same district.
• The kids are amazing. Extremely impressionable.
• Kids rally around excitement.
• The importance of direction.
• How the power of impressionable kids matters
• If we're not pushing out fun things on social media, the kids will pay attention to the other stuff.
• Amazing after school experience.
• Amazing school culture happens 30 seconds at a time.
• School's gotta be fun.
• That kid's going to learn to love it when they have real audiences.
• Still trying to get kids back into the school.
• Mid-lesson checkins to help know where kids are at.
• Do your teachers want the information or do they want the inspiration?
• Always working on just one move in wrestling.
• Only looking at it as a weakness. Mikey the wrestler story.
• When your weakness becomes a strength.
• How to be a transformative principal? Spend time investing in your staff. Now, more than ever, teachers need our support.

## Sponsors ### [Transformative Principal Mastermind](https://transformativeprincipal.com) Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You're pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at [https://transformativeprincipal.com](https://transformativeprincipal.com) ### [John Catt](https://us.johncattbookshop.com) Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms. John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools. Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/. Learn more about some of the newest titles: - _[The Coach’s Guide to Teaching](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/products/the-coach-s-guide-to-teaching?_pos=2&_sid=0405c747f&_ss=r)_ by Doug Lemov - [_The Feedback Pendulum: A manifesto for enhancing feedback in education_](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-feedback-pendulum-a-manifesto-for-enhancing-feedback-in-education) by Michael Chiles - _[Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/products/putting-staff-first-a-blueprint-for-revitalising-our-schools?_pos=1&_sid=7dc3400e3&_ss=r)_ by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley - _[10 Things Schools Get Wrong (And How We Can Get Them Right)](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/collections/frontpage/products/10-things-schools-get-wrong-and-how-we-can-get-them-right)_ by Jared Cooney Horvath and David Bott - _[Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/collections/frontpage/products/let-s-talk-about-flex-flipping-the-flexible-working-narrative-for-education)_ by Emma Turner - _[A Parent's Guide to Powerful Teaching](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/products/powerful-teaching-a-guide-for-parents?_pos=1&_sid=7bf6ec56e&_ss=r)_ by Patrice Bain John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: [SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves](https://us.johncattbookshop.com/collections/frontpage/products/schoolx-how-principals-can-design-a-transformative-school-experience-for-students-teachers-parents-and-themselves) Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks, IXL, and Renaissance Learning:

As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation.

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? V...