Episode 414

full
Published on:

27th Jun 2025

Right Isn't Always Right - Why Implementation Eats Strategy for Breakfast in Schools

Summary: Join C.T. and guest Russell Campisi, Principal of Harvest Park Middle School in Pleasanton, California, as they explore the organic, community-driven leadership approach that has earned the school multiple accolades, including the prestigious Golden Bell Award for transformative special education programming.

Key Takeaways:

  • Organic Leadership & Community: Russell leads with an organic, community-driven approach, empowering passionate teachers and staff to create “islands of awesome” that foster innovation and engagement across the school.
  • Award-Winning Inclusion: Harvest Park earned the prestigious Golden Bell Award for transformative special education programming by dramatically increasing inclusion and creating successful pathways for students with IEPs.
  • High Student Connectedness: The school boasts an exceptional 80% student connectedness rate, reflecting strong relationships and a supportive environment.
  • Engaged Families & Diverse Community: Families intentionally choose the area for its supportive, emotionally and academically enriching environment, contributing to a diverse, motivated community invested in student success.
  • Distributed Leadership & Implementation: Russell acts as a “party planner,” facilitating and aligning resources and people to ensure initiatives are implemented effectively without micromanaging, allowing individual passions to drive innovation.
  • Balancing Coherence and Creativity: While maintaining a clear district-aligned vision and framework, the school encourages creativity and diverse “passion projects,” ensuring they align enough to build a cohesive, thriving school culture.
  • Focus on Access & Equity: Programs like sports and extracurriculars are designed to be inclusive, with supports in place to ensure all students can participate fully.
  • Sustainable, Scalable Innovation: The school’s inclusive practices and innovations are sustainable and serve as a model that can be replicated across other districts.


Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:09 Meet the Principal: Russell Campisi

02:06 Community and School Dynamics

03:19 Engagement and High Expectations

05:58 Creating Islands of Awesome

11:58 Inclusive Programming and Special Education

14:53 Data-Driven Leadership

22:38 Significant Drop in Grades: A Case Study

23:17 Understanding Teacher Assumptions and Beliefs

23:41 Addressing Student Challenges and Data Interpretation

25:09 Sustainable Implementation and Administrative Support

26:15 Clarifying Standards and Accommodations

27:40 Co-Teaching and Systemized Support

28:57 Inclusive Decision-Making and Community Involvement

32:27 Iterative Clarifications and Frameworks

35:31 Heuristics and Leadership Philosophies


Connect with CT: linkedin.com/in/cheetung

Connect with Russell Campisi: linkedin.com/in/russell-campisi-96b251167



Whether you're currently wearing the principal badge, aspiring to the big chair, or teaching while secretly taking notes on what you'd do differently, Principal Office Hours delivers actionable strategies you can implement faster than a student being sent to detention.


Subscribe now and join the faculty lounge conversation that's too real for the school board meeting. New episodes drop every week.


Warning: May cause spontaneous leadership growth and occasional inappropriate laughter during staff meetings.

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About the Podcast

Principal Office Hours
Real principals. Real talk. No hall passes required.
Finally—a podcast that proves school principals have personalities (and killer insights, too). Every week, join us for candid conversations with K-12 principals who are navigating the beautiful chaos of educational leadership without losing their minds or sense of humor.

Each 40-minute episode features real principals sharing what actually works in school leadership—from handling helicopter parents and budget nightmares to building school culture that doesn't make everyone roll their eyes. Consider this your professional development that doesn't feel like professional development.

Our guests aren't afraid to share their epic fails alongside their victories. They'll tell you about the initiative that spectacularly bombed during assembly, right before revealing how they turned their school's reading scores around. It's educational leadership with the BS filter turned off.

Whether you're currently wearing the principal badge, aspiring to the big chair, or teaching while secretly taking notes on what you'd do differently, Principal Office Hours delivers actionable strategies you can implement faster than a student being sent to detention.

Subscribe now and join the faculty lounge conversation that's too real for the school board meeting. New episodes drop every week. Warning: May cause spontaneous leadership growth and occasional inappropriate laughter during staff meetings.

About your hosts

CheeTung Leong

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Jim Kanichirayil

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Your friendly neighborhood talent strategy nerd is the producer and co-host for The HR Impact Show. He's spent his career in sales and has been typically in startup b2b HRTech and TA-Tech organizations.

He's built high-performance sales teams throughout his career and is passionate about all things employee life cycle and especially employee retention and turnover.