The Delaware Principals’ Academy was established in the spring of 1985 as a service organization for Delaware public school administrators. The Academy is designed to assist principals, central office and other educational leaders to plan, improve, and maintain quality education in Delaware’s public schools. Today, the Academy provides a vehicle for exchanging ideas among administrators and delivering specific professional development and technical assistance to meet identified needs.

In 1981, the Delaware Department of Public Instruction (DPI) sponsored the Delaware Management Institute, which was the precursor of the Principals’ Academy. Soon after, DPI joined the Greater Wilmington Development Council, funded by businesses, in a collaborative effort to establish a series of institutes for school administrators. One of the activities was to sponsor administrators to attend the Harvard Principals’ Center Summer Institute. After the Greater Wilmington Development Council support ended in 1984, graduates of these summer institutes formed an advisory committee to create the Delaware Principals’ Academy. Funding was provided by the Delaware General Assembly and the Executive Branch through the State Department of Public Instruction.

The Delaware Principals’ Academy is presently governed by an Executive Committee of principals and other administrators, including an Executive Director from the Department of Education. Membership in the Academy is open to all Delaware public school administrators free of charge.

To support state and national goals, the Academy offers a comprehensive professional development program designed to improve instruction and student achievement through enhanced educational leadership. All programs are aligned with the Delaware (ISLLC) Administrator Standards. Several programs each year are designed specifically for beginning administrators and for teachers who aspire to the principalship.

The Fiscal Year 2008 budget for the Delaware Principals’ Academy is $142,800, which provides services for approximately 500 administrators annually.