Dr. Jay L. Jones
Principal, Konnoak Elementary School, Winston-Salem, NC

Dr. Jay Jones

North Carolina’s public schools are in the middle of a major statewide overhaul of the educational evaluation system. 

The Principal Story series on NC Now profiles three principals who model seven new standards of school executives based on recommendations from the Wallace Foundation.

As the instructional leader of his school, Dr. Jay Jones Ed. D is driving the learning environment at Konnoak Elementary School in Winston-Salem. 

For the past three years Dr. Jones has led positive change at this Title 1 School.

 “As a principal of a school, I think it is a daunting task to understand that every decision you make determines the direction of the school whether it is good or bad you have to make that decision.  For us to be the best school in Forsyth County, I have to be the best principal in Forsyth County.  How can I ask my staff to be the best, if I can’t be the best I can be?”

Assistant Principal, Tammy Johnson agrees that Jones strives to bring out the best in everyone at Konnoak Elementary School. 

“Dr. Jones is more than an instructional leader he is a team player. He empowers me to make decisions, empowers his teachers, and as far as instruction, he is visionary.”

Jones is a prime example of principals throughout the state who excel at North Carolina’s seven critical standards of executive school leadership developed by the Wallace Foundation.

Jones believes that all woven together the goal is for each standard to help leaders reflect and improve on school business.

“I think the new standards have really allowed us to look within ourselves. Self reflection is the best piece of the new instrument. I am not as good as I thought I was in that area, so I really need to work on this.  It helps you create professional learning communities.”

Dr. Stephen Greene from North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction is leading our state’s efforts to realign the executive leadership standards and evaluation instrument for school boards, teachers, principals, and assistant principals.

“The research that was done, which was the Wallace Foundation’s work on “Making Sense of Effective Schools”, showed these were the seven areas that principals spend all their time in and the most successful schools are where each of these standards is addressed in a number of ways,” says Greene.

The new standards are a tool to evaluate a principal’s leadership effectiveness. 

The standards of leadership include:
Strategic
Instructional
Cultural
Human Resource
Managerial
External Development
Micro-political

Greene says a good micro-political leader is also a transparent leader. 
“A micro-political leader is one who is strong because when they are going to make a decision, they know what the effects are, and are proactive in preparing the school for the ramifications of those issues.”

Dr. Greene points out that research shows school achievement is mostly influenced by teacher quality, but right behind that is the instructional leadership of school principals. 

“I think in North Carolina, in particular over the last five years, the state board has been very aggressive about creating strategies to address the high school drop out rate or the low number of graduates in our state.  In doing that, they have put in a lot of time and research on how to prepare our schools for this 21st century.”

And through his leadership Dr. Jones says his team has also worked hard to help transform their school into a high achieving hub of learning.  “Change is hard, sustaining change is harder.  Our mission is to change the culture of Konnaok.  Yeah, we are a Title 1 school but our kids can learn, our kids are going to be extremely successful in whatever endeavor they do.”

Jones shares some of the challenges of trying to improve the academic achievement of the mostly disadvantaged students at his Title 1 School.  

“Here at Konnoak Elementary we are about 90 percent free and reduced lunch and the challenge we face often times is kids come to us with language barriers and we have to overcome them.”

A big part of the cultural leadership at Konnoak Elementary is the creation of professional learning communities where teachers can collaborate and learn from each other.  This empowers what Jones calls his “team” to step beyond boundaries and challenges. 

“It’s all about building those relationships and if they feel you are there to support them, you will find some amazing things,” Jones says.

Morale boosters include letting teachers take on shared leadership roles and responsibility for the school’s master schedules.  First-year math teacher Thomas Baker appreciates his principal’s strong, yet subtle involvement.  “He gives you enough room to do what you need to do and enough rope to hang yourself, just kidding, He’s always been there when I needed him.”

And by reaching out to students, parents, and the community, this principal works on external leadership that creates support that can make or break a school.

“If you can develop relationships with all those stakeholders, very good relationships, they will do what you ask them to do and it is called the law of influence and it is pretty easy,” Jones concludes.

Dr. Jay Jones says in every decision, at every level, it all comes back to the students and their future.

 “We tell our teachers teach kids as they will be, not as they are right now.  You never know when Barrack Obama is in your classroom, or a Martin Luther King Jr., or an Abraham Lincoln.  You never know who those individuals will be because somebody believed in them.”

Dr. Jay Jones Bio:

Dr. Jay Jones is the Principal of Konnoak Elementary School in Winston-Salem, NC where student achievement scores have soared under his three years of instructional leadership as Principal.  Prior to that, Jones served as an administrator in Rockingham County and from 2001-2002 he served as the Initial License Teacher Coordinator for Rockingham County.  Jones also worked for the Department of Public Instruction conducting various training sessions for the state.  He began his career in education as a High School Math Teacher and has a Bachelor of Science in Math, Masters Degree in Math, Masters Degree in School Administration, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership.  He is married to Rosiland and has two daughters Fortune age 14 and Sierra age 12.

Dr. Jay Jones - Professional Awards & Involvement:

• Semi-finalist Principal of the Year/Winston-Salem/Forsyth Co. Schools. 
• President of the Elementary Forsyth Principal’s Association 2009-2010
• Policy Committee for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools
• Equity Plus Principal’s Executive Committee that looks for ways to increase achievement levels of schools that have 75% or more Free/Reduced Lunch Students. 
• North Carolina Association of Educators. 
• Executive Board for the Forsyth County Association of Educators.
• Real Men Teach Program for Winston-Salem State University.

Konnoak Elementary School Winston -Salem, NC

Konnoak Elementary School

Konnoak Elementary School is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where it serves grades K-5 in the Forsyth County School district. 90% of the student population of 670 is eligible for free or reduced lunch. 47% of students are Hispanic, 43% are African American, 4% are Caucasian, and 6% are Asian and other. Konnoak Elementary is eligible for both State and Federal Title I programs.

Additional Distinctions

Positive Behavior Support Program – Konnoak Elementary has instituted a school-wide program of Positive Behavior Support. This approach to behavior modification includes introducing, modeling, and reinforcing positive social behavior. The purpose of school-wide Positive Behavior Support is to establish a climate in which appropriate behavior is the norm. Since introducing Positive Behavior Support at Konnoak Elementary, the school has seen a noticeable decrease in behavioral problems.

United Step Team – The school’s step team has performed at many of the area schools and in competitions. Step is used to help students explore their potential and to instill in them a positive approach to life. Konnoak Elementary has named its step team “United” because the individual dancers must move as one.

SAVE Our Students – Konnoak Elementary is a member of the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE). SAVE is a student-run, student-initiated violence prevention nonprofit organization with close to 200,000 members in elementary, middle, high schools, colleges and communities nationwide. SAVE provides education about the effects and consequences of violence and offers safe activities for students, parents and communities. Konnoak is implementing SAVE by asking staff members to adopt a child at the school as a means of having students develop a positive relationship with the adults in the building.

Real Men Teach – Real Men Teach is an initiative launched by Winston-Salem State University to get more African-American males to pursue careers in education. Students from this program will become mentors to male students at Konnoak Elementary.