By late September or early October, the opening-week energy has officially worn off. The bulletin boards are set, the bus routes are mostly figured out, and the daily grind of the semester has set in. But for elementary principals and APs, this middle stretch is where the real work happens. It’s the transition from getting the doors open to actually moving the needle on instruction.

When the daily wave of administrative tasks hits, it’s easy to get stuck in reactive mode. If you want to keep your building focused on real growth over the next two months, here are three practical adjustments worth making right now:

1. Get back into classrooms—even for 5 minutes

When discipline referrals spike and state reporting deadlines loom, classroom walkthroughs are usually the first thing to drop off the calendar. Don’t worry about sitting through an entire 45-minute lesson. Block out 20 minutes a day just to step into three or four rooms. Look at what’s on the students’ desks: Are they actively solving problems, or are they just completing busywork? Your presence alone signals to staff and kids that instruction comes first.

2. Turn PLCs from scheduling meetings into student-work meetings

Early in the year, grade-level PLCs naturally center on pacing, field trips, and logistics. Now is the time to steer those conversations back to the work itself. Ask teams to bring three samples of student work to their next meeting—one high, one mid, one low. Focus the conversation on a simple question: What specifically are we going to do this week for the kids who didn’t get it?

3. Clear the noise for your staff

Fall fatigue is very real. Between seasonal illnesses, parent conferences, and data entry, your teachers are feeling the push. Look hard at your next staff meeting agenda: If it can be put in an email, take it off the agenda. Guard their planning time fiercely. A ten-minute duty swap or a handwritten note in a mailbox goes a lot further toward building culture than another slideshow on self-care.

Running a building takes incredible stamina, and you don’t have to fix everything in a single week. Keep your focus tight, stay visible, and take it one day at a time.