KIRKUS REVIEW

When author Blomstrand was appointed the principal of a California elementary school, she understandably found her duties daunting given that she hadn’t served as a vice principal and was now in charge of more than 700 students and 60 teachers and staff members. Blomstrand writes lucidly of the personal dimension of her work and what she sees as the “heart of education”…. Some of the stories are remarkably dramatic…. Blomstrand supplies a unique perspective on elementary education with impressive clarity and common sense.”

READERS’ FAVORITE BOOK REVIEW

Meet the Principal: My Journey Beyond the Curriculum by Jane Blomstrand is a wonderful book that gives glimpses into the lives of principals and speaks about her experiences with students, parents, and teachers attempting to create a winning educational environment. Her experiences and stories while being a principal will be of great interest to all those who want to become school administrators. The stories are funny, sad, touching, and tell readers what happens at a school beyond its curriculum. The book has love and passion, and apart from being informative and educational, is also an eye opener to understanding the challenges faced by a principal. Jane Blomstrand’s stories and experiences give good insights into the life of a principal and what happens in an educational environment. She is honest and open about her experiences and her caring approach to children and her co-workers reveals her genuine interest in the welfare of her students. Reading the book is also a good way to understand the behind-the-scenes activities of a principal and to realize how difficult it is at times for them to rise above the challenges and make sure they have people with the right type of skills to do the job. Meet the Principal is a good book for all teachers and those dealing with school administration as the author shows the connection between the students and their families, teachers, and the curriculum in an engaging light. Reading this book is also a good way to understand the impact of a leader on the school and the people within that educational environment.

"Inspiring and fun to read"

Jane compares life as a principal to a baseball manager who is juggling many balls in the air with dealing with players, fans, press, owners, etc. Her chapters are labeled accordingly with “First Inning, Second Inning, etc.” as she started and finished her career as an elementary principal. She also ended the chapters with an inspiring quote that fitted the underlying message of the chapter. It is the perfect book to read for bedtime story time as most chapters are a story in itself.

R. Zinn, Retired Superintendent

“This book is a “must read” for anyone who wants an exceptionally honest and poignant account about the incredible world school principals face each day. Jane Blomstrand’s wonderful vignettes beautifully capture the complex, exciting and often unpredictable situations our school leaders must continually navigate, often on a daily basis.”

ONLINE BOOK CLUB REVIEW

Meet the Principal: My Journey Beyond the Curriculum, by Jane Blomstrand, is a collection of stories unveiling the author’s experiences as a principal of an elementary school. In an interesting way, the book shows her relationship with her students, teachers, and parents of students, as she tried to create a good learning environment. It tells about how she and her staff worked together to support the students in order to improve their academic performance. In summary, it reveals her day-to-day responsibilities, challenges, and accomplishments.

This book is enlightening. The stories in it are well written and intriguing. They are easy to read and straightforward. Though they are quite short, their plots are solid and engaging, consisting of memorable events. Having a good balance of narrative and dialogues, they unveil how Jane was involved in difficult decision-making, as she handled situations concerning bullying, students’ negative behavior, absenteeism, parenting lapses, and so forth. Also, they show how she provided support for her struggling students and those who needed extra challenge. Education is essential for success; I enjoyed reading the book, and I’m glad that Jane made it available to enlighten readers about the world of an elementary school. Nonetheless, if you don’t like books about school activities, you may want to skip it.

Being a nonfictional book, I commend the author for the way she gave life to the characters in it. She described all of them very well, providing enough background and physical details about them. The characters are intriguing and relatable. Regarding profanity, there are no vulgar words in the book. However, there are a few conversations which originally included profane words, but, for discretion, the author just wrote the first letters of the words and then added dashes.

In addition, consisting of 312 pages, Meet the Principal: My Journey Beyond the Curriculum tells about how the author created a culture which increased student achievement, by building positive relationships through open dialogue and collaboration. It comprises an inspiring quote at the end of each chapter. Again, the author provides a glossary, at the end of the book, to explain the educational terminology in the stories.

In conclusion, I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars. I couldn’t rate it lower because it comprises enjoyable and eye-opening stories. It was professionally edited, though I noticed a lot of missing commas, which I saw as stylistic. I recommend it to educators and parents of elementary students.

T. McShane, Retired School Vice Principal

Ms. Blomstrand’s delightfully revealing book on what goes on behind the scenes for busy school administrators is worth the time to read. Her background as a veteran educator weaves seamlessly the myriad of experiences she has encountered and the wisdom she presents in each of her episodes as she navigates answers to the dilemmas she finds waiting at her principal’s desk. Parents, teachers and soon-to-be administrators will gain a deeper respect for the wide-ranging engagement a school principal’s role includes. Healthy doses of humanity, humor and common sense are evident in Ms. Blomstrand’s book. Each chapter will end with a smile on your face. Guaranteed!

H. Asselin, Teacher (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

This book was a fun and entertaining recollection of stories of what educators deal with in and out of the classroom. It is an excellent read for anyone stepping onto a campus and especially those working with students. I couldn’t put this book down and really enjoyed it! I recommend it to everyone!

River Runner (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“Great insight into the skillset required to be an effective principal in our schools. I appreciated Blomstrand’s approach of sharing the complex and challenging job of a principal through stories. Through them she weaves strategies and wisdom necessary to deal with the myriad of situations that are a part of a principal’s everyday experience.”

M. Haase, Classroom Teacher (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“I highly recommend reading this book. Jane Blomstrand does an excellent job at explaining how difficult it is for a school to rise above its challenges. She gets the reader to try to understand the dance between teacher, student, parent and curriculum. I found myself underlining and making notes, and saying out loud, YEP! A must read even if you are not in education.”

H. Hogan, Parent (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“The book is a short story narrative showing the diverse day-to-day struggles and joys of an elementary principal. Her journey illustrates the delicate and dynamic relationship a principal has to navigate in order to lead a community of staff, students and parents.”

Jennifer (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“Interesting stories of a tough and important job. This book is written as a series of stories about the work of a principal. What wonderful episodes about challenges and efforts by her and her teachers to make a difference in the life of the students and staff! Love and acceptance for all sorts of situations shine forth in this book. “

M. Dolley, Principal

“This book offers a roadmap to all that is not taught in the administrative leadership program! I am grateful for her insight and experience; her stories help me every day.”

BookePrime (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“A wonderful read! Meet the Principal is an insightful look into a school and the complex role of a principal. Through her private lens, the author demonstrates how she manages a dynamic school environment. The job comes with rewards and challenges many students and parents are unaware exist. It is a great read, both touching and funny, one to be shared with your kids.”

BookePrime (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

Autumn Fallen Over Book Reviews (4 of 5 stars on Amazon)

Enjoyable! “When I saw this book I really wanted to read it; I wanted to see inside the mind of a principal. We only get to see them when running the school, but we never see inside their minds and what they question themselves on. In this book, we see Jane tackle some issues, see what she thought of some things that were going on, and handled situations. I feel like Jane is one of those old school teachers who became a principal and transferred that old school teaching vibes to her school.”

J. Kraus, Playwright/Author (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“Every teacher and parent and anyone interested in education should read this book. Meet the Principal has been my companion at suppertime as I read the well-written vignettes. They reveal a remarkable woman who with efficiency and sensitivity raised the standards of Baxter, an elementary school in northern California. She responded to myriad challenges with diplomacy, practicality and compassion”

A. McLain, Classroom Teacher (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“I finished this book and found great comfort in it, knowing that unexpected things happen in other districts and at other schools. I laughed, I cried and realized that Mrs. Blomstrand’s stories are stories of principals and teachers all over. The school day goes by so quickly because all of these stories are what keep us on our toes each day. This book is a treasure to me because Mrs. Blomstrand has taken the time to explain each situation and conveyed her love for the job and passion for education, the same love and passion that many dedicated educators share. She really hit it all with stories from administration, students, parents, teachers and staff. This will certainly be a treasure to anyone who wonders what a principal does all day – the answer is ANYTHING that comes that day, and it will be handled with just the perfect amount of grace.”

Old Warden (4 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“A real insight into the life of a school principal, the challenges, the successes and the disappointments. The author covers many, many observations she has made over her long career. At times I was laughing along with her, some times I felt sorry for her and the students, and sometimes I was shocked. But they all were very interesting and readable.
I have read a lot of books about the field of education from the perspective of teachers, but this is the first from the administrator view. I found it enjoyable, entertaining and educational.“

Anon (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“Just what I needed for a summer read.”

Debra, Retired Principal (5 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“I love this book! The author describes a wide variety of situations school administrators deal with on an ongoing basis. After reading this book, parents, students and community members will develop a better understanding of the role administrators play in running a school program. In fact, educators aspiring to become school principals should read Jane Blomstrand’s book to prepare them for the great joys and challenges of the job. As a retired principal I loved reading Jane’s stories and related to them all. Thanks so much for a great read.”

R. White, Net Galley Reviewer (4 of 5 stars on Amazon)

“A real insight into the life of a school principal; the challenges, the successes, the disappointments. The author covers many, many observations she has made over her long career. At times I was laughing along with her, some times I felt sorry for her and the students, and sometimes I was shocked. But the stories were all very interesting and readable. I have read a lot of books about the field of education from the perspective of teachers, but this is the first from an administration view. I found it enjoyable, entertaining and educational.”

P. Machado, Retired Teacher (5.0 out of 5 stars)

“A book for all teachers: Jane Blomstrand’s, “Teaching with Heart”, is a perfect book for a new teacher as well as a seasoned teacher!! As a retired teacher, I found so many words of wisdom in Blomstrands’s book, that truly connected to my many years of teaching at an elementary school. I sent my copy of “Teaching with Heart” to a young friend who is just beginning her teaching journey!”

Toni McShane, Retired School Vice-Principal (5.0 out of 5 stars)

“Savor several chapters for a quick read or immerse yourself in the overview of connecting. : Blomstrand knows about relationships, especially educational relationships. Her professional life’s bedrock was solidly established in connecting with people from youngsters to seasoned educators, across socio-economic areas and a wide diversity of the human family. Her time spent in classroooms, playgrounds and principals’ offices has given her a plethora of memories and experiences to fill her latest book. This edition is worthwhile reading for the fledgling teacher, an administrator looking for an opening to a staff meeting or your professional “lending” library.

Staci B. School Principal (5.0 out of 5 stars on Amazon)

“Teaching with Heart: Making Student Connections That Count” by Jane Blomstrand is a profound and insightful guide for educators, emphasizing the vital role that personal connections play in the teaching and learning process. Blomstrand expertly weaves together research, personal stories, and practical advice to underscore the idea that teaching is not just about delivering content—it’s about fostering meaningful relationships with students that can deeply impact their academic success and emotional well-being.”

Lucinda Jackson (5.0 out of 5 stars on Amazon)

“A Real-Life Abbot Elementary Full of Wisdom: This small book is packed with big ideas and wisdom! Easy to read as it’s filled with real-life examples about student/teaching connections that I’ll remember for a long time. Blomstrand includes tons of tips, including the power of YET, the 2X10 Strategy, ROI (that’s not Return on Investment!), WAIT (used that one already today in my own relationships with other adults), and Ubuntu. The advice rings true not only for teachers, but for parenting too. A wonderful, heart-warming book every teacher should own.”