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Principal Appreciation Day is May 3, and what better way to show your school leaders how thankful you are for their support and guidance than with a thoughtful gift from your students? We’re sharing nine Principal Appreciation Day ideas from students that you can replicate in your classroom to create a one-of-a-kind keepsake or experience for your administrators:
9 Principal Appreciation Day ideas for students to create and share
Whether your students love to write, draw, act, or learn, choose a Principal Appreciation Day activity that sparks their interest and creativity with one of these ideas:
Saying thank you to someone can be one of the simplest—but most effective—ways to show you care. Have students write a thank-you note to their principal while also teaching them about the main idea and key details of a text in the same lesson:
First, have students read about a high school principal who took a second job to help his students in need.
Next, share a step-by-step tutorial on how to write a thank-you note.
Finally, ask students to think about what makes their principal a great leader, and write a thank-you note expressing gratitude for all they do for the school.
[2. Decorate your classroom doors or the school hallways](id-door)
Surprise your administrators when they arrive at school on Principal Appreciation Day and do their rounds of the building by decorating the doors and hallways to celebrate. Some options may include:
Our favorite things: Have students draw or list their favorite things about your principal and use them to decorate your door or hallway.
Principal through the years: For a long-tenured principal, have each classroom or hallway represent a year or decade of their service to the school. Find old yearbook pictures and memorabilia from their tenure to decorate.
Acrostic poem: Have students write acrostic poems using the principal’s last name and their best qualities, and hang them up in the hallway. For principals with long last names, have each student create an art piece for one letter of their name.
[3. Put on a play or presentation](id-play)
Organize a special Principal Appreciation Day assembly to share your thanks and students' talents. Play and presentation options might include:
A day in the life: Students write and act out a script for the day in your principal's life.
Concert: Students can choose and learn songs about gratitude, friendship, and appreciation, and sing them for their principal at the presentation.
Poetry or quote reading: Students can pick their favorite quotes about thankfulness or appreciation to read out loud to the principal.
You can invite the principal to your classroom for this presentation, or get the whole grade or school involved by hosting the event in the gym or auditorium with all classes invited or participating.
[4. Create a quote or memory book](id-memory)
Give your principal a gift they can look back on and remember your class with a quote or memory book. Students may each create their own page, and you can bind the book together, or you can use a photo book creation service to create a polished finished product.
Like the idea but want to modify it for the digital age? Create a video memory book instead. You can even use Formative to have students create and share their submissions!
[5. Draw a principal portrait gallery](id-gallery)
Have your students show off their artistic talents by creating portraits of your principal for door or hall decorating, or as part of their memory book. Some creative options students might try include:
Using different mediums: Encourage students to try different mediums to create portraits like painting, sketching, or collage.
Imitating a famous artist: Have students choose a famous artist to emulate and have them create a portrait of your principal in that artist’s style. Need inspiration? Search for “artists” on Newsela!
Depicting scenes from real life: Prompt students to feature your principal doing daily school activities in their portraits, like giving the morning announcements or leading an assembly.
[6. Make a bookmark bouquet](id-bookmark)
Not everybody loves flowers, but you can’t go wrong with a Principal Appreciation Day bookmark bouquet. Ask students to create bookmarks for their principal, and then you can gather them up into a bouquet to share. Try one of these bookmark ideas:
All about me: Have students decorate their bookmark with their name, grade, and some of their favorite things so the principal remembers them when they use it.
School spirit: Have students decorate their bookmarks using school colors, mottos, and mascots.
Flower power: Have students draw or color flower-shaped bookmarks to look almost like a real bouquet when you give it to your principal.
[7. Invite your principal to career day](id-career)
Most students know the principal is the school's leader, but they don’t actually know what a principal does all day. Invite the principal to your classroom for a “career day” talk with your students. Encourage students to prepare questions ahead of time to ask things like:
What is your favorite part about your job?
How did you decide you wanted to become a principal?
What advice would you give someone who wants to become a principal?
[8. Ask your principal to be an in-class special reader](id-reader)
In elementary school, especially, students love to get special visitors in the classroom. Ask your principal to come read their favorite children’s book to your students on Principal Appreciation Day. Then you can have your students present them with a gift (like the bookmark bouquet!) after the story.
[9. Donate a library book in their honor](id-book)
Donations are another fun way for students to show gratitude. Find out your principal’s favorite book or children’s book and get a copy to donate to the school library. If your school doesn’t have a library, you can donate it to your local library. Be sure to ask the librarian to include a sticker with the dedication to your principal from your class.
Then, you can invite your principal to the classroom on Principal Appreciation Day and present the book or a certificate of dedication for the book to them as a gift.
Connect with other educators in the Newselaverse community
Sometimes (maybe most of the time!) the best ideas can come from your fellow teachers. In the Newselaverse, you can find a variety of voices from teachers, administrators, and instructional coaches, talking about what they’ve done, what’s worked, and what they want to try next.
But where can you find all this great information?
In addition to checking out the Newselaverse home on our website, you can join our community by following us on social media platforms, like Instagram, X, and LinkedIn—and by subscribing to The Weekly Planner email.
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