Get off the island, join the community, improve your life and your leadership.
Enrollment begins July 26!
Reserve your spot by signing up for our free APEx Tour!
Reserve your spot by signing up for our free APEx Tour!
IF...
You frequently wished that you had another AP to talk to…
You end your days with more time spent on discipline than in classrooms…
You wonder how other APs get everything done…
You want to be a member of a team…
You know you need to do more to help your teachers grow, but you don’t know how…
You want professional development designed to meet your needs…
You end your days with more time spent on discipline than in classrooms…
You wonder how other APs get everything done…
You want to be a member of a team…
You know you need to do more to help your teachers grow, but you don’t know how…
You want professional development designed to meet your needs…
…then APEx is for you!
I didn’t design APEx to be everything to everybody. I designed it to meet the needs of the people who could answer yes to those questions.
"APEx is like peer observation for assistant principals!"
Hey! I'm Frederick -
My name is Frederick Buskey, and I’ve been an educator and leader since 1988, but the idea for APEx was born on a warm spring morning in 2018, in a small elementary school in rural South Carolina.
|
I was a Senior Lecturer in educational leadership with Clemson University, and I was visiting an intern in our principal licensure program. On my way into the building I stopped to check in with the assistant principal and the next five minutes changed everything.
Her desk was covered with papers, her hair was disheveled and the emotions on her face were easier to read than a picture book. It was a mixture of frustration, stress, and something worse - regret. “What’s wrong?” I asked. She held up seven sheets of yellow paper and, waving them emphatically, shared “It’s 10:00 in the morning, and I already have seven discipline referrals. Each one will take me 30-40 minutes to resolve. My day is done - no classrooms, no observations. Done.” |
|
I asked, “Of those seven referrals, how many are due to teacher issues rather than student issues?”
She paused very briefly before responding. “Five.”
I left that office knowing that there had to be a better way, that something had to be done.
When I decided to “pre-tire” from Clemson I made the decision to found Strategic Leadership Consulting, and to leverage my experience, skills, and network of great school leaders, to do something to support assistant principals. APEx is the result of those efforts.
She paused very briefly before responding. “Five.”
I left that office knowing that there had to be a better way, that something had to be done.
When I decided to “pre-tire” from Clemson I made the decision to found Strategic Leadership Consulting, and to leverage my experience, skills, and network of great school leaders, to do something to support assistant principals. APEx is the result of those efforts.
Introducing...
If you'd like to get more out of the assistant principalship, please join us!
- Join a community of APs and other instructional leaders
- Connect, learn from, and share with APs from all over the United States
- Get your questions answered
- Learn to develop the skills you want to grow
- Participate in webinars and group coaching
- Improve your life and your leadership
Why APEx, why not something else?
|
|
|
“Other than my monthly AA/AP meeting, that I don’t even know if it occurs monthly throughout the school year, I don’t have an opportunity to collaborate or talk with other people that are serign in the same role as I am, so that collaborative piece is a big part of my love for APEx.”
- Maria Werner, AA, Westcliffe Elementary School in Greenville South Carolina
|
Tell me more about APEx... |
|
First and foremost, APEx is a community. APEx also offers rich and varied professional development opportunities, designed to meet members’ needs. When you join APEx, you get:
- A community who understands you, shares your needs, your fears, your joys, and your aspirations. APEx moves you from being disconnected to being a part of a caring community.
- Live group coaching! Real and timely help for your specific issues.
- Live webinars! Real interactive support for implementing professional development topics.
- Simple, actionable, A-B strategies. APEx tools are meant to facilitate small but immediate improvements. We don’t try to hit home runs. Instead, we just make small but immediate improvements every day. We don’t strike out, we don’t hit pop flys, we just hit singles day after day after day!
- Special interest groups. In August, we’ll develop small groups focused on specific topics that members want to collaborate on.
- Are you going to be a new AP? We can have a group for that.
- Need to figure out how to support your new teachers? We can have a group for that too.
- Trying to figure out how to get off the treadmill of the urgent and into classrooms? You guessed it - we can have a group for that too.
"Even during the summer, I'm putting my APEx knowledge to use!"
|
“I was heading to another school to train the new AP on the scheduling process in Power School, and my SOP for my scheduling process was a game changer! She was so appreciative of the step-by-step instructions I was able to offer her, and I think she was more comfortable with tackling schedules now that she has a resource in hand to guide her through the process. Even during the summer, I am putting my APEx knowledge to use!”
- Emily Parks, Assistant Principal, Ford Elementary School, Laurens SC
|
Wow, how does it all work?
|
|
"Just going A to B has allowed us to have success with small gains and to not be mired in inertia. Thank you for your work with us and the quick check in coaching cycles we have tried with our teachers."
- Holly Miller, Assistant Principal, Frances Mack Intermediate
(Holly is now the principal of Sandhills Elementary School, Swansea SC)
Mark these dates!
July 26, 8:00 am, VIP membership opens!
VIP member bonuses include:
July 26, 7:00 pm (EST) VIP Tour and kick off
July 31-August 2, regular membership opens
August 3-5, last call membership
VIP member bonuses include:
- Sign up for the Pro level for only $99 a month (10% savings)
- Gain early access to the community on August 1
- Free access to our new teacher support webinar and round table on August 2 ($199 value)
- Free access to the webinar archive
July 26, 7:00 pm (EST) VIP Tour and kick off
- Receive all of the early member bonuses above
- If you enroll during the tour, receive instant access to the community!
July 31-August 2, regular membership opens
- Free access to our new teacher support webinar and round table on August 2 ($199 value)
- Free access to the webinar archive
August 3-5, last call membership
- Don’t miss a thing! APEX opens on August 7
Why community first?
- Being an assistant principal can feel isolating. Professional development can’t fix that, but a community of peers can.
- Members of a community have a shared responsibility to help each other. A community empowers each member to pursue their own growth, but to also support the growth of others.
- APEx has APs from across the country, from different types of schools, and varying backgrounds. A community can leverage that diversity into a rich environment that helps participants gain new perspectives.
- In a community, members’ needs drive professional development, so PD opportunities are timely, relevant, and powerful.
Okay, community is important, but what about professional development?
- Small but powerful coaching practices
- How to develop standard operating procedures
- Developing custom observation protocols to follow up on PD
- Effective ways to limit referrals
Why Frederick?
I invested 13 years in developing, leading, and teaching in university administrator licensing programs. During that time, I prepared a lot of assistant principals. More importantly, I spent a lot of time with district leaders, principals, and assistant principals in all types of schools. I learned from all of them and have taken the best practices I have seen and packaged them into simple, effective, and actionable frameworks.
In January 2021 I launched APEx as a pilot project and ran it again in 2021-22. In August of 2021 I launched The Assistant Principal Podcast, and this July I will begin producing Quadrant2, a bi-weekly micro-journal focused on discrete learning and applying discrete skills essential to the assistant principalship.
Did I mention, The Assistant Principal Podcast is the only weekly podcast made specifically for assistant principals?
I have a unique combination of k-12 teaching and administrative experience (17 years), higher education experience (13 years), and consulting and training experience in schools (16 years). I have a track record of preparing teachers to become assistant principals and assistant principals to become principals.
In January 2021 I launched APEx as a pilot project and ran it again in 2021-22. In August of 2021 I launched The Assistant Principal Podcast, and this July I will begin producing Quadrant2, a bi-weekly micro-journal focused on discrete learning and applying discrete skills essential to the assistant principalship.
Did I mention, The Assistant Principal Podcast is the only weekly podcast made specifically for assistant principals?
I have a unique combination of k-12 teaching and administrative experience (17 years), higher education experience (13 years), and consulting and training experience in schools (16 years). I have a track record of preparing teachers to become assistant principals and assistant principals to become principals.
|
"Being a school leader is challenging and at times messy. Having the ability to discuss specific needs with someone whose only desire is to assist in a non-judgmental way is extremely helpful. Sometimes you just need someone to listen...Dr. Buskey is that person. I am not the type of person to gush or write glowing recommendations for those who ask. I am succinct in most of what I do. You will be better off for having engaged with Dr. Buskey! Please take advantage of his knowledge. Your students and school will be better for doing so." |
Can’t afford to pay for PD right now?
Funding is tight and every dollar matters. In the past, APEx contracted with districts to sponsor a group of APs.
We have purposefully moved away from that model this year.
Why? because APs did not have a choice. Consequently, they were less invested, and our community suffered.
This year, we are asking APs to either pay their own way or apply for professional development funds from their district. In fact, we are actively reaching out to districts to help make this process simpler.
So, if districts might wind up paying for APEx, why bother asking you to apply for the funds? Honestly, because it shows that you are invested, and that’s the kind of AP we want.
If applying for district funds is too problematic, then you probably aren’t going to take full advantage of things like group coaching and webinars that APEx offers.
We have purposefully moved away from that model this year.
Why? because APs did not have a choice. Consequently, they were less invested, and our community suffered.
This year, we are asking APs to either pay their own way or apply for professional development funds from their district. In fact, we are actively reaching out to districts to help make this process simpler.
So, if districts might wind up paying for APEx, why bother asking you to apply for the funds? Honestly, because it shows that you are invested, and that’s the kind of AP we want.
If applying for district funds is too problematic, then you probably aren’t going to take full advantage of things like group coaching and webinars that APEx offers.
How do you know you’ll get results?
Unfortunately, nothing is a for sure thing. Our schools are being impacted by factors beyond our control, and we don’t know what is coming next. That said, the structures, content, and opportunities within APEx are research-based and mirror the best practices of adult learning.
Our PD experiences are focused on providing instant value and we are rich in strategies and practices that you can implement easily and immediately.
APs who invest in the community and the content will develop actionable skills that will lead to immediate incremental improvements.
Our PD experiences are focused on providing instant value and we are rich in strategies and practices that you can implement easily and immediately.
APs who invest in the community and the content will develop actionable skills that will lead to immediate incremental improvements.
Why do this now?
If you are more of an individual learner, or are too busy to participate in a community, then this may not be a good time for you.
However, if you sometimes feel like you are on an island, or if you want to work with your peers and sharpen some of your skills, then now is the time.
Our registration window is small, from July 26-August 5, so if you delay you won’t have this opportunity again until the spring.
However, if you sometimes feel like you are on an island, or if you want to work with your peers and sharpen some of your skills, then now is the time.
Our registration window is small, from July 26-August 5, so if you delay you won’t have this opportunity again until the spring.
Still unsure?
What if you could join risk free?
Sometimes the only way to really know whether something is the right fit for you is to get in there and test it out.
Complete the onboarding and participate in the community during the month of August.
If you don’t feel like APEx is giving you the community, support, tools, and frameworks you need to make a difference in your own life, and in your school, just email us at mara@frederickbuskey.com by August 30, 2022, and we will refund you in full.
The refund is only available to people who complete the onboarding process and post at least twice in three of the four weeks of August.
Why? Because it is hard to say the pants don’t fit if you never try them on!
Sometimes the only way to really know whether something is the right fit for you is to get in there and test it out.
Complete the onboarding and participate in the community during the month of August.
If you don’t feel like APEx is giving you the community, support, tools, and frameworks you need to make a difference in your own life, and in your school, just email us at mara@frederickbuskey.com by August 30, 2022, and we will refund you in full.
The refund is only available to people who complete the onboarding process and post at least twice in three of the four weeks of August.
Why? Because it is hard to say the pants don’t fit if you never try them on!
"All of these above actions were the direct result of working with you."
Here are a couple of quick ideas/big impacts that we are currently using:
Lisa Evans, Director, Early Childhood Center, Lexington 4
- Power Hour: The big idea here for me was to be transparent and to share what I was doing with staff. They appreciated it more than I would have imagined. It made the authenticity of engaging through Power Hour even more powerful.
- Classroom Management: In addition to a MVP for Behavior, we've narrowed our focus to 5 Classroom Practices and have narrowed our attention to giving feedback on those 5 practices to Year 1 and Year 2 teachers for the first weeks of school.
- MVP Implementation: Because we have implemented MVPs for Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, Behavior, and Environment, we've developed one "Look for" for each - for a total of 5 Look Fors. The admin team is sharing feedback on some, not all, of these 5 looks fors during classroom walkthroughs. (see attached)
Lisa Evans, Director, Early Childhood Center, Lexington 4
What does a future with APEx look like?
Remember that story I shared earlier, about the AP who had seven discipline referrals before 10:00 in the morning?
- Who would forever struggle to get into classrooms?
- Who couldn’t find the time to work with teachers?
- Who would finish each day, exhausted, frustrated that they weren’t having the impact they envisioned when they became a school leader?
- Who likely ended each day feeling alone, on an island?
It doesn’t have to be this way!
Imagine 12 months from now:
- You’ve implemented some simple yet effective strategies for proactively decreasing discipline referrals.
- You’ve leveraged that extra time to refine some of your processes and you’ve gotten better about sharing the load. You are still busy, but you have learned to prioritize and protect your time in classrooms.
- You have learned techniques for helping teachers become more reflective. Now they seek you out to share what’s working, and to ask your thoughts to help them problem solve.
- Each day, you can identify small but valuable ways that you made a difference in your school, with teachers and with kids.
- And at the end of the day, you have a community you can reach out to. You know that you have friends and colleagues from all over the country. You smile.
"Dr. Buskey plants seeds with his words & he waters them with his action"
I am a better leader & person because Dr. Buskey invested in me. He has an innate ability to see leaders' full potential even before they see it for themselves…. Dr. Buskey plants seeds with his words & he waters them with his action. He is a rare educational leader whose words & actions walk hand-in-hand. The impact of his intentional consistency is life changing.
-Dr. Mary Hemphill, Director of Academic Standards for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
-Dr. Mary Hemphill, Director of Academic Standards for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Last call!
Our membership window is only open from July 26-August 5. If you aren't in now, you'll need to wait until 2023!
The decision is yours:
Begin the year more intnetioannly, with support behind you and colleagues around you?
Or go it alone?
This is really a simple choice.
If you don't care about being part of a community, and if you are completely satisfied with your knowledge, skills, and growth trajectory, then APEx is not for you.
But if that was the case, then you wouldn't be all the way down here, at the bottom of the page, trying to make a decision.
Let's be honest. You are still reading because you see yourself here.
You have had all of your objections answered:
The decision is yours:
Begin the year more intnetioannly, with support behind you and colleagues around you?
Or go it alone?
This is really a simple choice.
If you don't care about being part of a community, and if you are completely satisfied with your knowledge, skills, and growth trajectory, then APEx is not for you.
But if that was the case, then you wouldn't be all the way down here, at the bottom of the page, trying to make a decision.
Let's be honest. You are still reading because you see yourself here.
- You want to be part of a vibrant community!
- You want to get off the treadmill of the urgent!
- You want to move from disciplining students to developing teachers!
You have had all of your objections answered:
- I don't have time! That's because you haven't had APEx. We will show you how to nibble at the margins of urgency, to create and prioritize so you can get into classrooms.
- I don't have the skills to help teachers grow! APEx helps you learn simple tools that allow you to help teachers grow in a matter of minutes a way, not hours or months.
- I don't have money! Many districts will sponsor their APs. Have you checked with yours? We even offer a helpful resource sheet to make it easy.
- What if my district won't help? We have an entry level membership for $49 a month. And a risk-free month so you can get your money back if you decide this isn't for you.
- But where will I find $49? Can I be blunt? A latte at your favorite coffee shop costs $5-7. Skip two lattes a week - not only will you be healthier, but you'll also be able t afford APEx.
- But I like my lattes? I understand. If you prefer lattes to connecting with your peers and growing your skills, then APEx isn't for you. But if that was really the case, you would have quit reading a long time ago.
- I don't drink lattes and I can barely payback my student loans. Okay, I've been there. If you are barely making it, but you want to be part of a community, email me. I believe in what we are doing and I will find a way to make sure you can join us.
I'm just not sure!
We've already established that you want to do this.
We've already shown that you can get the results you want.
We've already overcome the financial hurdle.
So what's left?
At this point, there is only one thing holding you back - fear.
Change is scary, and APEx will change you.
Is the risk of putting yourself out there worth it?
Here's a four-part path to answer that question once and for all:
If you don't join APEx, and continue next year the same way you ended this past year...
That's it. If a future with APEx is more likely to lead to the life you want, and if there is no risk, then it is time to be courageous and take the next step in your leadership journey!
We've already shown that you can get the results you want.
We've already overcome the financial hurdle.
So what's left?
At this point, there is only one thing holding you back - fear.
Change is scary, and APEx will change you.
Is the risk of putting yourself out there worth it?
Here's a four-part path to answer that question once and for all:
If you don't join APEx, and continue next year the same way you ended this past year...
- What's the best thing that can happen?
- What's the worst thing that can happen?
- What's the best thing that can happen?
- What's the worst thing that can happen?
That's it. If a future with APEx is more likely to lead to the life you want, and if there is no risk, then it is time to be courageous and take the next step in your leadership journey!