| More focus to open charter high schools through new and innovative school designs is rapidly growing. The successful opening of new and innovative high schools requires more school leaders possess competency in specific skills. The purpose of this study was to determine essential skills principals' need when opening a charter high school. Also, participants identified skills they perceived were underdeveloped and require additional training. The two research questions for this study were: (1) What are the essential skills a principal needs to open a charter high school? (2) Of the essential skills identified, which skills do principals indicate they need additional training?;A descriptive, mixed-methods design was used to examine the leadership skills of five principal participants. Each participant identified their most important skills when opening new schools, as well as the skills they perceived need additional training. The survey instrument based on skills identified by Portin, B., Schneider, P., DeArmond, M., & Gundlach, L. (2003) was used with permission granted by Pack (2008). In addition, a semi-structured interview of 14 written questions was used to collect demographic data from each participant.;The findings of this study reveal the skills identified on the written questionnaire were rated important, but to varying degrees. Cultural and human resource domains were identified as vital leadership areas with essential skills among them. Further, participants perceived themselves as having "somewhat low competence" to "average competence" in all skills, with the seven leadership domains. The lowest level of competency was the external development and micro-political domains. An emerging theme was past experience is the best preparation for opening a charter Renaissance high school.;The findings from this study indicate there is no definitive set of essential skills needed to open a Charter Renaissance high school. However, strong emphasis was on the cultural leadership domain. In conclusion, the study found principals rely heavily on prior knowledge and value past experience most when opening a charter high school. |
