The Vermont Principals Association
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Dr. Margaret Waddington left Vermont schools a great gift – one that could transform school leadership within a decade.

The late Dr. Margaret Waddington was one of the many individuals transformed by CCL’s flagship Leadership Development Program (LDP)®. So much so that the pioneering neurologist and resident of Rutland became a strong financial supporter of CCL and upon her passing in 2015, entrusted the organization with a multimillion dollar estate gift to ensure ongoing access to leadership development for women, men, and the young people of Vermont.

Waddington Background Powerpoint


Efficacy Report 

CCL Senior Evaluation Faculty Member, Dr. Micela Leis, has put together highlights of the data collected through Cohort #7. (November, 2020)

View 1 Page Efficacy Report, Highlighted Data (PDF Version)

View Longitudinal Study (16 PDF Slide Version)


Waddington Leadership Initiative, Extended Offerings

The VPA is very fortunate to be able offer extended professional learning offerings from the Center for Creative Leadership.
Learn more about our the Current Extended Offerings and Workshops

Cohorts 13 & 14 now enrolled

Cohort 13

Session 1 – April 5-7, 2023            Check in 4th, Depart 7th         Greensboro, NC
Session 2 – July 20-21, 2023        Check-in 19th, Depart 21st      Sugarbush  Resort (Warren, VT)
Session 3 – Oct. 24-25, 2023        Check-in 23rd, Depart 25th     Mountain Top Inn (Chittenden, VT)

Cohort 14
Session 1 – June 28-30, 2023       Check-in 27th, Depart 30th        Greensboro, NC
Session 2 – Nov. 9-10, 2023          Check-in 8th, Depart 10th          Sugarbush Resort (Warren, VT)
Session 3 – March 7-8, 2024        Check-in 6th, Depart 8th             Sugarbush Resort (Warren, VT)

Selection Criteria Priority Ranking for Cohort Selections

  • VPA Membership
  • VPA Governing Committees Membership
  • Active Principal/Assistant Principal
  • Years as a VPA Member
  • All Others

Please Note: Cohort 13 will be different than Cohort 14 in that it will require participants to engage their given school communities in the Center for Creative Leadership’s Social Emotional Leadership Suite, “SEL School Bundle“.


Waddington Part 2

About Part 2: The Center for Creative Leadership and the Vermont Principals’ Association were pleased to offer the Waddington Institute for School Leaders part 2. Participants must have successfully completed the initial seven-day Waddington program to participate. First consideration were given to VPA members in the selection process. These Waddington Institute cohorts continued the focus on leading self, and also went deeper into the strategic leadership necessary to impact and improve the collective efficacy of a school or district in service of supporting both academic and social emotional growth of students. All alumni of cohorts 1-9 were welcome to apply for Waddington Part 2. The Part 2 program included assessments such as the Benchmarks for Education Leaders 360 (which was first introduced to cohort 7 in the initial Waddington Leadership Institute programming), the Workplace Big 5, the 4 Mat learning styles, and other assessments not used in the original Waddington training. Experiential learning activities that focused on creating high performing systems and teams, building relational trust, and becoming more strategic as a leader were designed into the sessions. The sessions included a deep dive into Polarity Thinking and Mapping, Boundary Spanning Leadership, Burn Bright Resilience (CCL’s newest interpretation on the ever expanding research on leadership resilience), Beyond Bias (equity, diversity, and inclusion), and other important tools, resources, and approaches for school leaders. Waddington Part 2 participants engaged their schools/districts with a full Systemic (Student) Leadership Bundle, which included but was not limited to: Leadership Indicators for Students, Social Emotional Leadership Course for Teachers (25 seats), and Teacher Collective Efficacy Course (25 seats).


Selection Criteria, Priority Ranking for Cohorts

  • VPA Membership
  • VPA Governing Committees Membership
  • Active Principal/Assistant Principal
  • Years as a VPA Member
  • All Others

Principal Leadership Influences Leadership “Churn” 

  • Read this Center for Creative Leadership blogpost by CCL’s Micela Leis which features Vermont data regarding principal turnover. It connects the benefits of the investment in professional learning in comparison to the costs with principal turnover. The blog also shares this great piece of data: “Additionally, 91% of Waddington participants are still principals in Vermont compared to 56% of non-Waddington participants.”

Cohort Members:

Cohort #1, Cohort #2, Cohort #3,Cohort #4,Cohort #5,Cohort #6, Cohort #7, Cohort #8, Cohort #9, Cohort #2.1, Cohort #2.2, Cohort #10, Cohort #11 ,Cohort #12

Notice: Waddington Cohorts 13 & 14 deadline for applications was 10/31/22, cohorts were finalized in the winter for 2023.


All 2021-22 VPA members were gifted a one-year license to ELLA. ELLA is the Center for Creative Leadership’s personalized leadership app.

Completed: CCL Extended Opportunities, 2021-22 (24 courses of Burn Bright and Beyond Bias)

Completed: Additional Dates Announced for Alumni, Spring 2020 (announced 4/23/2020)

Completed: Waddington Alumni Opportunity Announced for Spring 2020 (announced 4/14/2020)

Archived Offerings From the Spring/Summer, 2021