PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP AWARD

What is the amount of the Leadership Award?
The Herb Kohl Leadership Award is a one-time $6,000 award to the selected principal, and the principal's school also receives $6,000. Up to seventeen Leadership Awards are awarded annually--12 or 13 to Wisconsin public school principals and up to 4 to private school principals/administrators.

Who is eligible?
Pre-K through Grade 12 Wisconsin principals must first be nominated online by a parent, teacher, student, community member or administrator before they can apply. Previous Kohl Leadership Award recipients are ineligible. However, principals who received Kohl teacher fellowships or Kohl scholarships when in high school are eligible. Applicants who have been nominated in the past but not selected as a Leadership Award recipient may also re-apply if nominated.

How can I be nominated?
You must be nominated on this website by a parent, teacher, student, community member, or an administrator. Potential candidates cannot self-nominate. 

After I am nominated, what is the next step?
Nominated principals are notified of their nomination before the current award cycle closes in October. If they choose to apply, they must do so online using the link that they are sent from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation.

What is the application deadline?
The submission deadline is posted on the important information section of the website. 

What is the selection process?
​The Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) and representatives of private schools review each applicant’s packet. Successful applicants' materials are forwarded to a State Selection Committee in January. Representatives of the Kohl Educational Foundation, CESAs and MPS, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, and state education-related associations serve on the State Selection Committee. The committee scores applications in January. Applicants who are selected to receive Leadership Awards are contacted by the Kohl Foundation in March.

How will an applicant be notified if he or she has been chosen to receive a Kohl Leadership Award?
Applicants who are selected to receive Leadership Awards are notified by the Kohl Foundation in March. The Leadership and matching grants are sent directly to principals and their schools.

Are there restrictions on how the Leadership Award may be used?
There are no restrictions on how a Leadership Award recipient may use his or her $6,000 award. The Kohl Foundation suggests that the Leadership Award recipient's schools use the $6,000 matching grant to further the excellence of the principal and/or for innovation in education.