On this page
- Resume guide for an assistant principal resume
- How to write an assistant principal resume
- Choosing the best resume format for an assistant principal resume
- Include your contact information
- Make use of a summary
- Right vs wrong: the same assistant principal summary, twice
- Outline your administrative experience
- Name the portfolio you were handed, and what you turned it into
- Build a snapshot of your key skills
- List your education, license and certifications
- Choose the right layout and design
- Assistant principal job market and outlook
- What salary you can expect as an assistant principal
- Key takeaways for an assistant principal resume
- Related education resume examples
- FAQ
An assistant principal resume is a two page document that leads with your administrator license and then names, in plain words, the portfolio you were handed.
That word matters. In fact, no district hires a generalist assistant principal. Instead, a district hires you into a list of duties a principal decided not to carry personally, and it is usually the part of school administration nobody else wants: discipline, attendance, state testing coordination, the master schedule, bus duty, facilities, a grade level, the special education deadlines.
Therefore, say which of those you held and what you turned each one into. That is the evidence a superintendent uses when deciding whether you are ready for a principalship, because the portfolio is the only proof of what you can run alone.
Resume guide for an assistant principal resume
Specifically, this guide and the corresponding assistant principal resume example will cover:
- First, how to write an assistant principal resume, section by section
- Then, why the portfolio belongs on the page as its own block
- Also, three adaptable summaries: first year, experienced and lead
- In addition, how to turn an administrative duty into a measured result
- Finally, what the job market looks like and what you can expect to earn
How to write an assistant principal resume
Overall, use six sections: contact header, summary, license, administrative experience, portfolio, and education with certifications. Two pages once you have held the role for more than a year.
The license goes above the experience because it is a gate. For example, most states require public school administrators to be licensed, typically requiring a master's degree, a passing exam score and background checks (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026). A strong file without the credential is still a no in the first screen.
SectionWhat it is answeringWhere it goes
- Administrator licenseCan this person legally be placed in an administrative post here?Directly under the summary
- PortfolioWhat did they actually run, alone, without the principal?Its own block, not scattered through bullets
- Administrative experienceWhat changed in the areas they owned?Reverse chronological, with baselines and endpoints
- Scope figuresEnrollment, staff supervised, budget, grade bandOn the line with each post
Write the license with its level, number and expiry
In Louisiana, the credential that authorizes an assistant principalship is the Educational Leader Level 1 certificate. It requires a Level 2 teaching certificate with three years of teaching experience, a competency-based graduate degree in educational leadership, and a passing score on the Praxis School Leaders Licensure Assessment (Louisiana Department of Education, Educational Leader Level 1 checklist).
Every state builds the same thing differently and none accept a description. Write it as a record: level, title, number, expiry. Applying across a state line, say where your reciprocity application stands; "Application for Texas reciprocity submitted February 2026" is something a district can plan around.
Run the file through the free Rezoom ATS resume checker first; district portals parse administrative applications before anyone reads them.
Choosing the best resume format for an assistant principal resume
Reverse chronological, two pages. The reader is following a path: classroom, then some leadership responsibility inside the building, then administration. Functional formats fail badly here, because a committee is checking continuity and progression rather than a menu of competencies. They want to see that you taught, that someone gave you something to run before you got a title, and that you stayed long enough to see a result land.
Include your contact information
Cedric Bouchard
Assistant Principal, Grades 9 to 12Louisiana Educational Leader Level 1, #LA-EDL1-40712, valid through 2028(225) 555-0142, cedric.bouchard@example.com, Baton Rouge, LACedric Bouchard
Dynamic school leader and change agentCertified administrator(225) 555-0142, coachbouchard4life@email.comThat is why you should put the certificate number on the page. Human resources verifies it before scheduling an interview, and the file that lets them do it in ten seconds moves up the pile.
Make use of a summary
In practice, use four lines: grade band and school size, years in administration, the portfolio you hold, and one result from it with a number attached.
First year assistant principal adaptable resume summary example
Experienced assistant principal adaptable resume summary example
Lead assistant principal adaptable resume summary example
Right vs wrong: the same assistant principal summary, twice
The right column, for instance, tells a superintendent which parts of a school this person has already run unsupervised. The left, however, could have been written by anyone who ever sat in the office next to the principal's.
Outline your administrative experience
Then give school, district, city, grade band, enrollment, staff supervised, dates, and the portfolio in one phrase. Then four to six bullets, each with a baseline, an endpoint and a period.
- Instead of
Handled student discipline
UseOut-of-school suspensions in grades 10 and 11 fell from 412 to 168 a year over three years, repeat referrals from 38% to 17%
- Instead of
Assisted with state testing
UseCoordinated four LEAP administrations for 1,410 students across six windows with no test security irregularities
- Instead of
Helped build the master schedule
UseBuilt a 1,410-student master schedule, cutting singleton conflicts from 34 to 6 and raising complete timetables from 88% to 99%
Adaptable resume employment history example
Assistant Principal, Grades 10 and 11, Magnolia Trace High School, East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, Baton Rouge, LA, July 2021 to Present. 1,410 students, 62 teachers supervised. Portfolio: state testing coordination, master schedule, grades 10 to 11 discipline and attendance.
Coordinated four consecutive LEAP 2025 administrations for 1,410 students across six testing windows, with no test security irregularities in four years of state monitoring.
Out-of-school suspensions in grades 10 and 11 fell from 412 to 168 a year over three years and repeat referrals from 38% to 17%, after replacing automatic suspension for minor infractions with a restorative conference and a re-entry plan.
Rebuilt the master schedule, cutting singleton conflicts from 34 to 6 and raising the share of students with a complete eight-period timetable from 88% to 99%.
Name the portfolio you were handed, and what you turned it into
This is the section almost nobody writes, and it is the one a superintendent is actually reading for.
Above all, an assistant principalship is not a smaller principalship. Instead, one principal in one building delegates a set of duties, and the set changes from school to school. As a result, two people with the same title and the same five years can have had entirely different jobs. Unless you say which one you had, the reader guesses, and the guess is usually the least impressive option, which is discipline and nothing else.
| Portfolio piece | What it proves you can run | The number that proves it |
|---|---|---|
| Discipline | Judgement under pressure, due process, documentation | Suspension and referral counts, repeat referral rate, time to resolution |
| Attendance | Systems that reach families, not just letters | Chronic absenteeism rate, before and after, with the intervention named |
| State testing coordination | Compliance work where one error is a public failure | Students tested, windows run, irregularities recorded, accommodations delivered |
| Master schedule | The hardest operational puzzle in a school building | Conflicts resolved, complete timetables, course access, teacher load balance |
| Facilities, safety and transportation | Operations nobody notices until they break | Audit findings, drill compliance, bus lane clearance time, work order backlog |
Adaptable resume portfolio example
Portfolio held, Magnolia Trace High School, 2021 to present: state testing coordination for 1,410 students, master schedule, grades 10 and 11 discipline and attendance, teacher observation for social studies and world languages.
Portfolio held, Cypress Bayou Middle School, 2019 to 2021: grade 6 discipline, campus attendance, bus and cafeteria duty rota, 504 plan compliance.
Not yet held: hiring authority, budget authority beyond the $310,000 operations allocation, school improvement plan ownership. Completed the district aspiring principal program in 2025 to close those gaps.
That last line is the one people flinch at, and it is the one that works. A superintendent reading these applications knows the portfolios are uneven, so saying what you have not yet owned alongside what you did about it reads as someone who understands the job they are asking for.
Eight in ten principals came through this seat, and the quality of the seat is what carries
The share of US public school principals who previously served as an assistant principal rose from 50% in 1987 to 1988 to 80% in 2020 to 2021, while the share of public schools employing an assistant principal grew from 34% to 61% and the estimated number from about 43,960 to about 92,910 (National Teacher and Principal Survey, analyzed in the AEFP Live Handbook chapter on assistant principals, updated August 2026).
Studies indicate that principals with assistant principal experience generally perform no differently than principals without it (The Wallace Foundation, April 2021), while later work finds that the quality of that experience matters more than simply having had it. So the title earns you nothing. Having run something alone and moved a number is the whole claim, which is why the portfolio block exists.
Build a snapshot of your key skills
Twelve to sixteen entries in four groups, arranged so the portfolio is visible here too.
Adaptable resume skills example
Operations: Master schedule design, State testing coordination, Emergency operations planning, Facilities and safety audits, Transportation and duty rotas
Student services: Tiered attendance systems, Restorative discipline and re-entry planning, Due process documentation, 504 and IEP compliance deadlines, Threat assessment protocol
Instruction: Teacher observation cycles, Growth plan design, Data review meetings, Intervention scheduling
Systems: JCampus, state assessment portals, Frontline observation software, district work order and incident systems
List your education, license and certifications
License first with its level, number and expiry, then the leadership degree, then the teaching certificate, then the programs.
Adaptable resume education and licensure example
Louisiana Educational Leader Level 1 certificate, #LA-EDL1-40712, valid through 2028. Praxis School Leaders Licensure Assessment passed 2019.
Master of Education, Educational Leadership, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 2019. Competency-based program with a full-year administrative internship in a 1,100-student high school.
Bachelor of Arts, History Education, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2012
Louisiana Level 2 Professional Teaching Certificate, Social Studies 6-12, #LA-T-338204
Also: District Aspiring Principal Program, East Baton Rouge Parish Schools (2025). Test security and accommodations training, Louisiana Department of Education (renewed annually). Threat assessment team training (2024). Title IX coordinator training (2025).
Choose the right layout and design
Generally, single column, plain type at 11 or 12 point, clear headings, no photograph, license and portfolio on page one.
Do
- Name the portfolio at every post, on the post line and again as its own block.
- Give enrollment and staff supervised at each school, since those are the scope figures a committee screens on.
- Give a baseline, an endpoint and a period for every result.
- Include the compliance record, not only achievement: testing irregularities, audit findings, deadlines.
- Say what you have not yet owned and what you did about it.
Don’t
- Do not describe yourself as supporting the principal in all aspects of school operations, which is what the job description already says.
- Do not name, initial or describe an individual student, family or staff member.
- Do not claim a campus-wide result if you held one grade level.
- Do not give a suspension count with no baseline.
- Do not put a philosophy of leadership statement on a resume.
- Do not run to three pages.
Assistant principal job market and outlook
To begin with, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes no separate profile for assistant principals. Instead, they sit inside the elementary, middle and high school principals occupation, and the handbook notes that many schools have assistant principals who help principals with school administration and that they can advance to become principals (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026).
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Elementary, middle and high school principal jobs, 2025 | 343,800 |
| Projected change, 2025-35 | 0% (little or no change), -1,200 |
| Projected annual openings | ~20,600 |
| Typical entry-level education | Master's degree |
| Work experience required | 5 years or more |
| Median annual wage, May 2025 | $105,870 |
Where those jobs sit:
| Setting | Share of employment | Median annual wage (May 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary and secondary schools, local (public) | ||
| Elementary and secondary schools, private |
Attendance is the portfolio piece with the biggest gap between what schools need and what applicants can show
Chronic absenteeism across 45 states and the District of Columbia stood at 22.6% in the 2024 to 2025 school year against about 15% before the pandemic in 2018 to 2019, improving by just under one percentage point on the year (American Enterprise Institute, Nat Malkus, June 2026).
That is a problem most districts have not solved and most applicants do not mention, because attendance is the least glamorous item in the portfolio. If it was yours, write the mechanism and not the outcome alone: the tier structure, the review cadence, who made the calls, whether there was a home visit stage, and what the rate did.
What salary you can expect as an assistant principal
In short, the BLS does not publish assistant principal pay separately. For example, the occupation containing it, elementary, middle and high school principals, had a median annual wage of $105,870 as of May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent under $76,280 and the highest 10 percent above $167,770 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data). Assistant principal salaries sit low in that distribution, because districts place them one step below the principal on the same administrative scale. Public schools pay a median of $107,860 across the occupation against $98,020 in private schools, and inside the public system the spread is mostly school size, grade band and district wealth.
What a resume moves is placement rather than rate. Within that range, districts credit prior administrative years, the specialist or doctoral column, and sometimes also an extended contract for whoever runs testing or the schedule through the summer. All are awarded against documentation, so naming the license, the degree, the years in each post and the portfolio you carried makes you eligible on the day the contract is written rather than after an appeal a year later.
Key takeaways for an assistant principal resume
- In summary, lead with the administrator license, its level, number and expiry, because it is the gate.
- Also name the portfolio at every post, and give it its own block on page one.
- Similarly, turn each portfolio piece into one number with a baseline, an endpoint and a period.
- In addition, include the compliance record: testing irregularities, audit findings, deadlines met.
- Likewise, put enrollment and staff supervised on the line with each post.
- Then say what you have not yet owned, and what you did to close the gap.
- Finally, never name or describe an individual student, family or staff member.
Related education resume examples
- Principal resume
- Teacher resume
- High school teacher resume
- Middle school teacher resume
- Elementary school teacher resume
- School counselor resume
- Special education teacher resume
- Instructional designer resume
- Academic resume
- Education resume
- Substitute teacher resume
- Paraprofessional resume
Assistant principal resume questions, answered
How long should an assistant principal resume be?
Two pages once you have held the post for a year or more, with the license, summary and portfolio block on page one. One page if this is your first application out of the classroom. Three pages signals that you cannot prioritize, which is the job.
What is the difference between an assistant principal resume and a principal resume?
Scope and framing. A principal resume is a portfolio of school-level change, read for whether you can run a whole building. An assistant principal resume is read for which parts of a building you have already run alone, which is why the portfolio block carries it. Applying upward from this seat, keep that block and add the aggregate scope you have supervised.
How do I write about discipline without describing a student?
Write the system, not the case. Referral and suspension counts by grade level, repeat referral rate, time to resolution, the re-entry process, and what changed after you altered it. Never use a name, initials, a diagnosis, an incident description or anything quoted from a discipline record.
Does testing coordination actually help an application?
Yes, more than most people expect. It is high-liability, deadline-bound, publicly visible compliance work, and a clean four-year record signals how you handle everything else. Write the students tested, the windows run, the accommodations delivered and the irregularities recorded.
How many years as an assistant principal before applying for a principalship?
Research on the pipeline describes a typical run of roughly three to five years before promotion, with about 80% of current public school principals having come through an assistant principalship (AEFP Live Handbook, assistant principals chapter, updated August 2026). The portfolio is the more useful measure: whether you have run anything alone, at what scale, and whether the result held.