Todd Nesloney—Prioritizing the learning and development of Texas’ school principals at National School Leaders’ Conference 2026

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Hey, this is Michelle Mislowski,
Managing Director at Carter and

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you are listening to Ed UP
Accelerated Excellence.

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Welcome, welcome, welcome to add
up accelerated excellence of

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podcasts for the advancement of
education of excellence and

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equity.
I'm your host, Jacob Easing, the

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second PHDPMP, and we are
recording live from the National

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School Leaders Conference in
Orlando, FL powered by the

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National Association of
Elementary School Principals.

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And our guest today represents
one of the state associations

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for elementary school principals
and supervisors in Texas, the

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Texas Elementary Principals and
Supervisors Association.

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He is Todd Nessalone.
Todd, welcome to the show.

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Would you please state your name
and greet the add up accelerated

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excellent audience in the way
that is befitting of your great

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stature in the state of Texas?
Oh man, Well, my name is Todd

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Nesloney.
Like you said, I'm super excited

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to be here.
I, I have served in many roles

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in education from an
instructional age to a teacher

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to a principal.
And now I get to work for the

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Texas Elementary Principal and
Supervisor Association, as well

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as the traveling and speaking
and consulting and things that I

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do in addition to that.
So get to do a lot of fun

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things, but I get to work with a
lot of people doing incredible

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work and I'm blessed for that.
Oh, thank you, Todd.

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So Todd, when you thought about
coming to this conference this

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year, what was top of mind for
you?

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Honestly, one of the best things
is getting to reconnect with

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other leaders from around the
country.

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This idea of leadership is one
that can be very alone often

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times, and you may find other
great leaders around you.

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But I'm always the believer that
the more people that I can

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surround myself with, the better
that I am.

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And so this gives me that
opportunity to take it off of

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social media or out of the group
chat and put it in person to

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connect with these people.
And not only spend time at these

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incredible sessions learning all
this content, but also to have

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those one-on-one conversations
and to build that connection

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even.
Deeper So what does a director

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of culture and strategy, sorry,
it is culture and strategic

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leadership in the state of
Texas.

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What does that role look like?
What does one do?

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Well, we are an association that
has almost 6000 members and only

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about an 11 member staff.
So we all have titles, but we do

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a lot of different things.
My, my biggest roles are I help

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organize and plan the
conferences that we do and all

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the PD, but I also make sure and
train the region leaders.

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So we've got 20 regions in
Texas.

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Every one of them has a
leadership team for TEPSA.

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And so I'm Co in charge of
training them, building them up,

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helping them reach out in their
areas and connect with others.

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And it's just it's a fun job to
get to have.

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So since your your job is to
help develop leaders and those

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existing principles or assistant
principals that are currently in

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roles or would that also include
folks who are aspiring to to go

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into.
Yeah.

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So our membership base is
principles and assistant

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principals in the pre K8 world,
but we we also have

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superintendents and supervisors
that's the S in TEPSA and we

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have an aspiring administrator
membership category.

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So I really work with all of
them and kind of growing them

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just however they choose to come
and and be a part and volunteer

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where we take them in and I get
to help train them.

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Oh, that's wonderful.
So you it's a, it's like a, a

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pipeline.
Exactly.

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OK.
So let's segment that, if you

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don't mind.
Currently, what are you finding

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to be the greatest needs for
those who are aspiring, those

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who are currently in a role
either as a assistant principal

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or principal and what is the
greatest need for those who are

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the supervisors of principals
and assistant principals?

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Often superintendents are other
district level folks.

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I think for aspiring at the
greatest need is just more

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exposure and experience.
Sometimes in that leadership

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role, you can be afraid to let
some things go or to give people

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opportunities, and I think the
more that aspiring

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administrators can see really
what the role of a principal and

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assistant principal is like, the
better it is for them to have

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that idea.
As far as people in the

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assistant principal and
principal role, the needs are

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great and they are varied and
it's changing all the time,

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whether it's understanding
budget better, whether it's

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dealing with discipline, special
Ed culture, there's a lot of

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variety of needs.
And in a state as big as Texas,

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we see that all over the state
the needs vary.

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So what is the issues in East
Texas may be very different than

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South Texas.
And so we have a lot of just

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really making sure we have a
variety of professional

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development opportunities, but
also connections that we can

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build between people who are
doing things really great over

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here, not go and help these
people over here.

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When it comes to supervisors and
their biggest need, I think it's

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just understanding how to
communicate the needs as great

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as possible to those who are
trickled down underneath them.

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But also how do I support people
that in a position that's so

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easy to get burned out in?
And so the more variety of ways

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that we can help them support
those people that they're

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working on and supervise them in
a way that grows them as well,

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it is beneficial.
So Texas is a huge state and I,

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I, I, I'm honing in on this idea
of you talked about those who

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are currently in principal and
assistant principal roles may

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have different needs based on
regions.

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What are some of those
differences?

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And if you could sort of draw us
in on what may be causing those

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needs and some of those might be
sensitive areas, so as

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appropriate as as possible.
But you know, in the state of

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Texas, we've got a lot changing
with the way funding is

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happening and the expectations
of different curriculums and

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changes from our Texas Education
Agency.

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And so I think a lot of that's
navigating that well in a way

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that it doesn't feel like I'm
kicking people out or I'm, I'm

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really upsetting these people
over here.

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How do I deal with parents when
they are really bothered by a

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change?
And so it's just finding ways to

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support that.
But as far as it and you know,

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the differences aren't always
even regionally.

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Sometimes I may be in an area
where discipline is a really big

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issue.
And so I need help and support

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because the type of students
that I serve, I don't know what

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to do to help our teachers help
them while over here.

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They may have discipline down,
but they're really struggling

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with their bilingual program or
with their special Ed

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population.
And so how do I really bring in

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the correct resources?
How do I train people in a way

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that makes sense and has them
utilizing those resources as

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well?
And so it's really just having

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those conversations and figuring
out where people have needs and

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then building those bridges and
connections with people who are

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already solving those problems.
And what successes are you

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seeing so far from Tesla?
Well.

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You know, the biggest success
for me is building connections.

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I think the more leaders that
you can have in your realm of

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influence that you aren't just
following on social media, but

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that you're truly connecting
with because every, every single

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one of us bring something
fantastic to the table.

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And a lot of people that I meet,
oftentimes they very much feel

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like my stuff is basic.
My stuff doesn't really matter.

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I can't share with others like
they're so amazing or they're

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doing this or that or look at
their school.

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And no matter who I meet,
they're doing something amazing.

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And so when you can get out of
your head and really start

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understanding, like, I bring
something to the table, let me

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bring my gifts and combine it
with the gifts of others.

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And then what you find is people
more and more people begin to

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share.
And then you're like, oh, I've

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tried that curriculum.
Let me ask my questions here to

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see if we should, it would be
right for us.

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Oh, y'all have solved that
problem or y'all brought up your

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attendance rates.
What did you do?

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We're not figuring anything out.
And those connections, I think.

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And that's where the strength
lies.

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You can go to professional
development all day long, but

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the real power comes in being
able to have those conversations

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and learn from each other on a
more consistent basis.

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I like this idea that you talk
about helping people to realize

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their own successes sometimes
because I think you know this in

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education, unfortunately,
there's a lot of negative press.

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It's even gotten to the point
that some teachers, for the

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first time probably in history,
you're hearing this more often

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than not.
And even some folks who won

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awards as teachers are telling
young folks don't go into

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teaching.
So I don't, I haven't heard that

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in terms of the principal ship,
But I think that's important to

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be able to help people realize
that you are doing wonderful

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things.
So how is it that an

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organization like yours might be
able to amplify publicly some of

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those successes?
I think it really comes down to

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using every resource that you
have and so utilizing all the

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social media, utilizing video,
going out and having

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conversations in public.
We are also a association who

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advocates at the capital for
educators and leaders.

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And so I think that's really
important to have an association

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out there that has your back and
that is really trying to really

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push our field forward and not
allow conversations to get

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hijacked by those who are not in
our business or who have no idea

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what really happens in the end.
I think we really control the

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narrative and I think as
educators, sometimes we've

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dropped the ball and really
sharing all the good things that

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we do.
Sometimes because it feels like

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bragging, other times because it
feels like my stuff isn't good

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enough.
But I think if we had more of us

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out there sharing the great
things that are happening, you'd

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begin to see that conversation
shift.

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Unfortunately, what you see on
social media is the negativities

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will get the clicks, the
negativities will get the

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comments complaining about
stuff.

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And I think that's really hurt
us in some ways.

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When I can find 1000 videos on
Instagram or TikTok where it's

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somebody complaining about a
parent or an administrator or an

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expectation and very few about
look at this amazing thing I

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did.
It killed today.

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I'm so proud of this.
And I think when we begin to own

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our own genius and own our own
special gifts, that's when you

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see things change and other
people are like, oh, I'm

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attracted to that because that
brings me and it doesn't push me

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away, right?
Right, right.

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Definitely.
So sorry about that.

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So we're day one of the
conference.

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What has been your take away so
far?

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I think for me, I've gone into
two sessions so far and it's

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just been fantastic.
I love that not only are there

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people who are everyday
administrators out here sharing

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their great ideas, but there's
also people from the national

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stage that I can check out too
and go that I haven't seen or

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heard from maybe in years or
maybe at all.

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And so that variety of topics is
really important to me because I

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know that the needs I have
aren't always the needs that

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others have.
And so I'm always looking for.

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I want to struggle picking a
session because there's too many

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good ones to pick from and I've
already had.

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That with one time I was like, I
don't know which three.

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There's three that I want to go
to and I can't.

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Pick.
So that's a good problem to

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have.
And because you're part of your

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role is professional
development, and I know it's

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early yet, but what are you
taking back?

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I think for me, it's just that
continued importance of having

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those moments in a conference as
well that aren't just about the

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learning.
The keynotes are great, the

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sessions are fantastic, but a
continuing to have that piece in

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there that allows for
collaboration, that allows for

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you to have that connection time
where it's not just session

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after session after session
after keynote.

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But I love that NASP does
something very similar to what

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Tepsa does is that we have time
is built into the schedule where

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we want you to go to the exhibit
hall and just hang out with

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other people.
We want you to go on network

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during this time.
Like we don't want to monopolize

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all your time.
We want to give you time to

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connect because the old adage
was they can do that after the

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conference is over.
When it's over at four or five,

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they can go connect then.
Well, sometimes people just want

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to go and be they don't want to
have to people even more after

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they've been peopling all day.
And so I think building that

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into the conference has been
really powerful.

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So in the in the earlier
episode, kicking off this series

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for the conference and being
mentioned that this is

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summertime, but principals are
more busy now than they have

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been in the past.
So it's not time off as some

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folks have historically come to
understand the role of

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principals and teachers.
So what does professional

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development look like during the
summer for your organization?

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But gearing up for the next
academic year?

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What will be the focus around
how you support and develop

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principles and supervisors?
Well, I think everybody meets

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their needs differently and I
think especially as an

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association in Texas, we really
take that into consideration.

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For some, they want to consume
the information through a book,

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others want to listen to a
podcast, some want to go in

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person to events, some want to
see a webinar.

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And I think if you're really
going to meet the needs of all

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those people, you really have to
be offering that variety.

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It can't just be one thing like,
well, I provided this, you

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didn't want to come.
Too bad.

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That's what we did.
And so our summer, our

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conference is always in the
summer too, at the beginning of

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June.
And it's a fantastic time to end

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the year, go have that debrief
time to calm down from the year

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and then get all that learning
in.

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So then you can spend the rest
of the summer thinking about

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next year.
Honestly, I make it very

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important that administrators
prioritize time off during the

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summer.
I think it's so important.

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You could, as an administrator,
work all summer because there's

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so much to do.
But I think when you prioritize

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that, I want to get work done.
But I also got to value my time

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and my health and getting out
and away, too.

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And this is the best time to
step away for a little bit

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before all the staff comes back
and wants you all the time.

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But I think, yeah, just just
figuring out there's a variety

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of ways to meet people's needs.
And are you offering something

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for each of those styles and?
Before you get to thinking about

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fall of 2026, going into 2027,
do all of your schools have

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summer school in the summer or
are they select schools that

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have summer school?
I would say most have a summer

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school so it just kind of
depends but I would say most do.

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OK.
I was just because I think it

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varies by, of course, you know,
by county.

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Yeah, by city.
And most of them are done in

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June, so they don't.
Nobody has summer school in

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July.
Oh, OK.

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Well, it's hot too.
So thinking about fall 2026

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going into spring 2027 and next
year's conference which will be

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summer 2027 there in the state,
the great state of Texas, what

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are you looking forward to in
terms of how you're going to

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support of principles and
supervisors?

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I really look forward to giving
them a variety of voices to

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learn from.
I think that understanding that

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also, not only are learning
styles different, but also the,

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the people we learn from is
different.

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00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,720
Somebody may want somebody who's
loud, wild, full of energy.

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The next person may want PD
that's very calm and and I can

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consume it that way.
And so I think for me, it's

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providing a variety of those
voices for people, but also in a

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variety of mediums.
I love doing our tips to talk

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00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,040
podcast.
I love making sure that we're

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advertising different books that
people could be reading.

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We are offering webinars where
we're offering in person PD.

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We have meetups, people to just
hang out and meet after work in

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their regions.
So there's lots of different

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variety just so everybody can
find a place that's right for

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them and.
For those who are not connected

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with the association, what words
of inspiration would you give

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them?
My thing is, is I don't care

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what state you find yourself in,
you should be a part of your

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state's association.
And it may be like if you're in

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Texas, TEPSTA may be the place
for you, or you may find that

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it's a different association.
I'm not even one that's like,

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you have to be ours.
I just believe that you have to

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be a part of a group period,
because of the advocacy that

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happens, the legal protections
that you get from being a part

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of that.
To me, it's like, why would you

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not be a part of something as a
teacher?

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I was always in a teacher
program.

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I always had one.
I was part of ATPE and different

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ones in Texas.
When I became an administrator,

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I was like, of course I'm going
to move into the administrator

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one.
For me, the best fit was Tepza.

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They had the vibe I wanted, they
had the learning I wanted and

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00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,000
had the connections that I
wanted to start building in my

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00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,320
professional life as well.
And it's been nothing but

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00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,360
greatness.
Todd, Miss Lonely, I want to

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00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:45,560
thank you tremendously for this
opportunity to learn with and

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00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,880
from you here at UP Accelerated
Excellence, where we advance

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00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:54,400
educational excellence and
equity recorded live at the

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00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,760
National School Leaders
Conference in Orlando, powered

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00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,520
by the National Association of
Elementary School Principals.

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00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,080
Thank you so much.
Thank you for.

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00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:07,520
Having me.
Thank you for listening to the

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00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,040
Ed Up Accelerated Excellence
Podcast, and we would like to

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00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,160
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