Applications are now open for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2017–18 School Ambassador Fellowship (SAF) program.

Offering both a Teaching Ambassador Fellowship and Principal Ambassador Fellowship, the program serves to recognize the important impact that educators have on instructional leadership, the school environment, and talent management. This year, the program has been expanded to allow other professional school personnel—counselors, school librarians, parent liaisons, assistant principals, and others—to apply. The goal of these fellowships is to create a cohort of outstanding educators to inform the program and policy work of the department, while in turn expanding the knowledge and expertise of this select group as they help lead the national education dialogue.

The Principal Ambassador Fellowship offers two paid yearlong tracks: the Washington Fellowship, which is a full-time “principal in residence” appointment based at the Department of Education’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the Campus Fellowship, which enables principals to participate on a part-time basis while maintaining their primary school responsibilities.

NASSP members need to have a voice in the national education discussion. All member principals are encouraged to learn more about the SAF program and submit an application by January 23, 2017.

To be eligible to apply, educators must:

• Possess U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status.
• Be employed as a teacher, principal, or other school staff member (in a role that is anticipated to continue during the 2017–18 school year).
• Be employed by a public, charter, private, virtual, military (DoDEA), or tribal (BIE) school that serves any grade, preK–12.
• Have at least five years of experience in their role as a teacher, principal, or other school staff member, including the current school year.
• Have daily interaction with students and educators in a school setting as part of their role.

In order to be considered for this year’s SAF class, you must use the online system to submit an application. A complete application will include indication of your program eligibility, responses to five short essay questions, a letter of recommendation from your employer, and a resume.