The first stage of the Leadership Academy carried out under the Teacher and School Director Professional Development Project for public school directors supported by "Millennium Challenge Account - Georgia" has completed. The project has been implemented by National Center for Teacher Professional Development, which at the first stage trained 1,700 public school directors in three modules:

· 21st Century School Features (8 hours);

· Effective school director: From theory to practice (16 hours);

· Financial management, human resources management, time management, and legal issues (16 hours).

The Leadership Academy consists of three stages and provides continuing professional development for public school directors for the period of three years. Each module of the Academy consists of several stages and incorporates training cycle and quarterly meetings, at which participants will have the opportunity to share knowledge and skills acquired during the trainings. As a result of the project, from August 2016 until 2018, all public school directors will have been retrained.

The training course under the Teacher and School Director Professional Development Project has been provided together with the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) advisory group experts. Leadership Academy aims to equip school directors with 21st century school leader essential skills and effective school management, as well as to provide a student-centered learning environment.

The Leadership Academy is led by qualified trainers, who have been retrained under the Teacher and School Director Professional Development and Trainer School Projects.

The project is being implemented with the financial support of the Millennium Challenge Corporation through the cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science.