Bill Kresse has served as principal of City Honors School in Buffalo, NY since 2005. Under Kresse's leadership, City Honors has regularly been named as one of the top public schools in the United States by Newsweek, The Washington Post and US News and World Report. Kresse has been acknowledged with the New York State Assistant Principal of the Year Award and the Allen Secondary Principal Excellence Award from the State Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS).
Mike Vallely is the Superintendent of Schools for the Lancaster Central School District in Lancaster, NY. Since Vallely joined the district leadership team in 2006, LCSD has seen unprecedented improvement in K-12 student achievement and graduation rates. Vallely has been acknowledged nationally, receiving the American Association of School Administrator's Finnis E. Engleman Award and in New York State receiving the Western New York Principal's Award for Excellence in Administration.
Both authors hold Masters and Ph.D. degrees in educational administration from Cornell University.