When folks start talking about Pi Day in March, I have to smile. I don’t think about geometry. I think about my mama’s kitchen. I can still see it. Late afternoon sunshine coming through the window. That quiet hum of the refrigerator, and that sweet smell of lemon meringue pie cooling on the counter. The sensory overload that makes you pause at the doorway before you even say hello. She made it look easy. The filling was bright, bouncy, and just tart enough. The meringue sat up high and pretty, with those little golden tips crowning it like they’d been placed there on purpose. Nothing about it felt forced. It just worked.

Now I have tried to make that pie. I’ve pulled out the recipe card. I’ve measured carefully. I’ve leveled the flour, set the timer, and stood in front of the oven, like watching it might make it behave. And what came out? Well… it was pie. Nobody got sick. But it wasn’t hers. Sometimes the middle didn’t quite set. Sometimes the crust got darker than I planned. One time, it looked good until I sliced it, and the whole thing relaxed in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Most of the time these days, I just buy one, because it’s easier. It removes the quiet comparison. It lets me set something on the table without worrying about the taste.

And Late-Lee, somewhere along the way, I started realizing the way baking that perfect lemon meringue pie reminded me of leading a school. Both call for careful balance, attention, and regular adjustments. The math people tell us Pi is the constant ratio in a circle. No matter how big the circle gets, that relationship holds. The number itself goes on forever, but the proportion stays true. Leading a school, I’ve found, is a lot like getting that pie just right. Each demands finding the right mix of elements so everything comes together.

The circle changes size. Some years, it feels manageable. Other years, it feels like everything is happening at once. Testing season is creeping up. Teachers get tired. New expectations are rolling in before the last ones have settled. The heat gets turned up whether you’re ready or not. What I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, is that when things feel off, it’s usually not because people don’t care. It’s because something’s out of balance. Too much pressure and not enough support, and folks start to shut down. Too much grace and not enough clarity, and no one is sure what they’re aiming for. Too many initiatives are poured into at once, and the center never has time to settle.

I’ve sat in meetings where the data was laid out plain as day, and still nobody moved. I’ve watched good teachers deliver solid lessons, but no one circled back to see what students actually learned. I’ve seen beautiful plans written in binders that never quite made it off the page.

It’s rarely about effort. It’s about finding the right proportions, just as baking a pie requires the right balance between tart lemon and sweet meringue, leadership depends on the correct combination of clarity, support, and standards.

Despite the challenges, I find comfort in a simple truth. Pi never ends. And like Pi, leaders don’t reach a final digit. They don’t get to say, “Well, that’s it. I’ve mastered this whole leadership thing.” It’s important to keep monitoring and adjusting. Shield the edges when they start browning too fast, so the center has a little more time when it needs it.

I may never bake lemon meringue as my mama did. But I can keep showing up in the kitchen. And I can keep paying attention to the balance in the circle I’ve been asked to lead.

This March, as the days lengthen a little longer and the work in schools starts to feel heavier, I’m not asking if everything appears perfect. I’m asking if I’m balancing clarity, support, and expectations so everyone can succeed. Because leadership isn’t about recreating somebody else’s recipe. It’s about tending to your staff’s unique needs and keeping the right balance, every day.

Let’s Reflect

1. As you look at your school right now, where might expectations be outpacing support, or support outpacing accountability? And how is that imbalance showing up in classrooms?

2. When you review your data this season, are you simply observing the results, or are you actively adjusting the systems, modeling, and monitoring that influence them?