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- Featured Principals Dec 2023
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How and why did you become a principal? I wanted to become a principal because I believed that I would be able to make a positive impact on a school community on a larger scale than if I remained in the classroom (although I loved my time as a fourth grade teacher!) The stars aligned as I was getting my administrative license and I was able to take a dean of students position at Valley View Elementary in Bloomington Public Schools. Two years later I accepted the assistant principal position at Valley View and worked with some amazing leaders during that time. I was interested in moving to Minneapolis Public Schools because it is where my family lives and where my son goes to school. I am grateful to be part of such an amazing community at Armatage Elementary and am happy to support our students, staff, and families. What are you most proud of in your work? I think I am most proud of the relationships I am able to build with the students, staff, and families. Through those relationships I am able to build trust, and therefore really support the entire community. Our enrollment is growing, staff retention is extremely high, and we are able to recruit high quality people when we do have open positions. I hope that the relationships and trust contribute to all of those things that build such a positive culture at Armatage. What's something that's had success in your school that you think other principals could borrow? I didn't create our MTSS systems and structure at Armatage, but I learned it in Bloomington schools and brought it here with me. We have a very structured system for referring students to our MTSS team for any concern (academic, behavioral, social/emotional), and then monitoring and tracking data on progress once we implement interventions. We are matching interventions to meet students' needs and using data to guide our instructional decisions. | What are some strategies you use to keep your work and life balanced? I encourage the staff at Armatage to keep a healthy work and life balance, and I try to live by that advice as well. I treat the staff as professionals and allow them to flex days when they need to in order to take care of life's other responsibilities. So, I allow myself that grace as well when I have something that comes up in my personal life. Also, I really try hard not to check emails when I am home with my family. Creating that separation protects my mental health and allows me to be the best version of myself as a principal when I am at school. What piece of advice would you give a new principal OR what piece of advice have you gotten that has been most useful? Some of the best advice I was given is that as the leader of an organization it is my job to take care of the little things for people, and the little problems, before they become big problems. I believe in building efficacy and allowing staff the time and space to solve problems, but when they come to me for support I want to do all I can to take care of things for them so they can get to the business of helping students learn. How many years have you been a principal? This is my third year as a principal, after spending six years as an assistant principal. |
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How and why did you become a principal? As the elementary principal, I am able to utilize my accounting, business administration, and educational background. I want to experience all aspects of education, from the academics to the financials. I get the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children and work with professional educators, staff members, and families who shares the same goals as I do. What are you most proud of in your work? I love collaborating and working with others to problem-solve difficult situations. I'm never bored at school because every day brings unique challenges and joy. I'm skilled at problem solving with others to devise creative solutions to satisfy the situation by putting students first. What's something that's had success in your school that you think other principals could borrow? In our learning community, we collaborate more effectively because we prioritize the needs of our students. I never ask someone to perform a task that I would not do. | What are some strategies you use to keep your work and life balanced? I take time on the weekends to do things for myself and ensure that I regenerate before the work week begins. I also make sure that I spend time with my family and friends. What piece of advice would you give a new principal OR what piece of advice have you gotten that has been most useful? Be open-minded where you can learn from others. How many years have you been a principal? 15 Years |
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How and why did you become a principal? This is my 32nd year in education and I still pop out of bed each morning, even on days we have early morning meetings before school starts at the District Offices! I was blessed to have coaches and teachers in my life growing up that cared for me as as a whole child: Student, Athlete, Community Member, etc. This had a huge impact on me as well as my father being a high school Biology teacher and a mother as an operating room nurse. I originally thought I was going to study to be a Physical Therapist; however, when my Sophomore Anatomy class involved cadaver work, I felt the need to pivot to being a Science Teacher. I transferred from from the University of North Dakota to my home town college, Bemidji State University. I completed my studies to be an Elementary Teacher with emphasis areas including; Broad Science, Social Studies and Coaching. I taught a year in Kasson-Mantorville, MN and then was offered the opportunity to come home to Bemidji and teach 8th Grade Science and coach J.V. Girls Tennis. I jumped at the chance to come home and have never left. Education is a life of Service to one's community and it is an honor to be an educator in the Bemidji Public Schools. Also during my years as a teacher, I returned to Bemidji State University and completed the course work to earn a Masters Degree in Special Education; with an emphasis in the area of Learning Disabilities. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made professionally and I feel helped me with teaching all of my students. Learning more about how people learn, strategies for supporting the various ways people learn and how to create supportive adaptations was career changing. Why did you become a principal is complicated and simple at the same time. I was ready for a new challenge in the field of education and becoming a principal felt like a great new professional lane. I wanted to offer to be a Leader within our school system, stay in the area I call home and be the voice and strength of those who maybe could not find their voice and make sure they felt included, important and empowered. So at the core of who I am; I truly believe that children need to know you care before they will care what you know. If we keep our decision making focussed on what is best for our students, their families, our staff & school our success is guaranteed to positive. With that said, I was ready to find a new role in Leadership within the education profession and enrolling at Minnesota State University Moorhead was the perfect fit. I met a cohort of educators that I continue to this day to talk with and bounce ideas off of to gain addition insight and various perspectives. This blessing of collaboration continues to this day with our Norther Division of MESPA, our ISD #31 Principal Team, etc. Working together gives us all strength, offers shared wisdom and a safe place to navigate complex happenings within our schools and communities. It truly allows for us to be strong, informed and carting leaders within our schools, our communities and our profession. I feel in a way that when I was a teacher, I was in a role similar to that as a parent for my students. As a principal I feel like I am in more of a grandparent role as I have my adult staff as my children and the students in our school as my grandchildren and I truly want each of them to know how much I appreciate them and cheer for them to find, follow and fulfill their hopes and dreams. Teaching Science (Bemidji Middle School), Coaching (Bemidji Middle School, Bemidji High School & Bemidji State University), serving as a Dean of Students (Bemidji Middle School) and Principal (Horace May Elementary & Gene Dillon Elementary) truly becomes embedded or rather stitched directly into your life's quilt. It is who you are; you are a teacher. Your students smile, give you high fives and hugs in stores around town, at their sporting events, etc. and this fills your heart, mind & soul; and reminds you of the "why" you are in education. It is who I am as a person; it is that important to me and I am so grateful for all of my opportunities to serve, people I have met and the bright future that is still ahead.What are you most proud of in your work? Two things stand out for me when I think of my answer to this question. People, the people that I have had the opportunity to meet, teach, coach, collaborate with and learn from is difficult to comprehend over the past 32 years and counting. The connections with people shine very bright in my eyes and my heart is so happy when a former student or staff member reaches out and shares a wedding invitation or a birth announcement. Connects are so critical to the success of any organization and building that authentic trust fosters confidence and this leads to success for all. The other thought that pops into my head too; is the conception, development and implementation of Gene Dillon Elementary school. We had a goal to build a school to serve our students as they begin the transition from elementary school to middle school. We worked hard to pass a referendum; second time was the charm, work with architects too on school designs and secure a talented staff to bring the dream of a 4th & 5th grade elementary school to serve our community. We worked from a blank canvas for a Master Schedule (13 Fourth Grade Sections, 13 Fifth Grade Sections and 3 Self-Contained Special Education classrooms, Specialist (Music, Art and STEAM) & Elective classes (Orchestra & XSTEAM), etc. and over approximately an 18 month window a dream became a reality and we are currently enjoying our sixth year serving our community's 4th and 5th graders at Gene Dillon Elementary.What's something that's had success in your school that you think other principals could borrow? We have enjoyed teaching in Pair-Shares. This is where two elementary teachers collaborate and share a their homerooms by exchanging their students with each other so that they can each focus their instruction on either Math & Science and the other with Language Arts and Social Studies. This has really allowed us to dig into the MN State Standards, focus our instruction and lead to wonderful collaboration within our school. Elementary teachers are asked to be experts in so many curricular areas and I feel that this brings a little balance to our ask as principals of our teachers. We also are thrilled to have an Inclusive playground so all of our 728 little ones can play together, ambulate safely and interact with our whole child engagement playground. We have swings, spinners, climbers, slides, ziplines, etc. and all of our students can navigate these spaces safely with smiles. Our District Building and Grounds department was a wonderful resource to collaborate with during the dreaming, designing and building. Stacy, from Landscape Structures, is a wealth of knowledge, great resource and wonderful collaborator. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) & XSTEAM (Extra Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) are classes we have developed that are engaging, challenging and inclusive for all. We focous our 4th grade STEAM classes (Mr. Adams) in the physics lane and our 5th grade STEAM classes (Mr. Whittington) with the digital media and production. We create a weekly student written, created, edited and produced Eagle Eye News segment that the entire school watches during their Friday Morning Meeting. It is truly an amazing archive of our history as a school and my hat is off to these two teachers for their creativity, kindness and Mission Challenges they have created to inspire joy with the areas of math and science within our students at Gene Dillon Elementary. We even had a small group of students compete in the North Dakota State First Lego League Competition last spring and they won! The then packed their robots and codes up and traveled to Massachusetts and competed as one of the youngest teams (our average age was 10 and the competition was 15) and placed 25th out of 75 teams. We would love to talk with anyone about Digital Citizenship, Coding, 3-D printing, Robots, RC Cars, etc. anytime. Please reach out!What are some strategies you use to keep your work and life balanced? School will dominate your thoughts, schedule and activities; but, remember to ride your bike, cast a fishing line, hug your dog too as it is important to keep yourself balanced and healthy to so you can be your best and are able to serve others. What piece of advice would you give a new principal OR what piece of advice have you gotten that has been most useful? Be honest with your staff and model what you are asking of them so you build trust and community within your school. How many years have you been a principal? This is my 12th year serving as a principal. |