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Opinion: Principal sets tone that turns a school into a community
Peter Smagorinsky is a frequent contributor to the AJC Get Schooled blog. He teaches in the University of Georgia’s College of Education and is the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English.
Smagorinsky often writes about what makes an effective educator. Today, he talks about effective leaders.
By Peter Smagorinsky
April 2, 2018
Over the past few years I’ve profiled Great Georgia Teachers for Get Schooled. More recently, based on ongoing research interviews, I’ve learned some schools also have outstanding leaders. Former Pelham City superintendent Jim Arnold has developed his own series on great administrators, and I’ve found another exceptional principal worth talking about.
I’m going to begin with a long comment made by one of my research participants about Chad Stone, who at the time was principal at Madison County High School in Danielsville. The teacher was interviewed while she was a student-teacher at the school. When asked about the school environment, she said Madison had recently been through a series of one-and-done principals, and that with Dr. Stone:
“They were hoping he would actually stay there for a while. I think he embraced that. I like Dr. Stone because I saw him a lot, and I'm not used to that, either. [Usually the] principal is not somebody you see in the classroom or the hallways. The principal is in the office somewhere and on a letterhead. Like, that's all. Dr. Stone was very involved with the students. He did things himself. He planned homecoming week on his own, which is absolutely unheard of from what I know.
But [he was] very, very involved with the students, very involved with the staff. We had weekly staff meetings on Monday mornings with the whole staff, and Dr. Stone briefed us on what was going on during the week. He asked if anybody needed anything, or if anything was going on that we needed to know about. So it was really like a family home kind of environment.
[Being principal] was very involved with him…It was refreshing to see how much a principal cared about students and cared about his staff...the thing I took away from him and from Madison as a whole was just feeling like I was a part of something. You know, it wasn't just the English department that knew each other. It was the English department, history department, the science department. Everybody knew everybody.
Dr. Stone knew when somebody's mama was sick, and he sent out an email to the faculty letting them know so they can keep that person in their thoughts. It was just very family oriented, a very close-knit group. And I think that's exactly what I want out of my teaching career because I don't want to be another number…
I grew to love that close-knit feeling. Not just with the faculty but with the kids. You know I had a relationship, not just with my students, but with other students I didn't teach who I just saw in the hallways. You just don't get that very often.”
When UGA doctoral student Stacia Long and I were studying this interview as part of our effort to understand influences over time on teaching careers, we looked up Chad Stone and found he’d left Madison County for Eighth Street Middle School in Tifton. That’s not the usual career progression for administrators who use each job to try to get a better one.
It turns out his family emphasis is not restricted to the workplace. It guides his personal life as well: His move was motivated by his need to be closer to family due to a medical situation.
How’s he doing down in Tifton? About the same, I’d say in that he’s running a school so it’s a place where people feel accepted and respected. I’ll quote from his welcome-back letter to the school community last fall to provide a sense of what he values.
Now, I’ve seen a lot of verbiage from administrators over time that was quite different from their actual conduct. But I’m going to assume Dr. Stone’s remarks here can be substantiated by the unprompted testimonial from my research participant, who was openly admiring of a principal in ways I rarely hear about from teachers.
Dr. Stone said:
“As we start a new school year, I would like to share with you that my priorities start with my faith, followed by my family, friends, church, and work. I believe if we keep everything in its proper place, we can and will be successful in life. I am so pumped about starting my 19th year in public education…Our core values guide the faculty and staff as we interact with students at Eighth Street Middle School. We strive every day to show LOVE in all that we do here at ESMS! I know this will be a great school year for our students, parents, faculty, and staff. I want to encourage our parents to be involved in your child’s education. Please know that we need you, and you are always welcome here at Eighth Street Middle School.”
Some might be alarmed his lifework is motivated by Christian faith; in the past when I’ve profiled great Georgia teachers who are faith-driven, commenters have expressed concern they might be bigoted against other belief systems. To be clear: I am not personally religious, and believe kindness can follow from other spiritual sources, and from a variety of faith communities. So, I’m not saying his religious orientation alone, or his Christianity, makes Dr. Stone a good man, a good school leader. On the other hand, I know many people whose religious principles guide their conduct in highly moral ways.
What I believe is most important about both his own vision, and how his vision appeared to our research participant, is its emphasis on relationships and care. Perhaps it’s easier to pull off in small rural districts than in metro area mega-schools that often reduce everyone and everything to numbers.
But it is possible to center a school community on relationships first, with everything else falling in line around that value. Jim Arnold has featured leaders who make schools into close-knit, caring communities; and I’ve found some, too.
My question: Since it’s possible, why don’t others try it, too?
