New principal at Hamilton
This was posted within another thread, but just so it is clear: Katie Cryan Leary, the principal at Hamilton International Middle School is taking leave. The role of principal at Hamilton will be filled by Chris Carter, now of the African-American Academy. Mr. Carter will not be assigned to Jane Addams.
Official letters on the topic -
One from Ms Leary:
And this one from the Superintendent:
Official letters on the topic -
One from Ms Leary:
Dear Hamilton International Middle School community members,
This morning I announced to my staff that I have been granted a leave for the 2009/10 school year and that I will not be returning as principal at Hamilton.
My decision to leave the Hamilton community was a difficult one to make, and was based primarily on personal family reasons. I am proud of the learning community that we have developed together and will miss working amongst the students and staff of Hamilton every day.
I am very pleased that Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson has decided to appoint Mr. Chris Carter as my replacement. (see letter attached) I am confident that he will be able to effectively lead the Hamilton community.
Mr. Carter will be able to spend some time getting to know Hamilton this spring, but will be focused on his current commitment to the African American Academy community as well. Please know that I am committed to a smooth transition of leadership and to working with Mr. Carter to ensure the future success of Hamilton International Middle School.
Respectfully,
Katie Cryan Leary
And this one from the Superintendent:
May 15, 2009
Dear staff, students, and families of Hamilton International Middle School:
I am pleased to announce that Mr. Chris Carter has been appointed principal at Hamilton Middle School, effective July 1, 2009.
We believe that Mr. Carter’s extensive classroom and school experience and his strong educational leadership make him an excellent match for the Hamilton learning community. He has worked in Seattle Public Schools as a principal, teacher and educator for nine years and is committed to academic success for all children.
Mr. Carter’s expertise, experience and knowledge of the middle school learning environment make him an excellent match with the Hamilton school community. Possessing a pragmatic instructional philosophy focused on excellence and achievement, he has worked in Seattle Public Schools as both a principal and a teacher. Mr. Carter has taught at the elementary and middle school grades and is a data-driven, collaborative educator looking forward to working with the Hamilton learning community.
Before his appointment to the African American Academy, Mr. Carter served as assistant principal at Pacific Middle School in the Highline School District, was a house administrator and teacher at Mercer Middle School in Seattle and also taught at Horace Mann Elementary School in Long Beach, California. Mr. Carter, who comes from a family of educators, has an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Washington, holds a masters degree in teaching from City University and a principal’s certificate from Western Washington University.
Ms. Katie Cryan Leary, your current principal, has been granted a leave, starting July 1, 2009. Ms. Cryan Leary has been an effective leader for your school and I want to take this opportunity to thank her for her commitment to students, staff and families.
I especially appreciate the positive learning community that you have built at Hamilton Middle School, and look forward to continued success for all students.
Sincerely,
Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Comments
I must say, the pace of change over this year has been breathtaking -- not only are we splitting, closing, merging and creating schools all over the district, laying off teachers and picking a fight with the teacher's union, but also switching administrators out right and left. I wonder if there's a reason for this latest change beyond something personal and mundane, but I don't think we'll be told that unless somebody leaks it.
The constant churn and lack of transparency has had a numbing effect on many of the parents I know -- they just shake their heads and say, "That's the school system for you!" But patience is wearing thin.
And I thought there were hiring committees at schools? Is that a process that has been eliminated?
Transitions like these are difficult under the best of circumstances. I would imagine having a new leader who is unfamiliar with the school, and with APP, will make it even more difficult.
I spoke with a friend today who tells me that Addams has budgeted for 300 students. There is hardly need for two principals at Addams with this type of enrollment. So I can see why Carter was moved.
Jo Shapiro, principal at McGilvra, is re-assigned to an assistant principal job at Hamilton.
I don't know what this means for the current assistant principal at Hamilton, Jesely Alvarez.
See letter to the McGilvra community:
=-=-=-=-=-=
May 15, 2009
Dear McGilvra,
Recently I had the unpleasant duty of writing you to let you know about recent changes affecting the McGilvra community, namely that three valued members of our teaching staff have received RIF notices and, as things currently stand, may not be rejoining us in the fall. Now I need to inform you of yet another change, one that I deeply wish were not timed to reach you on the heels of yesterday's announcement, and that is that this year will be my last year at McGilvra. I have been assigned to be an assistant principal at Hamilton Middle School.
I have now been at McGilvra for ten years, which by today's standards is a long term to serve as a principal at a single school. I am very fortunate to have been at McGilvra for the past decade. I have been privileged to work as part of an extraordinary community of educators, support staff, students, and parents. It is my firm belief that McGilvra is one of the gems in the Seattle Public School system, which in no small measure is a reflection of the dedicated efforts of the entire McGilvra community. I am confident that in the years to come McGilvra will continue to thrive as an exemplary school that provides for the needs of its students superlatively well.
But there comes a time for every principal to move on. For some time now I have considered returning, as an assistant principal, to a middle school environment. Before becoming an administrator, I was a math teacher and math department head at a Seattle middle school. So when I learned of this opportunity at Hamilton, I was excited by the challenge it offered.
My years at McGilvra have meant a lot to me. I have had the opportunity to work with extraordinary educators and support staff to meet the needs of a wonderful group of students. I also was very fortunate to be able to work with as strong and caring a parental support group as any principal could wish for. I shall miss McGilvra greatly and will carry something of McGilvra with me as I move on to new challenges. Please know that I will be available to assist your new principal in every way I can so that the transition will take place as smoothly as possible.
I sincerely thank you for your tremendous support, your extraordinary kindness and the wonderful friendships among us that have developed over the years. Without doubt, I will miss you all.
With best wishes for the future,
Jo Shapiro
And Summit is currently 532, so remind me again, why did Summit need to be closed?
I'm not sure why Board Policy C54.00 on Alternative Education (section 2), which specifies community input for Principal selection, is being violated.
""Addams has budgeted for 300 students."
And Summit is currently 532, so remind me again, why did Summit need to be closed?"
Summit needed to be closed because it was not making efficient use of the building. It had too much excess capacity.
Obviously, at 300, Jane Addams will have even more excess capacity than Summit had, but district officials expect that Jane Addams K-8 will come to outdraw Summit within a few short years and do it with lower transportation costs.
The Board should decide. Let's bring it to their attention that the assignment of a principal to TOPS without the community's participation in the decision may be a violation of the Policy.
Hamilton is having a busy design team discussion about integrating APP, but now they are getting a new principal and a new assistant principal. What decisions did Ms Leary make that Mr. Carter is going to have to live with?
Leschi is having a busy design team discussion about integrating a Montessori program, but now they are getting a new principal.
Let's just say "what if" for a moment. "What if the school never breaks 500?"
Then what? i.e. what is the backup plan if this school does not draw families in the next three years?
I did like the head teacher who did the tour, and the choir program looked interesting.
And TOPS was my #1 choice too. sigh.
So I'm not sure it matters too much whether the principals on those teams leave those schools or not.
We asked if we could just walk around the school, which seemed to perplex the office staff, as if it was the first they'd heard someone ask such a thing, but they did agree to allow us. We left shaken at the thought of our child going to the school.
We witnessed a teacher screaming at her class, and when she saw us, she got up and slammed the door in our face. We also saw kids lined up everywhere. And, on the playground we saw eyebrow raising behavior and heard offensive conversation, cursing, and bullying.
It was through and through appalling.
I understand more currently that this is the only school that had a Spectrum class who did below average on the WASL. Hmmmm.
Let me qualify and say that my experience at the school was almost 9 years ago, and the school may very well have changed since then, but the leadership has not.
The process of "musical principals" is one of the main reasons my family has lost its faith in the public school system. All the talk on these blogs about how people need to move to where the good schools are is just bunk. As long as SPS retains and redistributes terrible principals, ANY school can become a dismal place. Combined with everything else this District does, I just cannot take my chances of which chair, if any, I will have when the music stops.
do they plan to be more supportive of the new program in the Jane Addams building than they were of Summit?
You know, years ago Greg Imel said he was leaving Whittier because he thought it would get by fine with any principal, and he wanted to be someplace where he could do more good. As far as I can tell, Whittier, despite many excellent staff and involved parents, has struggled to some extent ever since. ALL schools need good leadership.
Helen Schinske
True, especially when it comes to the treatment of the staff. We hear a lot of stuff about after school programs, and enrichment classes, and the like. Absence of those might be annoying, and their inclusion a bonus. But, it's the classroom teacher who maters, and if a manager isn't managing the teachers (or actively makes their life difficult), the school will indeed run into the ground. Parents have limited ability to intervene in that interaction, too, since they aren't privy to personnel issues.
June 3 is the Superintendent's Annual Evaluation. Maybe we all should speak up.
I say that with no sense of self-importance for the high schools but simply because of the sheer numbers of staff a principal has to work with and the numbers of parents who see the high school years as critical to getting into college and the workforce.
The Superintendent does have the the final word on who goes where but it's not a game of chess nor should it be a case of "it's a good school, let's cross our fingers it'll turn out okay".
I think the Hamilton community should know the truth, whether or not we can do anything about it.
As my teen said this morning, "they just keep throwing things around- like the want us to stay disorientated."
I'd say organized parent action/reaction is due.
Look at the Susan Durse saga of disappointing secondary school principal-ship.
I believe she left Garfield ... appointed to West Seattle High (not selected) ... medical leave .. then on to the Center school for a month or two and then the JSCEE.
The most frustrating aspect of this letter has to be the first line, "I am pleased to announce that Mr. Wayne Floyd has been appointed principal at Loyal Heights Elementary, effective July 1, 2009."
What?!! "Pleased to announce"?!! Well, so great that you are pleased, Superintendent, but because this decision was made with ABSOLUTELY NO INPUT from parents or staff, no one else in this community is pleased. All we know about this man is that he has been an educator for 31 years, has been an assistant principal, dean of students, or teacher at Cleveland, Garfield, and Wing Luke Elementary School (for one year).Yes, only one year of experience at the elementary level, and no elementary teaching experience, which to me is essential.
The current principal, Cashel Toner, had only been at L.H. for one year, but seemed to be a fabulous fit for the community. She is young, energetic, enthusiastic, very open to suggestions, really seemed to have a clear vision as to the direction she wanted to see the school go, lives in the neighborhood, etc, etc. This may ruffle some feathers, but my experience as a middle school teacher has been that those who have been in the professsion for 30 plus years tend not to have the aforementioned qualities including enthusiasm, willingness to listen and respond to concerns and suggestions, an understanding of best practices and how best to implement them, how to work with a staff to develop cohesion and a shared vision.
Yes, I know, I need to give this man I have never met and know little about a chance. I just honestly am in shock that a principal that was such a good fit for our school would be removed seemingly out of the blue with no warning, and no opportunity for those invested in the school to give input in her replacement.
It really does look to me, as other posters have mentioned, that this is an example of the district taking a principal, who is experiencing success at her current school, and throwing her to a school that sounds as if it has profound problems.
I can't think of a better way to alienate and anger parents.
Thank you for allowing me to vent!
Thanks for posting.
(And I'm not sure how she obtained this information. It was a quick conversation, but she is generally a reliable source of information).
And what happens if they only get (6) 2nd grade students or (3) 7th grade students? Will they still have a 7th grade class?
There was an interesting discussion about how the district ignored policy, what a surprise, back in 2007. This isn't new to this particular Superintendent; the district likes to make promises that are kept when it's convenient.
http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2007/05/new-public-participation-policy-raises.html
cashel toner has several years of teaching montessori (a program which leschi is getting by way of mlk and ttminor)- and while she doesn't have a ton of administrative experience yet, she has worked with some of the best and has been a head teacher as well as having the one year at loyal hgts.
she is young but extremely capable and professional and could be a great draw not only for the families already at leschi (in montessori and otherwise) but the many families that have fled to private school from that neighborhood.
i think this is not an accident or some random decision by sps.
one of the problems with all of this is that the pool of principals is small, and when you allow for moves they make for personal reasons (especially when they leave the system as katie cryan leary is), it can disrupt the entire system.
they also willingly apply for openings at other schools, such as the mcgilvra principal seems to have.
add the union protections afforded principals from closed schools - it's no wonder this is going to be a year for huge change at the principal level.
But I have yet to see one principal assignment, other than Chris Carter assigned. How could the Leshi principal get assigned to TOPS given that there are at least 3 other principals from closed schools.
Where are these principals:
TT Minor, Meany, Summit and Cooper.
There are three concerns with the principal moves that I have heard:
1) Lack of community input on the decisions. With the added bonus of a possible policy violation with the lack of community participation in the case of TOPS, an alternative school.
2) Several of the schools involved in the principal moves have design teams. What was the role of the design teams in these personnel changes and does this reveal the whole design team process to be a public relations sham.
3) Questionable motivations behind the principal moves. Is there an effort to move strong principals to weak schools and weak principals to strong schools. Why should ANY school have a weak principal?
Are there other concerns or topics worthy of discussion?