The average student may see their principals as intimidating figures. However, a closer look at these school leaders reveals a very different persona. So much can change when assumptions or rumors are replaced with real conversations.
Assistant Principal JD Lambert acknowledges some students’ fears: “Most students don’t want to approach a principal because they are scared of the outcome and think all principals are bad people.” Mr. Lambert goes on to explain, “If students just come to socialize with one of us or even ask us about anything, we would be glad to help. More students should be okay with talking to principles instead of dreading having a conversation with us.” Other principals shared Mr. Lambert’s views; assistant principal Bill Baldwin says, “Students should never be afraid to talk to us since we will always be willing to help with anything.”
Principals take certain actions that make students dislike them, like making rules about no phones or locking the bathrooms. As much as students may dislike them for it, sometimes it’s not their fault. Even as leaders in our building, they still answer to district policies and expectations. At the end of the day, most principals simply want to help their students and keep them safe.
On the topic of principals, one anonymous student said, “I don’t hate principals but I think they aren’t as productive as teachers.” While another student said, “Principals shouldn’t put such strict rules like the bathroom policy.”
After interviewing Dr Brown about the bathroom policy he said, “During the summer, we look at school-wide data to address areas of need. We found that class cuts and tardies to class were our biggest issues. The school leadership team decided to implement a 15:15 rule to keep students from loitering in the bathrooms after the bell rings. This keeps students from hiding and waiting for others to cut class.” This explains exactly how the rule works and may answer some reasoning behind it.
Dr. Brown went on to explain, “Additionally, not allowing students to leave for the first 15 minutes allows us to identify students not in class and get them where they need to be before friends can get out of class to skip class with them.” This clarifies the reasoning of the rule and may answer some students’ questions on the rule.
Some may wonder if these policies solved the problem or showed improvements. Dr. Brown says, “Yes, we have seen a decrease in both tardies to class and class cuts from last year. They are still by far our two biggest discipline issues, but they have shown improvement.”The policy does in fact decrease tardies and benefits our school significantly.
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