The Issue: Stress, school climate and communication: what will the new principal do?
When William D. Egan officially becomes principal of NCHS in July he will be the fourth principal to run the school in the last five years. Every time a new principal is appointed — whether from a separate school district, like Dr. Bryan Luizzi, or from within the high school community, like interim principal Dr. Veronica LeDuc — rumors immediately begin to circulate the school about impending changes: will the new principal close campus? Will there still be spirit days?
Instead of speculating on negative changes a new principal may make, we should focus on changes already occurring within the school from the IMPACT group, which has worked to facilitate discussion between students and administrators since the tension that arose at the beginning of the year with the Pep Rally cancellation. The open communication this group has fostered should, and hopefully will, continue as the school leadership transitions for a third time.
Mr. Egan is not unfamiliar with hosting open dialogue between students and the administration. His blog, Wamogo Principal Chat, attests to the fact that he values open communication. The blog has numerous entries addressed not only to “Wamogo students”, but also to the larger community of “Wamogo families and friends”.
If Mr. Egan chooses to continue to foster such communication when he begins at NCHS, it will certainly benefit the school. The numerous Advisory surveys about “school climate” reveal that there remains a myriad of opportunities here for change that continued open communication could help.
While the aforementioned surveys are intended to bring about change independently of the new principal, there are no rumors flying around the school about how Advisory students are going to change the “school climate”. In fact, conversation pertaining to Advisory generally tends towards the other end of the spectrum: students sitting in a classroom for 25 minutes taking surveys on their mobile devices is not going to change the issues this school faces. This is because students, teachers, parents and administrators are more likely to look to people in actual leadership positions to bring about change, especially the highest leader at the school: the principal.
One of the biggest issues Mr. Egan will face when he takes over in July pertains to the “school climate”: student stress. As reflected in students’ voiced pressure about college, use of Adderall and other prescriptive medications as study aids and struggle to simultaneously manage difficult social situations, like Prom, school related stress is an issue in many, if not most, students’ lives. Despite the prevalence of this issue in relation to the “school climate”, it rarely appears on Advisory surveys, which generally focus on student-teacher-administrator relationships.
Although student stress is clearly an issue, it is an opportunity for Mr. Egan to make a significant change at this school. As a permanent, not interim, principal, Mr. Egan will hopefully be here for several years at least, giving him enough time to change the “school climate” to alleviate student stress.
