Principal Interview
Laila Marshall
ADMS 626
“There are no shortcuts for good communication. It takes a lot of practice and thought to do it well.” This is one of the quotes given by my principal during our interview that struck me as important. My principal, Dr. Regina Schwab, has a variety of experience as a teacher and leader. It was her passion for learning, along with personal experiences, that led her to becoming a principal, a role she greatly values. Being an expert communicator herself, she was able to convey many aspects of being a principal, along with one of the most important aspects of the job: communication. Through our discussion, I was able to learn of her path to becoming a principal along with several important aspects of her job including the joys and challenges, ideas on how to learn about the school you are coming into, and most critically, ideas on effectively communicating with your stakeholders.
Dr. Schwab began her career in education as a teacher. She developed a love of curriculum development and thought that this would be the path she was on. Her experience and expertise with gifted education moved her in to the role of the county’s site coordinator of the middle school International Baccalaureate program. Here, she was able to hone her leadership skills; however, this experience, along with the educational experience of her daughter, led her down the path to become a school principal. As the IB program leader, she still had to answer to the building administration. Ideas for the program had to be run often through several people for approval. Dr. Schwab wanted to be able to make these types of decisions. During this time, her daughter was also going through the public education system. While at one school, her daughter and the family had a very negative experience. When her daughter attended a different school, the experience was completely different and wholly positive. Dealing with administration at both schools made her realize the significant impact the principal had on the school and the experiences of the children. She, too, wanted to have this type of impact on the education of students. What a greater way to impact a large number of students, and pay it forward.
Our discussion then led into the joys and challenges of being a principal. Her greatest joy has been to watch the school grow and develop over time. One of her favorite aspects of the job is to recruit talented staff members and then watch the positive impact they have on the students and school as a whole. She has also enjoyed the opportunity to utilize the districts recent initiatives to help improve instruction. One of the most important things she decided to do when coming aboard as the principal at SGES, was to survey the staff on what is going well and what top three things needed to be changed. Based on feedback from the staff, there were three clear patters: the reading program needed to be strengthened, the cafeteria situation needed to be better organized, and issues with the traffic pattern needed to be resolved. While the last two items were more easily resolved, the first item, the reading program, was a very important accomplishment. Dr. Schwab found that the reading program was directly tied to other programs. The staff worked on a variety of items and gained more understanding and confidence with assessment, differentiation, and using data to drive instruction. Through developing teachers' knowledge of these important features of teaching, Dr. Schwab was saw a domino effect; the teachers then began applying these same concepts to writing and math. While there is still a ways to go with 21st century skills and understanding of the waiver the school was granted, she knows that her teachers are giving solid instruction.
While these items posed some of her greatest accomplishments, it also was challenging to get there. One of the challenges of being a principal is to gain teacher’s confidence and understanding when implementing district initiatives. People long for stability, and teachers constantly have to learn new instruction practices and programs. Every year, there can be many new items that the principal is responsible for introducing. However, Dr. Schwab believes in empowering teachers to the extent possible. Authentic motivation can happen when teachers feel responsible and have autonomy. While there are items that the district does dictate, if there is room for school based decision making, then Drs. Schwab believes in giving teachers choice or making them part of the problem solving or learning process. As a teacher at the school, I too, have noticed an increase in her providing choice to the teachers. She has taken teacher concerns, asked for feedback and recommendations, formed committees, and worked to allow for some democratic decisions.
The discussion was then steered to communication. This is, by far, one of Dr. Schwab’s greatest strengths. She is an excellent communicator both verbally and in written form. She calls it a “natural impulse” for her and believes that people should always know what to expect. She know stakeholders do not like to be blindsided and she consistently communicate in a variety of formats including the sending the school calendar in a variety of formats, weekly memo to the teachers, monthly newsletters to teachers and parents, and even a monthly article in the local community paper. When asked if she preferred email to phone, Dr. Schwab stated that it depended on the purpose. She noted that one must always be careful when wording email as the person on the other end can misinterpret the meaning. There are sometimes when it is better to pick up the phone. We then discussed the way the county utilized the phone blast system. She stated that she only uses that for very important messages or reminders, or for an emergency situation. She values her stakeholders’ time at home and tries to use it sparingly. When I reflected on this, I realized the truth in that. I have another child in a different school where the phone call system is used at least twice a week. It got to the point that I ignored the call when I saw the number. This could possibly cause me to miss something important.
The final part of our discussion included the media. Dr. Schwab stated that the county has a specific protocol when dealing with the media. Staff was to go through the district’s community relations director. Direction would be given on whom you could talk to and what should be said. However, she has noticed a new trend in the media: making parents the reporters. There has been recent articles and pictures in the media where the parent, without the schools knowledge, act as the reporter for certain events. It is something she thinks needs to be looked at.
In summary, I enjoyed my conversation with the principal at my school. I found her background interesting and valued the advice she gave. She has learned much in her years as a leader and I hope to take many of her lessons with me.