I was set to begin the next phase in my career in education. I was going to be an Administrative Associate at a 5-8 grade campus in a new school district. I would be responsible for part of the campus 504 caseload and other administrative duties except for Special Ed.
The biggest change was my new 45 minute commute. I had never worked this far away from my home, so that was a bit unnerving. Another concern was how I would fit into my new environment. There were not many students that looked like me. How would this community accept a black male in a leadership position?
I was one of four administrators on campus. Everyone that I met upon my arrival on campus was nice and seemed genuinely excited that I was there. I met with the campus Principal and settled into my office.
After speaking with the Principal and finding out what would be expected of me, I was ready to get to work. I took every opportunity to make connections with students, staff, and parents. I enjoyed being in the hallways, visiting classrooms, and lunch duty.
I learned how the school district and campus handled 504 meetings from one of the other Assistant Principals. There were close to one hundred students that we conducted meetings for that school year. This, along with supervising athletic events, kept me busy.
Covid was running rampant at the time. There were several days of contact tracing and calling parents to inform them that their student could not come back to school for a few days. There were also discipline concerns. I became pretty good at investigating using camera footage and interviewing students.
Overall, I was enjoying the school year. One Assistant Principal was very helpful to me, another mostly helpful, and one who only offered to help when I asked. I was getting good experience and started settling in more. This position was supposed to be for two years. I can do this…
My Life In Education… 