1 of 5
2 of 5
3 of 5
4 of 5
5 of 5
On the list of important ingredients, nothing makes a school succeed like a generous dash of grade-A leadership. Many metro-area schools are graced with very good principals, and some are lucky to have great principals capable of making their schools stand out, even among the best schools in our region. Even more important are those who can transform an otherwise challenged school into a place where teachers, parents and students alike feel valued
and successful.
1. Leigh Finch, John Gandy Elementary
Patience is a virtue for Leigh Finch, principal at John M. Gandy Elementary in Hanover County — a virtue learned by practice as a reading specialist during the early part of her education career. "I think I chose [being a reading specialist] because I've always loved to read," she says, noting that the lesson came in realizing the frustration of teaching someone who struggles at something you love. "You really do develop empathy." That empathetic view, and a desire to bring help to more than just the children in her own classroom, led Finch to administration. "You just see the actual act of helping children to read is so much more in the bigger picture," she says of taking the helm of a school, where her empathy now extends to her staff. "Teachers have the job that makes the ultimate day-to-day difference for kids," she says. "I see my job [as] clearing that path, then they can do the things they need to do, which is teach and love the kids. They're the ones with the real patience." hcps2.hanover.k12.va.us/jges
2. Dr. Herbert T. Monroe III, Henrico High School
Herbert Monroe takes a unique view of his sometimes academically challenged students at Henrico High School. "The underdog is the top dog," says Monroe, who's in his first year at the high school after a distinguished tenure at Lakeside Elementary. "First of all, the philosophy is that I truly believe all kinds can and want to learn. But the most important thing is, before you can teach a child, the kid really has to know that you care about them. We have to take time to figure out what makes them tick." At Henrico, home to the county's International Baccalaureate program but also to a high percentage of kids from low-income families, "what makes them tick" could be almost anything. "You have to look for the greatness in all children," he says. Sometimes that means looking beyond the books and test grades to consider the human being. "There's an old adage that kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." schools.henrico.k12.va.us/henrico
3. Gregory Muzik, Mary Munford Elementary
But for a fortuitous mentor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Gregory Muzik might today be known as Ranger Muzik. "I wasn't one of these people who thought I always wanted to be a teacher," says Muzik, whose 23 years at Mary Munford Elementary have transformed the city school into one of the most respected in the region. Thirty years ago, his dream was to work for Arlington County Parks and Recreation. An advisor at VCU persuaded him to get his education degree, which led to a student teaching job at John B. Cary Elementary, which led to a full-time teaching job. As a principal, Muzik says he lives by two rules: "You don't ever forget what it's like to be a teacher. That's a tough job, even in the best of circumstances. And the other thing is … you view your school as an integral part of the community," he says. "That's one of the issues I've often faced with the [Richmond] school system is there are perceptions out there that are often wrong. Getting people in the door makes a big difference." web.richmond.k12.va.us/mmes/
4. Arthur G. Raymond III, Fairfield Middle School
School is a place for learning and for growing, but not just for kids, says Arthur G. Raymond, principal at Fairfield Middle School in Henrico County. "The biggest challenge is [ensuring] that everybody — faculty, staff and students — [is] getting what they need out of their experience," Raymond says. He notes his school's extreme "academic diversity," which includes big populations of both exceptional education and International Baccalaureate students, as well as the diversity that's inherent in middle school, where kids arrive as "big elementary kids" and mature into young adults "with their perspective on the world fully formed." Paradoxically, Raymond sees his role as creating as big an impact as possible while leaving as little impression as he can. "People who remember middle school, it's kind of like when you talk about learning to read," he says. "If you remember [it], it may be that you had a bad experience. We're really trying to max the … personal growth and helping kids discover their gifts that they don't even know they had." schools.henrico.k12.va.us/fairfield
5. Joan Temple, Elizabeth Scott Elementary
For Joan Temple, school work doesn't end at the schoolhouse door — and she's not talking about homework. Recently, Temple worked with Chesterfield County leaders and private groups to purchase a trailer and place it at Greenleigh Mobile Home Park. There, she and her staff run an off-site after-school tutoring program that's paid off big among the school's significant Hispanic population. Last year's fourth grade math SOL pass rate at Scott was 93 percent. Not bad for a principal who, as a teacher, never wanted to leave the classroom, but who now has discovered her classroom is everywhere around her. "I think a good principal is somebody who's going to build relationships with their kids in schools, the parents and the teachers and the community," says Temple. scott.mychesterfieldschools.com
