Kimberly Moritz BlogPosts

My husband and I attended a retirement party this weekend. Two teachers from Randolph, a neighboring district where I was previously high school principal, were honored at a dinner.As is typical at a retirement party, colleagues, family and friends came forward to speak for each of our retirees. Their comments were heart felt, touching and funny. Pat and Carol, the retirees, also spoke with great affection about their careers and their friends.

I attended the dinner because Carol drove to my school and then to my house to be sure I would be there. Why? Because Carol’s all about the people in her life and so is Pat, an extremely successful teacher and coach.

Attending the dinner and listening to the comments about Carol and Pat got me to thinking about this job that I do now. As an administrator, there are many tasks and responsibilities that I have. Many days, they are too numerous to complete. But the primary responsibility that I have as an administrator is not unlike that of a teacher.

When I was teaching, I spent 99% of my time thinking about my students. Their unique needs and personalities, their learning styles and abilities. I thought about what I could do in my lessons to reach each of them. I built relationships. I asked them questions. I got to know each of them, as much as each would let me in.

Last night I was thinking a lot about what makes a principal or superintendent successful. I thought about all of the specific knowledge that our superintendents possess about finance, capital projects, the political scene in Albany, and school law. I thought about all of the superintendents I’ve worked for and known.

And that’s when I realized that the best superintendents are the same as the best teachers. There are teachers who have incredible depth of content knowledge but don’t ever stop teaching the content and start teaching the students. Likewise there are administrators who don’t ever figure out the leading the faculty and staff piece, they just keep managing their work.

When I am a superintendent some day, I will spend 99% of my time thinking about my BOE members, faculty and staff. Their unique needs and personalities, their learning styles and abilities. I will think about what I can do in my interactions to reach each of them. I will build relationships. I will ask them questions. And I will get to know each of them, as much as each will let me in.

Amazing as it may sound, there are some things about this week’s senior pranks that made me very happy.

Partially because we have good relationships with our students and partially because the seniors really want to have a picnic on Monday, we know who pulled the pranks and they are receiving consequences. How do we know?

Students told me. In the case of the gunk on the lockers, seniors gave me the student’s name. I saw her and said, “There was a prank that caused two good, hard working women two extra hours of work this week. It ticks me off and I’m cancelling the picnic unless the student who did it comes forward, admits what she did wrong, and takes responsibility for it.” After she thought about it for a couple of periods, she and her friend came in to tell me what they did. These two seniors will not attend Monday’s picnic and better yet, they’ll be meeting our cleaners at 6:00 am on Monday to clean for them for two hours. I hope Carol and Maggie give them whatever cleaning job they most hate.

With the smoke bomb that went off twenty minutes before the end of the day, students approached me and gave me a name before they got on the bus. Mr. Cassidy interviewed that student and had another name before all the buses were gone.

I called that student at home and told him it was in his best interest to get back to the school immediately. Mr. Cassidy did the same with another student. Finally, the third student was revealed and he answered my call at a friend’s house to get back to school immediately. All three students came back to school and admitted what they’d done wrong. The matter was resolved with the police. In this type of incident, school consequences include five days OSS with loss of participation in commencement exercises. Monday’s picnic is the least of their worries.

Because of the relationships we’ve built with students, those who reported what they knew and those who’d made a mistake, we had the whole thing resolved within two hours. I’m proud of that fact. I’m also happy about  the teamwork our faculty and staff exhibited.

I know there are schools where no one would tell the administration anything. I’m really proud that we’re not one of them. I’m also proud that ultimately our kids know the difference between right and wrong and they step up to answer for their mistakes.

And while I love our students and will fight to do what’s right for them, I will also support strong consequences when they mess up, especially when the action endangers the health and safety of others in the building.That’s good parenting and it’s also good administration.

Yesterday, I wrote about senior pranks, how I feel about them, and two that we endured this week. There’s more to this story.

I’ve been around the block a couple of time with senior classes. Both as a teacher who advised seniors and as a high school principal of five years. 99% of the time I still opt to think the best of our students. If I didn’t I’d be less of a leader.

When our students came to me and said, “we want to do a senior prank, but we know how you feel about them, and we want it to be harmless”, I listened. Students said, “we want to wear bathing suits to school tomorrow and at 12:15 all get up and go jump in the pool. We’ve asked the PE teacher to lifeguard. We promise there won’t be any other pranks.” I explained that several of their classmates had significant hurdles to graduation and that those students had to be in class. They listened, we agreed, my dean of students (who’s been around the block a few more times than me) said you’re nuts, there will still be more pranks and now you’ve agreed to this disruption.

He was right about more pranks and in fact, one of the students who met with me about the harmless prank was one who later disappointed me. My teachers were upset because they hear me harping about higher expectations and getting ready for the Regents. I believed it was a relatively benign way for students to feel they’d left their mark and rebelled a bit. I lost face with my teachers.

For all but five or six of our students, it was a good agreement. I work to promote a positive climate where our students feel valued and celebrated. My teachers and staff are definitely not feeling valued and celebrated this week and that’s my responsibility too.

In addition, early in May, students came to me and asked if we could have a senior picnic on Monday, after school, with all of their teachers invited. They’re planning, cooking, and paying for it. Without pranks or problems on this weekend’s senior trip, I agreed to it. I’m looking forward to it. I’m hoping there are no additional pranks and no problems on the trip. Because we know who pulled this week’s pranks and because they are receiving consequences, we will continue with our plans for the picnic.

But I’m left wondering what I’ll find at school next. I totally agree with David and other G-town readers, seniors could be thinking about something creative and funny that will make us miss them.