Administration
prepares for new year
By Alexa Mannheim
After
a controversial year at Hall due to the resignation of former principal
John Hudson, the vacancy of principal is ready to be filled by Interim
Principal Dr. Don Slater. With transitions in the administration and adjustments
made to school policies, Slater is confident about his new position and
optimistic about this year because he knows the potential exists within
the school.
Formerly an assistant principal, Slater is now taking
over the reins as the Interim Principal, meaning he will fill the position
of principal for the year while the search for a permanent principal proceeds.
Regarding the controversy surrounding Hudson’s
resignation, Slater commented, “The past is important, but we can’t
live in
 Photo/Katie Kan
|
it. There
is a lot of work that must be done in the future, and we must work together
and move in that direction. We must move forward.”
Despite all of this, Slater looks forward to his new
position: “I’m excited for Hall because I know the potential
that exists within the school, within all teachers, students and parents.
My goal is to involve all of these constituencies for the total improvement
of the school.”
With three children enrolled in the West Hartford
public school system, new Assistant Principal Tom Einhorn is eagar to
be joining forces with Assistant Principal Shelley Solomon. After earning
his Bachelor of Arts in psychology at SUNY at Geneseo, Einhorn moved to
St.Louis became district manager for a car rental company. With a desire
to work with students with learning disabilities, Einhorn turned to special
education and has worked at Sedgwick Middle School as a team leader and
teacher for the past seven years.
Continuing the themes of diversity and respect that
have been in place for the past two years, Einhorn and Solomon will be
joining forces to achieve a more comfortable social atmosphere that is
crucial to a school’s learning environment while handling their administrative
responsibilities.
In effort to ameliorate such an atmosphere, a new
mentoring program involving student participants and other volunteers
has been launched at Hall. The project, being coordinated by Solomon and
Einhorn, takes the anacronym TAPS (Transition Assistance Program for Success).
Each upperclassman that has been approved and selected to be a mentor
has been assigned a new student to advise and provide support for during
his or her transition from middle school to high school. Einhorn believes
that this will help promote a sense of community and said, “We’ve
had a very successful opening and I’m glad to see many ninth graders
transition into Hall with the help of upperclassmen.”
Another new feature this year is renovation that will
meet students’ needs. A new computer lab, adventure training equipment
in the gymnasium and the renovation of classrooms will maximize students’
resources.
At the end of last year, school policies were reviewed and adjusted to
meet the needs of students, parents and teachers. Cell phones, banned
previously, are now permitted on school grounds as long as they are turned
off during school hours and a more lenient punishment was applied to the
cigarette policy so that it would be distinguishable from the drug and
alcohol policy.
The library policy was revised so that students may
enter the library after the bell has rung only after obtaining a library
or teacher pass and only within the first 25 minutes of the period. For
upperclassmen with SRP (Self Regulation Privilege), cards will be distributed
to academically and behaviorally eligible students and may be used during
their free periods.
Former Dean of Students, Paul Clemens, was offered
a position as assistant principal at New Britain High School. As a consequence,
Art teacher Donna Namnoun has taken over as Acting Dean of Students. Until
a replacement is found for Namnoun in the art department, former Hall
teacher Brian Fitzgerald will be working with her in the dean’s office.
Additionally, changes in the attendance policy have been noted for the
new year.
According to the new policy, appeals for the student
to gain back credit will take place sooner. In past years, students accumulating
12 excused or four unexcused absences per semester would meet with a teacher
and guidance counselor at the end of the semester for an appeals process.
This process assesses the academic performance of the student to determine
if the credit that has been denied should be reinstated.
This year, the appeals process will take place upon the 12th absence.
Namnoun stresses that students must remember that three class tardies
will be factored in as one unexcused absence and will result in an office
detention.
Emphasizing that policy-making should be a collaborative
effort, Slater is eager to involve students, teachers and parents in the
process. Noting that respected administrators, including Dr. Robert Dunn,
Dr. Elaine Bessette, Jerry Copsinis, and Hudson, introduced the current
policies, Slater feels they must be carefully examined for their purposes
before changes are made.
“If there is a policy in place that is a concern
to students and staff, we should meet to discuss if the existing policy
is effective, and if not, we need to consider revising it,” he said.
He added, “We need to make sure that all of the constituencies are
involved in the process.”
At
the end of last year, school policies were reviewed and adjusted to meet
the needs of students, parents and teachers. Cell phones, banned previously,
are now permitted on school grounds as long as they are turned off during
school hours and a more lenient punishment was applied to the cigarette
policy so that it would be distinguishable from the drug and alcohol policy.
The library policy was revised so that students may
enter the library after the bell has rung only after obtaining a library
or teacher pass and only within the first 25 minutes of the period. For
upperclassmen with SRP (Self Regulation Privilege), cards will be distributed
to academically and behaviorally eligible students and may be used during
their free periods.
