As the school year got underway last fall, students learned of Mr. Hobin’s resignation and were informed that CHS would have a new interim principal, Mrs. Macomber, until a principal can be hired permanently. This all happened pretty quickly and many students did not know what was going on in the main office. Now teachers, parents, and students can know more about Mrs. Macomber and what her vision for the school is as the ENTRY has recently had a chance to sit down and discuss such with her.
How Much Do You Know about Our New Interim Principal, Mrs. Macomber?
BY AMANDA MCKECHNIE
As the school year got underway last fall, students learned of Mr. Hobin’s resignation and were informed that CHS would have a new interim principal, Mrs. Macomber, until a principal can be hired permanently. This all happened pretty quickly and many students did not know what was going on in the main office. Now teachers, parents, and students can know more about Mrs. Macomber and what her vision for the school is as the ENTRY has recently had a chance to sit down and discuss such with her.
Mrs. Macomber said her two main areas of focus are academics and culture. She focuses on academics for each student to make sure they can get what they want out of a class or program. Culture is making sure the high school is welcoming and having a lot of pride as an Oaker. Both aspects are important to any school and Mrs. Macomber makes sure we have both aspects. Everything has been a team effort with the faculty and students.
Mrs. Macomber said, “Does offense win the game or defense? You need both.”
Some of the challenges have been having enough time because the job is very busy. Controlling her schedule is important because the school is very busy and she wants to make a difference. She adds, “Thankfully, everyone has stepped up and chipped in!”
Coming from serving as Assistant Principal, Mrs. Macomber reflects: “Both jobs are equally busy, now it’s just more accountability.” Now she deals with tougher decisions and has a heavier academic focus like meeting with every senior to discuss graduation requirements, preparing SAT prep, and working on professional development for teachers.
The vision Mrs. Macomber and the school’s Admin Team is based on the CIA cycle. CIA means curriculum, instruction, and assessment. While they still use that definition and still focus on those three, they have established a new definition too, collaboration, inspiration, and appreciation.
For collaboration, she has been working on having collaboration between department members. To help this initiative, this year the lunch schedules were changed so teachers in the same department could talk and share ideas over lunch. Inspiration is an aspect focusing on ensuring that students want to be here and want to come to school. More teachers now have Twitter accounts to be more involved with their students and to connect over social media.
Also, an Oaker Pride Form is now being put in place. It is a process in which teachers and students can send thank you’s and compliments back and forth to each other. It’s a good process because it can make someone’s day to know they are appreciated. The program is located on the Aspen homepage. Mrs. Macomber has been working on bringing students together.
Mrs. Macomber said, “Unified Oakers was a way to promote unity and kindness.”
With the game, it was a way to have the whole school together in the gym and have school spirit. Now during Spirit Week, the dance competition will be during Advisory and not after school so the whole school can attend and enjoy it together.
To help Mrs. Macomber with her vision, she meets with the teachers every early release. During the meeting, they have something called “Oaker Hour” which is the teachers can recommend an idea they are passionate about for the school, classrooms, or community. An example of something that came out of Oaker Hour was the Unified Oakers program.
Mrs. Macomber has also been working very hard on the NEASC visit next year. NEASC is the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Next year they are coming for the 2020 accreditation process for CHS to make sure the school is in good alignment to standards for colleges.
New policies are on the rise for Coventry High School like the digital hall pass as an example. Mrs. Macomber says there are significant vaping problems in the bathroom. So now the digital hall pass will be able to track how many times kids are in the bathroom and how long. The hope is students will spend less time in the bathroom.
Another policy is the advisory programs that will soon take place. There will be workshops for students to come together, have fun, and to get their mind off of stress. Some programs are boxing which would be run by Mr. Blevins who is a certified boxing teacher, book club, dance club, walking club, weight lifting, open gym, and music club. The hope is students will now participate in what they are interested in and connect with other students who share their same interests.
Senior privilege is another policy that will soon go into effect. Senior privilege is only for seniors who have completed all their graduation requirements and are in good standing with attendance, grades, and conduct. If seniors have passed all requirements and are in good standing they will receive a yellow lanyard and they will have access to the library, courtyard, cafeteria, and cafe. Everything will be within school grounds.
The principal search has been launched by Central Office this week and they are now advertising for a permanent principal for next year.
“I think this is a very special school and I have a lot of pride in it. I graduated here and a lot of other teachers have too. I want people to know how special this school is and that everyone is working hard and doing their best,” said Mrs. Macomber.
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