This year's Principal Corps class members are (front, l-r) Courtney Van Cleve of Lyon, Kim Luckett of Madison and Felicia Brown Pollard of Pontotoc, and (back, l-r) Matt Buchanan of Pearl, Patrick Doyle of Marks, Cody Shumaker of Cleveland, Benjamin Barlow of Jackson and Morgan Dean of Cleveland. UM photo by Nathan Latil.
A successful school principal training program at the University of Mississippi welcomed its third class this year. Following orientation and class sessions, the eight new full-time graduate students are filling principal internships at schools around the state.
The Principal Corps, an innovative, state-of-the-art principal preparation program, was created to produce highly effective school administrators, able to meet the increasingly complex demands of today’s schools.
Supported with the help of a generous grant from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the program was developed by UM faculty who worked with a panel of educational leadership experts from across the country.
“All of us are so thankful that Jim Barksdale embraced the Principal Corps program from the beginning; this is one of those educational changes that is having an immediate positive effect in schools across the state,” said Andy Mullins, chief of staff to the chancellor and associate professor of education. Mullins was co-founder of the program in 2009, along with then-dean of education Tom Burnham, who became state superintendent of education in late 2009.The 13-month, 36-credit-hour graduate program produced 10 graduates the first year, with all of whom serve as school administrators, and three recently completed their first year as school principals. The 2010 class of 12 students completed the program in July, and 10 of them serve as principals or assistant principals in schools statewide.
The program’s third class of eight members began orientation in June, followed by class sessions throughout the month. The full-time graduate students are working as principal interns in Mississippi public schools.
Class members and their first- and second-semester internship locations are Benjamin Barlow of Jackson, Brandon Middle School and Highland Bluff Elementary School in Brandon; Matt Buchanan of Pearl, Stonebridge Elementary School in Brandon and Florence High School; Morgan Dean of Cleveland, Hayes Cooper Elementary School in Merigold and West Bolivar Middle School in Rosedale; Patrick Doyle of Marks, Quitman County Elementary School in Lambert (both semesters); Kim Luckett of Madison, Clinton High School and Northside Elementary School in Clinton; Felicia Brown Pollard of Pontotoc, Lafayette County Lower Elementary School and Lafayette County High School; Cody Shumaker of Cleveland, West Bolivar Middle School in Rosedale and Hayes Cooper Elementary School; and Courtney Van Cleve of Lyon, Booker T. Washington School in Clarksdale and South Panola Lower Elementary School in Batesville.
“The program has exceeded all of my expectations, each year attracting the best and brightest students, who will make a difference in the lives of so many children,” Mullins said.
Doug Davis, coordinator of UM’s educational leadership programs, agreed, saying, “Although we are in the early stages of gathering performance data of the schools that Principal Corps graduates are leading, indications suggest that these schools have all improved. The future of the Principal Corps could not be brighter and will build on the solid foundation of a nationally recognized curriculum, an outstanding faculty and the capable leadership of Dr. Susan McClelland (director).”
The Rankin County School District, which has supported the Principal Corps since it began, accepted three interns the first year and hired two of them as assistant principals, supported two internships in 2010 and hired both as curriculum specialists, and is supporting two interns from this year’s entering class.
“The University of Mississippi Principal Corps program has quickly become recognized as one of the premier education leadership programs in the country,” said Bo Hynes, RCSD’s director of Human Resources. “Its graduates are highly respected and sought-after. The collaborative relationship established between the university and the sponsoring school district is first-rate. ”
Charles Garrett, New Albany School District superintendent, accepted two interns from this year’s graduating class and has hired two as assistant principals.
“The Principal Corps is an outstanding program,” Garrett said. “The hands-on internship experience is extremely valuable, as it gives the interns the opportunity to further develop and demonstrate their talents. Often, they present themselves for the internship with skills superior to many practicing administrators. I would attribute this at least partially to a very rigorous screening process for the program that results in the admission of very high-performing educators who are highly capable of becoming outstanding administrators.”
Principal Corps 2010 graduate Landon Pollard, principal at Byhalia Middle School, was a case manager at the Madison County Adolescent Offender Program before enrolling in the program’s inaugural class. He credits Principal Corps with making a difference for him.
“Because of my participation in Principal Corps, I gained some of the necessary experience to manage angry parents, balance a budget, inventory a school and perform all the many other important tasks that a principal must execute,” Pollard said. “Also, because of Principal Corps, I gained some of the necessary theoretical knowledge to critique poor classroom management, evaluate assessments, interpret and analyze data, and generally lead the school toward increased student achievement.”
Jerry Moore, assistant superintendent of education in Marshall County, said that because of his experience with Pollard, he sees great promise in the Principal Corps.
“Landon came in already understanding how to set attainable goals, was easily able to surmise his staff and place them in the correct positions, had no qualms with making some difficult decisions and understood the accountability model,” Moore said. “But what sets him apart – in my mind – is that he was already prepared to be the instructional leader, as opposed to me having to hold his hand through that. The importance of that cannot be exaggerated in terms of moving a school forward academically at a fast pace.”
For more information, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/principalcorps/.