“We don’t talk enough to our students to hear from them what their concerns are or what their likes are or what they would like to see done differently,” Interim Principal Deirdre Lavery said. “And I think that that voice has to be a part of what we do.”
Sept. 16 marks Lavery’s first day as interim principal at Hayfield, but this doesn’t faze her. With extensive experience teaching at Frost Middle School to principalship at Twain Middle School, Glasgow Middle School, Lewis R. High School, and Justice High School, Lavery’s “normal” is, in fact, acclimating to new environments.
“With the middle school and the high school background, I think, when Dr. Thompson moved on to his new position, central office folks, superintendent said, ‘who do we have that could fill in that can deal with both middle and high?’ So they asked me to do it, and I accepted,” Lavery said.
While her established background certainly lends itself to effective policies and dependable management, it’s Lavery’s passion for students that paves the way for every decision and action taken.
“I have a saying that keeps me centered on the work that we do,” Lavery said. “And that saying is we do ‘what’s right for students, not what’s easy for the adults.’ What keeps me centered, and what I know, regardless of where you sit as an educator, if you stay steeped in flushing decisions through that lens of ‘what is the impact? Is this gonna be good for kids? Is this gonna take away from our students?’ If you keep that at the center of decision making, then I think even if your decision is the wrong decision, you made it with the best of intentions to do what’s right for students.”
This central focus guides every decision and action Lavery takes down to the very notebook and pen she keeps in her pocket, just in case a staff member or student stops her in the hallway with a question.
“I think the visibility of the principal is really important,” Lavery said. “It’s those things, those little things that people ask you to do, the more you follow through on those things, the more people begin to trust you. And I think that’s the piece that for my role as interim, that’s a piece that I think I can follow through on for our staff, our students, and our community.”
This newfound foundation of trust and honesty aims to put every parent phone call of concern and Facebook post of upset at ease, allowing for communication to be at the forefront of the conversation.
“A lot of times, if you just listen and have dialogue, a lot of the angst goes away,” Lavery said. “We’ve already gone through high school. We’re past that. But we’re spending time being at odds when, if we could come together, then what we do for kids is so much better. If we’re this way, the only constituency that loses are our students.”
Focusing on change for Hayfield through reason, without judgement, gives room for a common ground between administrators and members of the community. But it’s also Lavery’s unwavering confidence in the school first and foremost that allows progress to be built not from aversion or embarrassment, but from pride.
“I think kids here at Hayfield take pride in being a hawk,” Lavery said. “It’s funny because I think there are people who perceive that it’s totally broken. And I will tell you coming in from the outside, that is the furthest thing from the truth. There are parts that have to be tweaked and reignited, but the whole thing is not gone. Like the core of people being proud of being in Hayfield, that’s still there. We just have to poke it a little bit and get it reinvigorated and bring it back to life.”
This objective, for Lavery, takes hold through two courses within Hayfield: academics and culture. But this academic target isn’t rooted in any set grade or percentile of excellence, it’s in the process that pushes teachers to collaborate with students to figure out each individual’s needs. For culture, it’s a matter of honesty and bringing an intentional focus back to the students.
“We just need to move all the distractions and let it flourish,” Lavery said. “I think that’s kind of what my role is as an interim person is to figure out how can I get rid of those distractions so that teachers can focus on instruction, kids can focus on learning, and parents can be proud and feel good about their kids walking in our front door every day? But we’re not far off.”
While there is no telling how long Lavery will be the interim principal at Hayfield, one thing is certain: while she is, we can expect a student-focused community with administrative communication supporting it every step of the way.
