Parent/Student Input for High School School Principal by Jaclyn Cerase

Parent/Student Input for High School School Principal by Jaclyn Cerase https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9 Please share the characteristics that you would like to see in our new High School Principal. en-us 2020-06-09 14:31:35 UTC 2025-11-18 04:00:40 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/587207026/6bd8aa4b267af24accf101839e520cb6/ELHS.jpg Principal https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/633548339 To whom it may concern,

I am a parent of two students who graduated from East Lyme High School. First of all, I want to note that both of my children are attending MIT and East Lyme's teachers excelled at equipping my children for a rigorous top-tier university. Thank you.
But in keeping with the school's vision of global awareness and valuing diversity, I felt I had to speak up about some issues that came up during their time there. The bringing in of a new principle is a great opportunity to create real change in the school through this individual's ideas, initiative, and character. I addressed these issues here.

Several ideas for a new principal's character are one that:

-- Does not allow favoritism. Willing to reexamine school processes and policies to ensure fairness and recognition of true accomplishments. For example, revisit the National Honor Society application process. My daughter was not chosen for the National Honor Society. She was a captain of crew, Acapella group president, in 7 AP classes, excelling grades, and she volunteered locally and abroad in Hungary and in Philadelphia. She ran a Bible Study group every week at the school with clothing drives and other activities. She did not get accepted to the National Honor Society. MIT thought she was worthy of honor, but the school did not.

-- Ensures educational accomplishments are elevated to the level of sports. One example of many was that the school newspaper would often have full-page articles on sports, while winners of statewide educational competitions like Science Olympiads were assigned to a small photo on the bottom of page five. When this was brought to the principal's attention, he responded that he had no say in the student run newspaper. He did not demonstrate any interest in celebrating the hard work of the scholars, or see a problem with the fact that their accomplishments were not celebrated as a school.

-Celebrates Diversity. My children are black and while in school, there was no understanding of black culture and no celebrating, understanding, or supporting students that were culturally different. A Haitian student, a close friend of my daughters, tried to gather supplies for an orphanage in Haiti; the school did not support or celebrate this opportunity to teach about another culture and people with great needs around the world. Very few students supported her or were interested in participating. This reflects the school's culture of diminishing rather than celebrating people of color, including their efforts and the diversity they bring to the school. One way to address this issue is to teach more African American History, which is largely ignored currently. The administration should be comfortable and willing to talk about and bring up issues of race as they affect students in the community. A great curriculum to teach tolerance can be found at Tolerance.org.

--Awareness of White Privilege. Please look up what white privilege is, because it can be easily misunderstood. See a link here. In short, white privilege is a lack of understanding of others' perspectives and history in this country. Ignorance causes a continuance of white privilege and discrimination in East Lyme. If students do not understand the history of systemic oppression of minorities in this country, they are set up in the world to be ignorant. I understand that this is a hard topic to discuss. But staying comfortable, defensiveness, or lack of transparency by the administration on this issue results in the oppression of students. Many students do not see the problems with New London being mostly black/hispanic students and East Lyme being majority white, where they receive a much better education. The inequities are obvious, but the East Lyme community as a whole is uneducated and silent on this important issue. For more information on equity in education, see the CT lawsuit here.

For more information on the topic of race, I included some more resources here.

-My son Ethan (who just graduated from EL High School) did his english final presentation on the topic of inequality and the American Dream, including a section on racial disparities:
-video on white privilege
-What is Black Lives Matter?
-A list of books, films and podcasts on racism

I hope you will seriously consider these issues in your choice of a school principal. As a community, I would hope that our principal would be dedicated to ensuring education about all and for all. If you have further questions or want to continue the conversation, please reach out. I would love to be a part in helping to educate the administration by providing resources.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Kim Stewart
860-625-7397
krstewart1@yahoo.com

]]> 2020-06-19 13:30:54 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/633548339 Collaborative, Consistent, Open-Minded https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/633898428 2020-06-19 18:44:56 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/633898428 A new principal should be...+ https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/633924582 + loyal and supportive of educators teaching modern and difficult history
+ An active and knowledgeable member of the school community who is aware of events and procedures at the school
+ Someone who is receptive to feedback and also gives honest, constructive feedback]]> 2020-06-19 19:13:51 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/633924582 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637723764 Mr fasulo]]> 2020-06-23 16:58:02 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637723764 Mr. Kydd https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637734590 2020-06-23 17:07:47 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637734590 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637774891 Consider a professional within the district who has dedicated the majority of their career to the students of East Lyme. This professional should be a hard worker, relatable, down to earth, and well respected by the students, teachers, administrators, and the East Lyme community. ]]> 2020-06-23 17:45:22 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637774891 ELHS Principal https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637829688
My first suggestion would be to consider someone who has dedicated time to and knows the community well. I’m not sure of his intentions, but I believe that Jeff Provost has earned the opportunity to lead the high school.

Other than that, I would encourage the selection committee to consider someone who will:

-Be visible throughout the building, its campus, and the district/community.
-Listen to the teachers who are in the trenches every day of the school year.
-Encourage and celebrate global mindedness and international connections/endeavors.
-Consider the opinions of the student body, without letting the students run the school.

]]> 2020-06-23 18:39:09 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637829688 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637954233 Mr Kydd or Mr Fusulo]]> 2020-06-23 20:55:55 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/637954233 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/638639361 Principal
Mr. Cadro. He has long been involved in E.L. Schools and he is a person who has such a great way of interacting with and helping the students. The students trust Mr Cadro! That in itself is invaluable to me as a parent. Also, my son and his friends appreciate the fact that they have a man that they can go to as well, with some issues that they just do not feel comfortable speaking to a woman about! I think East Lyme High School needs to have more of a male representation because the kids need that input from a guys perspective as well, and our school system is sadly lacking in that category. Trust me, our kids notice!]]> 2020-06-24 11:42:18 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/638639361 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639152071 Mr. Kydd ]]> 2020-06-24 19:25:54 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639152071 As a parent I have two children in high school- freshman and senior this coming school year. Both of my boys said they would appreciate a principal who is “down to earth” and knows how to connect with teens. By teens, they mean “the average teen”. So- in our family that would mean top of the class, bottom of the class...right down the middle...the principal knows how to connect and appreciate all kinds of children and families. My hope as a parent is that our principal supports a curriculum and staff that have educational knowledge in all subject areas to offer to our students...those heading into an “essential worker” field such as electrician, plumber, etc. those heading off to medical school, law school and beyond or out transition students that need a village of community support for their child and family to thrive. We hope for it all or at the very least someone that will roll their sleeves up and get dirty to figure out how to connect with all students and families. Modeling work ethic is huge 😀 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639354190 2020-06-24 23:39:11 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639354190 https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639364844 Principal
I believe that East Lyme High School in very inclusive and I think we should explore all nationalities, not just hyper focusing on BLM or WLM. It’s a big world and there are many ethnicities to explore and open our childrens minds to what’s beyond our borders and thinking outside the box!]]> 2020-06-24 23:56:34 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639364844 Consider past experience with high school students and technology. With so many uncertainties due to Covid, the individual should be well versed in remote learning techniques and tools. https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639914756 *Familiar with East Lyme community and population
*A team player communicating and collaborating with the middle school to help students transition smoothly to high school
*Possibly in internal candidate
*Strong and consistent communicator who can keep parents abreast of academics, activities, and expectations
*Transparent and approachable

]]> 2020-06-25 12:16:19 UTC https://padlet.com/jaclyncerase3/vc1v4ym1cmx9c1h9/wish/639914756