Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9501120002
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If Randy, a third-grader at Grandin Court Elementary School in Roanoke ever heard this message, he'd probably be very surprised. Even more surprising, though, is that he probably wouldn't find his principal there.
Randy, like other students, says he thinks a principal sits in his or her office all day doing "boring paperwork."
Taylor Jones, a kindergartner, says principals are just waiting to "call moms and tell them their kids are bad," he said.
What he and many other pupils don't know is that a lot of these "bosses" are hardly in their offices at all and don't even sit down very much during school hours.
One day last week, a "detective" followed Grandin Court's principal, Phyllis Cundiff, around to find out what "the big cheese" really does all day.
Well before the first bell rang, Cundiff was in her office, making phone calls and working on her computer. After about 15 minutes, she got up and never sat down again for the next four hours - and she was wearing high heels!
Was this an unusual day? Not really. "There's something different going on every day," Cundiff said. "Sometimes I come back to school at night or on Sundays because I can't get things done during the school day without being interrupted."
When Cundiff left her office, she made rounds throughout the building, talking with teachers about some activities for that day and checking with pupils running the school store. Then she made sure plans for the health screening were organized, talked with the mother of two new pupils, then ...
Up and down the halls and stairs, in and out of classrooms, the gym, the office ...
Although the school day is six hours long, her workday lasts about 10.
Even as Cundiff walks through the halls, pupils or teachers or parents or someone else stops her to ask a question or to talk about a problem or to show her an A on a spelling test.
Cundiff's never too busy to give out a smile or a hug or to say, "great job." She even noticed that the light on the school's fish tank was off and turned it on.
A principal is like the ringmaster at a circus. It's his or her job to make sure everything is running smoothly. If a child is having trouble learning or is misbehaving on the bus; if a teacher needs help in deciding how to help a student; if a handicapped student needs a special computer; or if something in the building needs to be fixed - the principal knows about it and helps solve it.
A school is a lot like a basketball team. The coach is the one who makes the final decisions, but the assistant coaches, the managers and the trainers all help, too. And they're all interested in having a good team that enjoys what it's doing.
So, the principal has the final say, but not without listening to the teachers, students, parents and his or her bosses in the school administration office. And, most of all, he or she wants her players to learn and to be happy in a pleasant place.
Like a coach, the principal has to know the rules of the game and how they affect the players. He or she needs to make sure the team has the right equipment to do its best. And the principal needs to be a team "parent" when someone needs a special pat on the back or has an injury to their knees or feelings.
Can one person be all this? And why would he or she want to?
"Because I enjoy the kids so much," Cundiff said, "and we have really good kids here."
So, when fifth-grader Jennifer Rorer said, "She writes papers to parents and gets report cards ready," or when Allison Thibodeaux said, "She tries to make school more fun," they were right.
And she's more.
She's even the one who combs some students' hair before they have their pictures taken, and who "doesn't yell much" and who pats the hand of the boy who misbehaved on the bus.
She's the one who holds the school in her hand, as if it's a big ball of yarn and she has to keep it from unraveling.
But, through it all, she knows your name and gives you a smile when you need it most.
by CNB