Changing face of school principals - The Boston Globe:
"“It feels like flying a plane while we’re building it,’’ said Kelly Hung, who this week begins her second year as principal at Phineas Bates Elementary School in Roslindale. “This job can completely consume you. It’s never ending."
You wake up at night thinking about it.’’
At 33, and with a new baby at home, Hung, the 10th youngest out of 135 principals in the Boston public schools, in many ways personifies the changing face of today’s school principal.
As aging principals retire, young ones like Hung, who has only a few years of real classroom experience and a brief tenure as an interim principal on her résumé, are being hired to replace them. At issue is whether their enthusiasm and energy outweigh their inexperience to improve their school’s performance.
“There’s no question that there’s a national movement toward hiring younger principals,’’ said William Horwath, acting assistant superintendent for human resources at the Boston School Department.
A new 10-year survey of K-8 principals by the National Association of Elementary School Principals obtained by the Globe shows that almost 60 percent of principals are age 50 or older.
"“It feels like flying a plane while we’re building it,’’ said Kelly Hung, who this week begins her second year as principal at Phineas Bates Elementary School in Roslindale. “This job can completely consume you. It’s never ending."
You wake up at night thinking about it.’’
At 33, and with a new baby at home, Hung, the 10th youngest out of 135 principals in the Boston public schools, in many ways personifies the changing face of today’s school principal.
As aging principals retire, young ones like Hung, who has only a few years of real classroom experience and a brief tenure as an interim principal on her résumé, are being hired to replace them. At issue is whether their enthusiasm and energy outweigh their inexperience to improve their school’s performance.
“There’s no question that there’s a national movement toward hiring younger principals,’’ said William Horwath, acting assistant superintendent for human resources at the Boston School Department.
A new 10-year survey of K-8 principals by the National Association of Elementary School Principals obtained by the Globe shows that almost 60 percent of principals are age 50 or older.
