On Thursday, Apr. 14, 2016, Malden High School’s school council held their monthly meeting to welcome incoming principal Edward Lombardi of Lawrence High School.
Current principal of MHS, Dana Brown, began the meeting by commenting on how this was “a great opportunity for [Lombardi] to meet [everyone],” but to “put [the meeting] into context [because] he’s still principal in Lawrence.” Brown referred to the meeting as a “meet and greet,” and not the time and place to discuss “budget or technology issues.”
There was a brief discussion about the budget, despite Brown’s request. There will be information about the budget that can be found on The Blue and Gold’s website in the near future.
The first topic up for discussion was the culture of support shared between not only Brown, the staff, and the students, but also within the staff alone. Brown made clear that over time MHS “[continues] to see a large number of students who need support in terms of social and emotional well being.” He encouraged Lombardi to continue dealing with these issues, and make sure students are receiving the support they need as his “primary focus moving forward” because these issues are not “going away”, but instead have “heightened.”
Lombardi can attest to the need for these types of support because even though “Lawrence has its own unique issues, a lot are the same” like the need to assist students socially or emotionally. He recognizes that “when an issue is brought to [the school’s] attention, it is an issue”, and he will do everything in his power to resolve it. Lombardi also added that in the past six years at LHS, the only two positions that have been added were student support staff because he recognizes this issue’s importance, and plans to make it his priority.
French teacher Paul Degenkolb addressed the issue of teacher burnout. With all the hard work teachers put into every school year, Degenkolb says they need be assured they are “[buying] into something together.” He wants MHS to maintain its “positive culture for the teachers” that “makes [them] want to be here.”
Lombardi responded to Degenkolb by acknowledging that teacher burnout exists, but has to in order for the hardwork to get done. The best way to deal with it though, according to Lombardi, is to “share” positivity with other teachers, because “getting as many good people together as possible” will lead them on the road to success, and the burnout will be worth it.
At the end of the day, Lombardi wants the staff to feel comfortable with each other, but remember “it’s about the kids.” Like English teacher James Valente said at the meeting, MHS stands for “every kid” in the school.
Susan Nylen, a founding member of the school council, mentioned how her children believe MHS has a “great culture of support.” Her greatest hope is that “this [positive culture] is something [everyone] can maintain and build on” because it is the “root of success” at MHS.
Lombardi agreed, and hopes to assimilate not only himself, but his family, including his three-year-old daughter into the MHS culture. He has “[welcomed] the idea that [his] family can be a part of [his] work” life, something that is not possible at his current job. He looks forward to the little things, such as being able to go home to have dinner with his family before returning back to MHS for an event, something else he is unable to do at his current job.
Most importantly, Lombardi mentioned that “it is clear to [him] that the culture [at MHS] is very strong, and the last thing [he wants] to do is put that in reverse.” He describes himself as a “thoughtful and deliberate decision maker” and never “close minded,” who always “[assumes] the best, [assumes] positivity, and [assumes] the truth.”
Lombardi has acknowledged that he cannot “replace what [Brown] has done from when he came [to MHS] thirteen years ago to now.” To close the meeting he ended with, “I’m not Dana, and if I went in and pretended to be, everyone would laugh at me. It is a crazy job to take over.” But above all “how nice everyone is” makes Lombardi feel more welcomed into the Malden community.
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Haley, congratulations on a well written article.