A First Principalship in The Time of COVID- December 2020
Jacob Hess stepped into the leadership of White Mountains Regional High School just as the COVID pandemic took hold. We wanted to check in with him and see what life was like for him, and to ask him what he was learning and doing.
ERC- Jacob, what a way to break in to a visible and demanding role. How has it been getting going?
JH: “I’ve learned that the job is huge, super demanding, but also really gratifying. One thing I had going for me is the fact that I’m somewhat of a veteran of the school, having taught here and then being the Assistant Principal for three years. White Mountains is an ambitious school, we’ve been doing a lot to continue to serve our students and families at a high level. We ask a lot of our faculty and staff, so I was expecting a fast pace, and I have history and relationships to build on. Being in the leader’s seat, I’m also discovering some resources I didn’t know were there and assessing how best to use them.”
ERC-What’s something else that you’ve learned?
JH- “Well, the pandemic has resulted in more students and families leaning on the school for all kinds of support and continuity. Its shown us that we’re not really built to be the center of mental health and wellness in the community, like other schools are finding out. But we are. Times have changed and the world has changed over the past 10-15 years, COVID has just intensified that, and we have to come to grips with a different, additional role.”
ERC- What does that mean for your work?
JH- “As you know, we’re using some of the ERC tools to begin to assess our capacity to meet the social/emotional demands being placed on us. We want to be sure to recognize all of our assets as well as gaps. We know that we will need more and different resources and tools to bear this burden, and that redesigning all of that will take 3-5 years, so rather than just saying we can’t do much with the weight of COVID on us, we’re at least auditing, so to speak, our systems, structures and practices. We know that there are a number of key elements in that work and we need to pay attention to all of them. There is no way for a school to look at achievement without looking at social/emotional development, and vice versa. We’ve started that work and it will be on-going throughout the year.”
ERC- Are you able to focus on any instructional initiatives this year?
JH- “Obviously, we’re doing our best to make remote learning as strong as we can. The hybrid schedule has forced us to realign the school year, our schedule and our teaching practices and that’s a lot to keep up with. We don’t have the in-person meeting time for our staff, something that’s been a huge asset over the past 3-4 years. We miss that, but I’m doing my best to keep us building in places where we know we it counts- Humanities, our Seminar program, adding Integrated Math/Science to our initial sequence, adopting WhatIf Math spreadsheets in those and other areas, blending the best of AP Environmental Studies with our Career/Tech strand, continuing on with arts integration.
“We’re working steadily to implement key aspects of the ERC Inquiry Tool Kit, the Grand Challenges, practices that support student agency, giving students real choice and rigorous work. There’s a lot going here on even with the pandemic.”
“I’m also obliged to continue the quest to establish a vision of what we call ‘The Regional 2025’, meaning what will be the structures, practices and programs that define us, in just a few years, building on our core values and our Image of a Graduate work. Changing and improving a school is slow, gradual work, so we know we have to be building towards that, and inviting the community into that work. I’m in full agreement with my predecessor, that just saying the date “2025” lends urgency and importance to the work. I’ve learned that as principal you have to hold the past, the present and the future all at once. I have to, we have to, imagine the school in 2025 at its very best and work backward to build it.
“We’re looking very closely at the ERC “Reimagining School” prototype. It’s a really compelling vision of what a modernized school can become. One that works for students, teachers, families, and blends the best of the old with the new. I think it’s a great fit for White Mountains. I’m happy to share more about why I’m so fond of that model and why I think we should study it.”
ERC-Anything else you'd want to share?
JH- “I want to make sure that we have student voices involved in our planning, and taking the temperature, so to speak, now and in the future. There’s a fair amount of national data that says students at the secondary level feel they don’t have much voice in what and how they learn, and in shaping their environment. A recent Yale study revealed that school can be stressful at times and boring at others for a majority of high school students. Being told what to be excited about and memorizing lots of facts no longer gets the job done, and they’re not high-quality learning. Those are things that we can address.”
“We’re hoping to work more deeply on the idea of portfolios, not just random collections of work, but a sophisticated set of processes and rituals to curate our work, and to use it to assess our quality of life and quality of learning. That will take time. And in order to do that work we have to dedicate significant time and thoughtful collaborations at every level. Lots of schools have portfolios but too often they’re not really integrated into the life of the school. It’s a way for students to continuously reflect on what and how they’re learning, and the same for our adult professional staff. We want portfolios to be an everyday part of life and learning. The more that all members of the community are learning, reflecting and growing, the more likely it is that we’ll perform at a high level.”
ERC- Jacob, hats off to you for your resilience and for a job well done!