A principal's first day of school is hectic enough, but imagine having to do it twice in one year and you'll be in David Curry's shoes.
Curry, 35, of Laurel started Jan. 3 as Charles Carroll Middle School’s newest principal, and said while he plans to continue with the school's existing programs, he hopes to add student volunteerism, mentoring and a focus on using performance data to tailor instruction to each student.
Curry, who replaces Eric Wood, began the school year at Temple Hills' Benjamin Stoddert Middle School as a resident principal through the New Leaders for New Schools program, a yearlong principal-training program.
Curry will complete New Leaders by this spring and said his experience as an assistant principal at William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale from 2006 to 2011 helped him get the permanent job at Charles Carroll.
He attended a Parent Teacher Organization meet-and-greet Wednesday at the school.
Wood introduced Curry to staff before winter break and again to students on Jan. 3. Curry’s days have been filled with classroom visits, reading through school documents, and pulling students aside in the halls to get to know them.
"Children are honest, so they're going to let you know what's going on, what's not going on, what needs improvement," Curry said.
Wood, who had been Charles Carroll's principal since 2005, announced last summer he would be leaving for a job in the Prince George's County Public School system's Office of Talent Development. He stayed on as principal when the school system was struggling to find a good fit for the school.
Because New Leaders focuses on using classroom performance data to drive instruction, Curry will be looking at scores from the Formative Assessment System Test to see what concepts students should have learned by the end of second quarter and how teachers should change their instruction to reach struggling students. Students took the exam Monday through Wednesday.
Curry said he would like to see Charles Carroll students volunteer with the nonprofit Faith Based Collaborative Outreach Group, which holds monthly food pantries at the school, and mentor students at Lamont and Carrollton elementary schools. His goal is to have every student earn at least 30 student service-learning hours per year. County school students need 75 to graduate high school.
Karen Lee, Charles Carroll's Parent Teacher Organization president, said she would like to see Curry change misconceptions among parents who believe that if their child is in a public school in a high-minority, low-income area that the child is less likely to succeed.
Lee, whose son Quinten Cooper is a Charles Carroll seventh-grader, said she realizes Curry can't do that alone and is encouraged by the fact that he seems open to talking with parents, students and teachers.
"He made it plain that he was going to be doing a lot of conversation and he would sit down with the PTO, sit down with his staff and convey to us what he saw as a fresh pair of eyes coming in," Lee said.
Wood said Curry is a great fit for Charles Carroll because, he said, Curry's previous school, William Wirt, mirrors Charles Carroll in its demographics and programming such as the Transforming Education Through Digital Learning iPad initiative, which gives students Apple iPad tablets to complete school projects and assignments. Wood said Curry is a "tremendous collaborator" who will continue the school's existing programs.
"He has a heart for the community and a passion for children and academic excellence," Wood said. "He's going to do that for all the programs we started several years ago."
Curry said he was sad to leave Benjamin Stoddert so soon and he left his contact information for the children he grew close to at Stoddert in case they need a mentor or want to see a friendly face at their sporting events.
"We're all in this business of helping children," Curry said. "I want to see everybody do well."
nmcgill@gazette.net
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