Peter Henning, Assistant Principal, Jack Jouett Middle School
What has been the most challenging aspect of becoming an administrator?
The most challenging aspect of becoming an administrator is living up to the standard of excellence already established by the faculty, students, and administration at Jack Jouett. I strive daily to do all that I can to contribute to this great community and to leverage the tools we already have to keep us moving forward.
In what new ways do you support student learning?
I try my best to be an instructional partner with teachers. This year I am working with the Language Arts department to implement Reading and Writing Workshop. It’s exciting to engage in dialogue about the craft of teaching with passionate teachers. It’s even more exciting to see those conversations translate into deep learning experiences for students in the classroom.
What are you doing to engage the community at your school?
I try my best to learn the name of every student in our school by the end of each school year. With over 600 students, this is a major challenge, but it means a lot to students to receive personal attention from their administrator.
I try my best to learn the name of every student in our school by the end of each school year. With over 600 students, this is a major challenge, but it means a lot to students to receive personal attention from their administrator.
How will you respect your school’s history and culture while making the decisions necessary to educate young people for their future?
Jack Jouett Middle School has a widely diverse student body. With a large population of students who are English Language Learners (ELL), we work hard to ensure that our school community respects its richness of culture. Thanks to the leadership of our teachers, we are currently working on initiatives to better include ELL students academically and socially in our school community. This effort will help all of our students to become well-rounded citizens prepared to contribute to the global community
For the next few weeks, to learn about the transition out of the classroom, Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Meet Your Educator profiles will feature new administrators.
