Brookfield East principal is one of three finalists for National Principal of the Year

Andrew Farley has walked the halls of Brookfield East High School as a student, a social studies teacher and a parent. But through his 11 years as the principal, Farley is known to greet each person he passes in the building by name.

“It’s like having a friend, pretty much,” said Tyler Kloida, a junior at Brookfield East. He and junior Hannah Christianson see how Farley remembers things about his students: birthdays, what they mentioned their family was having for dinner last night, that they’re left-handed.

“That’s a little detail that to some people wouldn't be a big deal,” Christianson said, “but I’m like, my principal took the time to ask me questions and then remembers them and follows up.”

Farley’s gift of connecting with his students is one reason the National Association of Secondary School Principals named him Wisconsin’s 2023 Principal of the Year in April. Now, he is one of three finalists being considered for the 2024 National Principal of the Year.

The annual award recognizes outstanding middle and high school principals’ contributions to their schools, staff, students and the profession. Farley was one of three principals selected from a pool of representatives from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of State Office of Overseas Schools and the Department of Defense Education Activity.

On Oct. 20, Farley will join two other principal finalists from Virginia and Maryland at a gala in Washington, D.C. to learn who will be selected for the title.

'A complete surprise' to be a finalist for the 2024 National Principal of the Year

Farley said it was “a complete surprise” when he learned over a virtual call this summer that he was chosen as a national finalist for principal of the year.

"It means the world to me," Farley said in the recorded call moments after Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, told him the news.

In Farley’s decade as principal, Brookfield East has been ranked as Wisconsin’s No. 1 high school for four years and recognized as a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

Farley said he has focused his goals for Brookfield East on a mission of “dedicated academic and human excellence.” He reframes those words in a message he repeats to his students and staff: “be better tomorrow than you were today.”

A graduate himself of Brookfield East High School, Farley began his career at his alma mater teaching social studies and coaching basketball. After nine years, he left East and worked one year as the administrative principal at Menomonee Falls High School. In 2013, he came back home to Brookfield East to serve as the principal.

“(Farley’s) commitment to that school runs deep,” said Mark Hansen, the superintendent of the School District of Elmbrook, who is also the parent of a Brookfield East student. “He has this knack for motivating his staff and students.”

Hansen, who was a finalist for National Principal of the Year himself in 2006, joked that Farley "hates the attention," but added that the principal is humble.

“He is a really good human being and deserves this award," Hansen said.

The last two years have deepened Farley's connection with the high school he leads; two of his and his wife's three children are freshman and sophomore students at Brookfield East. Their youngest child is a fourth-grader at Dixon Elementary School about two miles away.

Farley discovered excitement in learning in fifth grade

As a kid himself, Farley wasn’t always engaged in school. He remembers being shy and quiet as a student at Dixon Elementary School until his fifth-grade teacher’s social studies lessons made him excited to learn.

“I thought for the first time that I was a student that belonged in that classroom,” he said. “It's the first time I really did well academically.”

From then on, he knew he wanted to someday be a coach or a teacher to help kids see gifts in themselves that they might not recognize on their own.

Cultivating student leadership has been an important part of Farley’s principal philosophy. He's proud that over 90% of East students participate in clubs, sports and other activities through school.

“When you think about all the opportunities for kids to connect with other kids and build shared goals and visions and values, it's really cool to have a front row seat to see them," Farley said.

Farley created the principal's cabinet, a student leadership group

Farley believes students should lead changes in the school and community, too. One of the first things he did when he stepped into the role in 2013 was create the principal’s cabinet, a student-led group of 60 peers which meets with Farley once a week to discuss how to make the school and community better for everyone.

Christianson helps lead the principal’s cabinet by surveying students and reporting back to Farley the changes they want to see in school. Last year, members of the cabinet fundraised money to build a patio that serves as a space to bring students together.

Christianson said Farley also helped her start her own club called Unified Sports, a group that connects students with special needs with their peers to play sports together. She likes that Farley knows how to get all students engaged in different ways, no matter how involved they are in school.

“He does a very good job helping like kids know that you don't need to be the leader of a club to be a good leader,” Christianson said.

Farley has also prioritized student mental health initiatives. He is the faculty leader of Wisconsin’s first Hope Squad — a student-nominated leadership team that focuses on destigmatizing mental health struggles and reducing teenage suicide. When Farley learned research shows students struggling with their mental health are more likely to go to their peers than an adult, he wanted to help implement the peer-to-peer support system in his school.

Kloida said being a part of the Hope Squad helped him gain more empathy and notice when peers and friends may need support for their mental health. He said Farley has personally taken time to help him get more involved in school.

“He wants everyone to be motivated and he wants everyone to be cared for,” Kloida said. “He’s one of the most caring people I've ever met.”

To read more about each of the principals of the year, visit www.nassp.org/poy.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brookfield East principal finalist for National Principal of the Year