Meet 4 new Lafayette Parish assistant principals working to improve low performing schools
Bryan Gary was in middle school when he decided what he wanted to be when he grew up — all because of a teacher.
"Just over 35 years ago I was that poor, at-risk student roaming the halls of Lafayette Middle School with no hope and no direction when a caring teacher took me under his wing and changed my life, or should I say, saved it," Gary said at a Lafayette Parish School Board meeting Wednesday. "It was at that point in 1987 when I decided I wanted to be an educator."
Gary would go on to coach and teach thousands of children at schools in Louisiana and Florida in his 24 years working in education. He's taught U.S. history and served as a social studies department chair and coached football, softball and powerlifting over the years.
Most recently he was at Southside High School until becoming assistant principal at the middle school where that teacher changed his life.
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"I consider myself truly blessed to have the opportunity to be back at Lafayette Middle School to pay that forward and give back to the community that gave me so much," he said.
"It is my goal, it is my mission, to teach these young Lions that they can roar, they can achieve and they can prosper despite their current living situation as was taught to me so many years ago."
Gary was one of four new assistant principals introduced to the school board last week, each representing schools with low performance scores from the state for years.
Lafayette Middle moved up from an F rating to a D in 2019, a grade the school maintained in its 2021 simulated performance score. The simulated scores do not come with an official letter grade due to federal and state accountability waivers amid the pandemic, but its score falls in the D range on the scale.
'Give our best to be our best' at J.W. Faulk
Ava Venable joined the leadership team at J.W. Faulk Elementary, historically one of the district's lowest-performing schools with a failing performance score the last two years, as assistant principal this year.
"Together we're working toward building relationships among our staff and our students while creating a positive learning community where we feel like we can give our best to be our best," Venable said at the board meeting. "Our goal is to provide our students with a well-rounded education and foundation so that they can be successful in any avenue that they might choose."
She and others at the school continuously review school data and collaborate to come up with new ideas to meet students' needs, she said, all with the goal of moving J.W. Faulk to A status.
"I firmly believe we have one of the strongest leadership teams to do this," Venable said.
Venable has nine years of experience in the field, teaching first grade at Jeanerette Elementary School and French immersion at Myrtle Place Elementary. She most recently served as instructional leader at J.W. Faulk.
'Coming home to Northside'
Alison Canter said there was only school she would consider leaving David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy for, and that was Northside High. She was the instructional leader at David Thibodaux when she got that opportunity.
After 15 years of experience in education, teaching at Live Oak Elementary and Scott Middle, she is now the assistant principal at Northside, and she aims to help it become the best high school in the parish.
She's already hit the ground running, learning through Principal Julia Williams' guidance and putting in targeted work with specific populations at the school.
She said they have seen success with their truancy programs and efforts for at-risk and transitional ninth-grade (T9) students, as well as developing programs that best support special needs students.
But a key to all of this will be changing perceptions, even among students, at the high school that long had a D from the state. Its unofficial 2021 grade improved to a C, according to the Louisiana Department of Education's current scale.
"The greatest thing that I think will make Northside High School the best school in Lafayette Parish is when they believe that they deserve to be the best school in Lafayette Parish," Canter said. "I want to thank you for this opportunity and allowing me to come home to Northside High School."
Building relationships at Carencro Middle
Carencro Middle School saw its score drop this year, like many others across the country during over the pandemic, from a C to a D.
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As its new assistant principal, Elizabeth Faulk aspires to promote a school culture and environment conducive to learning at Carencro Middle, district Director of Employee Services John Mouton said.
That means being committed to working with her fellow administrators to continue to provide leadership and build a structure of collaborative relationships within the school and community, she said.
Faulk brings with her 12 years' experience teaching science at high schools in Acadia and Vermilion parishes. She also has served as a science department chair and was named 2019 North Vermilion High School Teacher of the Year.
"As a member of the leadership team at Carencro Middle School I accept the challenges of education and will continue to work diligently to ensure that our students, teachers and parents are provided an educational experience that values diversity, promotes a growth mindset of learning and teaching and fosters a positive and safe school environment," Faulk said.
Contact children's issues reporter Leigh Guidry at Lguidry@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @LeighGGuidry.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette Parish assistant principals improve low performing schools
