My Years as a Vice-Principal

Reflections on My Time as a VP

Me on my 'perch' above the St. Pat's High School Mall

After 15 plus years as a classroom teacher, in January of 1998, I began my second career in education as an administrator. 

For the next 7 years, I performed the role of vice-principal at 3 different high schools with the Ottawa Catholic School Board: Holy Trinity (1998), St. Patrick's High School (1998-2003), and St. Nicholas Adult High School (2003-2005).

My first Admin Team - Holy Trinity 1998
L. to R. VPs Mike Nugent, Me, Bill Gartland
Principal Anne-Marie McGillis in front

At times, I found that being a VP in a high school was a rather thankless and unappreciated  role.  For one thing, I was oftened tasked with dealing with disciplinary issues in the classroom, in the hallways, on the school buses, and even in the broader community.  This meant that many of my interactions with students were not ones that they enjoyed.  As well, many of the daily tasks assigned to me were managerial in nature and took me away from the reason I chose education as a vocation - my passion for teaching and learning.  

However, as I settled into the VP role at St. Patrick's, I made a commitment to shattering the traditional image of the unsmiling disciplinarian and, as I had as a teacher, got involved in school life and extra-curriculars to build positive relationships with students.  Then, when students were sent to me for disciplinary reasons, they would know that I valued them.  As well, by working in partnership with parents, teachers, and, counselors when students misbehaved, I realized I could, through a caring and restorative approach, help these students to develop the self-confidence, self-respect, empathy for others, and optimism that they were previously lacking.

With a great group of St. Patrick's HS students at CHEO Teletho

Through frequent classroom visits, discussions with teachers, and participation in teacher learning groups, I also forged relationships with teachers and was able to work with them and sometimes assist them - particularly those who were inexperienced and/or strugging - in developing greater competence, confidence, and passion in their role.

Years later, in  a book called Redeeming Administration, Ann M. Garrido expressed very well how blessed I was in my work as VP:

               By its very character, administration offers the opportunity to grow

               in the capacity for agape [selfless love].  By its very character,

               administration encourages the practice of giving oneself freely and

               abundently without always knowing what good one has done or who

               has been touched. (58)

I had my head shaved in support of a cancer fundraiser at St. Pat's

It was an unexpected pleasure to learn that, as  a VP, I didn't need to give up being a teacher.  It required some careful planning and prioritizing but, at St. Pat's, I became an English-teacher-at-large of sorts and, when invited, taught lessons on writing and literature.  My favourite was introductory lessons on Shakespeare and whichever of the bard's plays the class was beginning to study.

During my 7 years as a vice-principal, I had the great joy of  being a part of some dynamic administrative teams.  Under the leadership of the principal, the VPs in a high school work very closely together and come to rely on each other.  A special bond forms among administrators as they tackle the daily challenges that present themselves.   Some of the particularly memorable issues we dealt with while I was a VP at St. Pat's were as follows:

• the stabbing of a student
• the dawning of the new millenium and Y2K anxieties
• the first administration of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (2001)
• the double cohort graduation (2003)

However, the most dramatic development during my time at St. Pat's was the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.  With a predominantly Catholic student population at the school but many Muslim students as well, we held our collective breath the day after 911 concerned about its impact on the students and how they would react.  We needn't have been concerned - As a strong faith community, they responded with compassion and kindness.

There were also many lighter moments with admin team colleagues during my time as a VP.  At St. Pat's, we often gathered in Principal Joe Mullally's office at the end of a busy day or week and laughed ourself silly, recalling all the comical and absurd things that had happened.   

One of my Admin Teams at St. Pat's
-  with Principal Joe Mullally & VP Brid McDonald