It is my pleasure to begin the second year of my administration as Principal at Wood Memorial Middle and High School - and extremely blessed to be doing so alongside Mr. Bigham as Assistant Principal and Mrs. Reinhart as Guidance Counselor.
Our dedicated instructional staff has remained mostly consistent - with only a few changes. The teaching staff at WM will continue to be dedicated to our vision of Trojan Excellence. Most important toward building Trojan Excellence is the formation of relationships. World-Class Teacher, Rita Pierson once said, “Children don’t learn from people they don’t like.”
In preparation for the 2023-2024 school year, I came upon the following things that I had shared with my teachers during last year’s introductory faculty meeting. I made some small changes. Deleted some things. Added others. but I wanted to share it with our families and community. It is what I expect of the faculty and staff and students who enter the halls of Wood Memorial on a daily basis:
Culture has been defined in many different ways by many different individuals. While Culture may be defined as the school’s personality, the Climate can be seen as its attitude. By changing our school climate we will be working to change the cultural paradigm. How might we do this? There are certainly any number of items which could be documented here, but the bullets below are intended to represent the focused goal for Wood Memorial High School and Wood Memorial Middle School. Stated in a different manner, here is the climate/culture we want to establish for our students and our school – community:
We will form relationships of trust, respect, and accountability.
We will do the Right Thing, For the Right Reason, At the Right Time, Which is ALWAYS RIGHT NOW…For the Best Interests of our Children.
We will be first and foremost “A Trojan Family”.
We will establish and maintain a collaborative environment.
We will be Data Driven in all aspects of our work.
We will maintain a continuous improvement mentality.
We will always maintain a focus on ensuring student success
We will all lead change - finding new and improved methods, strategies, and processes to develop ALL Students.
We will each Accept Accountability - and encourage the same in our students
We will utilize benchmarking to drive best practices and to guide our goal of being in the category of the “Best of the Best”.
We will remain professional at all times.
We will celebrate successes.
We will praise and support our Team Members.
We will encourage and support student–centered lessons and learning opportunities.
We will commit, promote, and grow skills with a focus on Servant Leadership.
I am immensely proud of the growth that I’ve seen at Wood Memorial during the past calendar year. Most of that growth began by changing our mindsets of what it means to be a TROJAN. We will continue to define our wins during the coming school year and support each other through the losses - after all - failures are the First Attempt In Learning.
Moving Forward Toward Growth,
Amanda D. Crews, Principal
Wood Memorial Middle/High School
“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” - Abraham Maslow