NEWS RELEASE # 71
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2013
Hinkley Home to National Assistant Principal of the Year
For his tenacious leadership and uncompromised commitment to student excellence, Hinkley High School’s Matthew Willis has been named the 2013 NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year.
In the short time since Willis has been at Hinkley, the diverse school of nearly 2,000 students has experienced a dramatic shift in culture. He immediately increased staff presence in the hallways and implemented academic and behavioral interventions. To address the school’s chronic absenteeism, Willis developed and applied a stricter attendance policy.
Willis turned to restorative justice to keep students in school and empower them to take ownership of their success. He trained staff in restorative practices and helped secure funding from The Denver Foundation for ongoing professional development. Within the first year, the school conducted 263 restorative sessions and reduced minor offense referrals by 18%.
“Under Matthew’s leadership, we have trained over 30 teachers in the practice of restorative justice, and this focus on restoring adult-to-student relationships when discipline issues arise is drastically changing our school culture,” said Hinkley Principal Jinger Haberer.
A former social studies teacher, Willis also increased common planning time and professional development for teachers, strengthened professional learning teams, overhauled the master schedule, and helped create a freshman academy. He raised student participation in a dual-credit program and steered counselors toward a unified focus on college readiness, doubling college acceptance rates.
“Research shows that principals and assistant principals create the conditions for schools to be successful and for students to achieve,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, NASSP executive director. “Matthew is a model of the quality school leader who focuses on what really matters in student success and makes no excuses in working to realize it. He has been an instrumental force in Hinkley’s turnaround.”
NASSP and school furniture manufacturer Virco Inc. annually honor an assistant principal from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity schools. Selection criteria are built around collaborative leadership; curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and school personalization - the core areas of the NASSP Breaking Ranks Framework. The three finalists were selected from the pool of state winners and were interviewed during the NASSP conference, Ignite 2013, in National Harbor, MD. Each finalist received $1,500 and Willis will be awarded $5,000, which can be used for personal professional development or for a school improvement project.
All state winners will be honored at a three-day event in Washington, DC, in April, where they will network and meet with legislators on Capitol Hill. The event culminates with a black-tie gala to recognize the achievements of each of the state honorees, the national finalists, and the national winner.
“Virco is proud to recognize Matthew for his remarkable success as an assistant principal,” said Brian True, Virco’s director of sales. “We’re honored to sponsor the NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year Program and contribute to assistant principals’ professional development.”
Visit www.nassp.org/apoy for more information on the NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year Program.
About NASSP
NASSP is the leading organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and all school leaders from across the United States and more than 38 countries around the world. The association provides research-based professional development and resources, networking, and advocacy to build the capacity of middle level and high school leaders to continually improve student performance. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development as well, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Association of Student Councils. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, VA, visit www.nassp.org.
About Virco Inc.
As America's leading manufacturer and supplier of furniture and equipment for K-12 schools, Virco is proud to support NASSP. Virco's great classroom furniture selection includes best-selling ZUMA(r) models, traditional chairs and desks, popular TEXT(r), Metaphor(r) and Telos(r) items, and and all-new Parameter(r) desks and workstations for teachers and administrators. In 2005, ZUMA and ZUMAfrd(tm) became the first classroom furniture products to earn GREENGUARD(r) Children & Schools certification; now, Virco has hundreds of Greenguard-certified products. Virco offers classroom furniture industry's only Take-Back Program that helps schools recycle their out-of-service furniture. you're faced with a major FF&E purchasing project, check out Virco's stress-free PlanSCAPE(r) service! For more information on Virco Inc., visit www.virco.com.
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Interested media may contact APS News Media Specialist
Paula Hans at 303-326-2755 for more information
