More News

The back-to-school season means more than just crisp white paper in notebooks and freshly sharpened pencils — for 24 new principals selected to head Prince George's County schools, the start of the 2009-2010 school year means navigating through new buildings, students and staff.

By 9 a.m. Monday, Jean-Paul Cadet was already zipping through his first school day as principal of Oxon Hill High School.

Cadet waltzed into one of the school's first period biology classes, greeting and introducing himself to a class of fresh-faced students.

"Good morning, everyone," he said.

"Wassup!" one student replied.

"I've just been trying to peek my head into a couple of classes," he told the students.

Meanwhile, the students' teacher, Julia Collins, sat quietly watching as Cadet interacted with students. She, too, was having her first day. Fresh out of the University of Maryland, College Park, it was Collins' first day manning her own classroom.

"It's good. It's my first year. Everybody has been real supportive," she said.

Asked if the students knew she is a first-year teacher, Collins leaned in and whispered, "Oh, no — you don't want to let them know you're fresh."

Before the bell could ring, Cadet briskly walked out of the classroom, running into a parent who was dropping her ninth-grade son off for school. And after realizing Cadet was the school's new principal, Tracey Wilkinson quickly introduced herself and grabbed Cadet's hand.

"I am entrusting you with my son," said Wilkinson, of Upper Marlboro. "I'm being skeptical and hopeful."

Wilkinson said her son was her first child to attend the high school. She had heard stories of overcrowded hallways, student fights and an unstable administration. In a leap of faith, she said, she decided to enroll her son in the school's Science and Technology Program.

"I'm just keeping my eyes open," she said.

Within a span of two hours, Cadet was part administrator and part celebrity as swarms of students and parents approached him in the school's hallways. Some were cautious like Wilkinson and others optimistic, while some just wanted to say "hello."

On Wednesday morning, while Cadet was still navigating his way through the bustling halls of Oxon Hill High, LaTonya Williams was busy nearing the halfway mark of her first week as the new principal at Rose Valley Elementary School in Fort Washington.

At the 380-student school, Williams strolled down the hallways at Rose Valley detailing her ambitions.

"There's going to be a culture shift," she said. "I want all students to know that they're held to a higher standard."

Williams, who lives in Accokeek with her husband and three children, is a native of Prince George's County and was educated in the county's school system. She graduated from Parkdale High School in Riverdale and attended Bowie State University for her undergraduate degree.

After 14 years of teaching and five years as assistant principal at Potomac Landing Elementary in Fort Washington, Williams took the helm at Rose Valley and quickly began making improvements. During the summer, she used her own money to have a mural painted inside the entrance of the school and revamped the school's inner atrium with flowers.

"I knew when I walked in this area had so much potential," she said.

The pace of a new principal is never easy. Williams wakes up at 5 a.m. during the week to be to school by 6 a.m. She meets with the custodian staff and then the teaching staff after 7 a.m., just in time to check in with the cafeteria to make sure breakfast is running smoothly. Between sprints throughout the school during the day, her workdays are 12 hours long, and she doesn't leave the school until 6 p.m.

"I definitely think I am getting a good workout," she said. "Eating doesn't happen 'til I go home."

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.