Tag: Susan B. English

Summer Pool Schedule!

| May 28, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Vivian Rojas
SummerPoolSchedule

Principal Interviews CANCELLED today, RESCHEDULED for Wednesday

| May 17, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Jenny Chissus

Screen Shot 2013-05-17 at 9.26.13 AMI just received word that the principal interviews that were originally scheduled for today, have been rescheduled to Wednesday at 5:15pm after the 8th grade and Head Start Graduation ceremony.  Please mark your calendar to join us for the Graduation ceremony at Susan B English School at 4:00pm and then participate in the interview process with the three candidates afterwards!  Mark says – bring cookies!

New Interview Time:
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
5:15pm at SBE 

Elementary Science Fair This Thursday

| May 15, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Karen Bornheimer
ElementaryScienceFair

KPBSD – Site Administrator Interviews – Round 2

| May 15, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Mark Janes
KPBSDPrincipalHireRound2

Dr. Atwater Returns for 2nd Round of Principal Interviews

| May 13, 2013 | 0 Comments
by Jenny Chissus
SeaOtterCarvingAtSBEUPDATE 5/15/2013:  We are only going to have 3 candidates, as the fourth candidate already accepted another position!
I totally appreciated our Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s superintendent, Dr. Atwater’s willingness to share some feedback with me last week – and now I have an update about the upcoming interviews!
This time around, there were 55 applicants for the position, and the deadline was Friday the 10th to submit an application for consideration.  The FOUR candidates have been selected, and ALL candidates will be present in Seldovia (no Skype), so Dr. Atwater and his staff will be here on Friday the 17th to perform the second round of interviews for our principal position.  As was described in the last article, the position has changed from a dual school principal (serving Seldovia and Port Graham) to a principal/teacher position here at Susan B. English!

Gazette:  How do you avoid the situation we just had – where 2 of the 4 candidates pulled out before they even had the chance to be offered the position?
Dr. Atwater:  We can’t fully – it’s a matter of folks disclosing that they are pursuing other options.

Gazette:  Isn’t it essential to be in a position to offer the “right” candidate the job as soon as possible, so they don’t get snatched up for another position?  Can that time frame (from interview to job offer) be minimized to secure the right applicant?
Dr. Atwater:  Perhaps, we could tighten the audience input to the same day.  It is difficult for me do all the interviews- limitations of my schedule prevents faster pace of hiring- this is difficult, because I like and want to be at the interviews.  We have decided that all audience input will be due on Monday the 20th, to facilitate the process.

Gazette:  Is the competition tough?  On a desirability level – in terms of location and position?  Is the Seldovia principal job in high demand (thus so many applicants) or does it lack the demands of a larger school, so new or inexperienced applicants are interested in it?  (So, we may have a lot of applicants, but don’t see the dynamic, experienced applicant we desperately need for our students and community.)
Dr. Atwater: A school of 40 students can present serious challenges- there is a certain level of expertise/experience needed.  It would be wrong however, to compare it to Homer High School.  Thus, it is a lot easier to not have pervious administrative experience and do well at SBE than it is at HHS.

Gazette:  Will any of the previous (2) candidates be in the top 4 this time around?
Dr. Atwater:  No

Gazette:  Thank you Dr. Atwater!  See you on Friday at Susan B. English School at 3:30 – Looking forward to Round 2!!
If you would like to take part in the interview process, it is a public interview, and all those in attendance may submit their input regarding each candidate.  This is a very important part of the decision, and your comments are seriously considered by Dr. Atwater.  Please join us at Susan B. English School on Friday, May 17, 2013 at 3:30pm.

SBE Still Looking for a Principal

| May 5, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Jenny Chissus

This past Tuesday, we had interviews in Seldovia for our principal position.  With over 50 applicants,  we were looking forward to meeting the four finalists, and weighing in.   The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has been following this hiring process for over five years, but since Sherry Hingley has been our principal since 2007, we have never had this opportunity to participate in the interview process in Seldovia.

I believe this is a great method, as not only did we have the chance to relay our  desires for the type of administrator and the concerns we have for our school and community, but we had the chance to participate in the actual interview process!  Many Seldovians submitted questions for the interview, as 8 of the 20 questions are normally taken directly from the community.  This is so important, as every location has concerns and issues that are specific to that school and community.  Dr. Atwater confirmed that this process is only used when hiring for administrative positions.

Unfortunately, after all the effort, from the initial meeting in Seldovia, the review of over 50 applicants, to the interview itself – we are back at square one!  After the Continue Reading