She sits in her office ready to help the students, ready to do what is best for them. She is the principal of S.H. Rider High school, and she is ready for the day.
Rider principal Judy McDonald does a lot for the students, but some students do not know how she helps students everyday but she does a lot to help keep the school running smoothly.
One thing she does is she decides the budget a department gets every year and if things that a department is requesting will help in the students’ education.
“The teachers know what they need to be able to teach their subject area most successfully,” McDonald said. “Like in math, I wouldn’t know if they needed new rulers. So then they put in a request through Mrs. Carrol, my administrative assistant. She then gives it to me and I review all the requests to see if they seem legitimate for something that would be used for student achievement. So then once that request is approved, they are free to order that and make the purchases that they need.”
Another thing she does is the classroom walk-throughs and observations. she does these to make sure the students and teachers are on task.
“When we do the classroom observations, that is like the whole class period so we can see the class beginning to end,” McDonald said. “Every teacher has one of those done at least every other year. But then we also have walk-throughs and that is where we only stay from two to three minutes to 15 minutes or so just to kind of observe what is going on in that classroom.”
When the principals are in the halls between classes they aren’t just looking for troublemakers.
“I try to be in the halls as much as I can,” McDonald said. “A lot of times other duties keep me here in the office, but my best days are when I’m out there in the classrooms because when you come back you’re more energized because you see the good thing that students do and see the great job teachers are doing. Those are the best days of being principal.”
As principal she is one of the people who has to to talk to concerned parents.
“If a parent or a student have a concern about a class then the best place to start is asking questions with that same teacher,” McDonald said. “So we usually try to start at that area by working with the person involved, and the teacher involved and after that the student can talk to the counselor and if the counselor can’t satisfactorily answer their questions then it continues to move.”
McDonald hopes the things she does benefits the students and help them learn.
“A lot of times its not directly” McDonald said. ” It’s making sure that the teachers have what they need and the classrooms are equipped in the way that the need to be, Making sure that everyone is focused on the goal of student achievement. So that is our goal is to make sure everyone is achieving their maximum potential.”
When it comes to McDonald the vice principals all agree on how they feel about her.
“Judy McDonald is the best boss I’ve ever worked for,” vice principal Synthia Kirby said. “She’s awesome. I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”