This year marks the end of an era for those preparing for the district’s high schools closing, but for 16-year education veteran Brittany Bailey, this year also marks a new beginning.
Bailey has moved on from her job as one of Rider’s counselors and is now an assistant principal.
Bailey, who has been working for the district for 13 years and was a student at Rider before that, has been inching her way to this position for some time now.
“I’ve been working on my doctorate in educational leadership for about four years now, and before that I got my master’s in educational leadership, so I’ve always known I’ve wanted to do it at some point,” Bailey said. “So when we had two openings I felt like it was a good time to make the move. I really wanted to be at Rider still, so it was a perfect time to apply.”
Bailey’s love for the classroom inspired her to apply for the new position.
“I’ve always liked the aspect of just helping people,” said Bailey, who taught science at Rider before counseling. “As a counselor for eight years, I loved it, but I missed the classroom. So as an assistant principal I get to visit the classroom and help teachers with instruction. I loved what I did when I taught, and I missed it as a counselor.”
Like any new job, there are some aspects that take time to get used to.
“It’s been eight years since I’ve had to deal with discipline, so that’s my biggest shift, but it’s also a lot of walking,” Bailey said. “I left the first day of school and my legs were sore when I woke up. I work out a lot, but it’s really tiring.”
Between the start of the new school year and the beginning of Rider-Old High week, the year certainly hasn’t started off slow.
“I’ve loved the first few days, but it’s just been super busy, so it’s a big change of pace,” Bailey said. “I wasn’t thinking it would be so busy all the time like it has been.”
Even though Bailey is enjoying her new venture, there are still some aspects of counseling that she still misses.
“With the counseling, it was a lot of scheduling, which isn’t any counselor’s favorite part of their job,” Bailey said. “But I did enjoy the career counseling and things like that, so those are the parts that I think I will definitely miss talking to students about their careers.”
Bailey, who plans to stay as assistant principal with the district going forward, feels bittersweet about the ending of Rider.
“Rider means a lot to me, I also graduated from Rider, so I spent four years as a student here and have also worked here forever it feels like, so it’s going to be hard to watch this year,” Bailey said. “But it’s also exciting to get to be a part of it and start new traditions.”
