by Malachi Wickman

The administration for the 2010-2011 school year is made up of new faces.  With new faces come changes.  Heather McKay, Atlantic High School’s new principal, worked on her to-do list over the summer to prepare for her new position.  McKay’s general goal for the year is to have people feel good about AHS.  After the announcement of her new position at the end of last year, McKay felt some people might be worried about her age or lack of experience.
McKay said, “The transition went smoothly. I needed to make a strong effort to communicate to everyone so they understood how I view our relationships and how we can work as a team.”

McKay hopes the way people talked to her will not change.  She says there hasn’t been any change in the way she interacts with students.  McKay says the respect is the same as it always was and honesty plays a big role with students because she wants kids to know she cares.  When asked about her opinion on McKay’s new position, junior Behka Koontz said, “I really miss her classes, but she is a really good principal and she is enforcing the rules.”

In her new position, McKay is looking to change a few things at AHS.  One change she has already made is the dress code.  She tried to make it more defined so its enforcement would be less subjective.  She is looking into ways to make study table and the class schedule more effective.  McKay said physical education will probably become a requirement in the near future, and starting with the class of 2012 CPR training will be a requirement.

Another change McKay is making it to give teachers more of a voice; she wants to know what works and what doesn’t from the source, so she started the BLT (Building Leadership Team).  Also over the summer McKay held several BBQ’s at her home to learn some of the teachers’ opinions and ideas about the upcoming year.  She wants to have more of a collaborative input on issues.