Lindsay Gladstone
Governors State University
Phone: (708) 534-7090
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: l-gladstone@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, IL, July 6, 2007 - The first year as a principal can be both rewarding and challenging for an educator. To encourage achievement and foster success, the Metropolitan Institute for Leadership in Education (MILE) at Governors State University is offering a New Principal Mentoring Program.
Beginning in 2007, principals new to the position are required by the Illinois State Board of Education to receive guidance and mentoring during their first year. Ron Patton of Frankfort has been named director of the New Principal Mentoring program instituted by MILE in conjunction with the Consortium for Education Change in Naperville. The program will serve new principals in school districts throughout the Chicagoland area.
“This program provides a valuable resource and source of support for first year principals,” said Patton. “We assign highly qualified, well-trained mentors who will encourage new principals and serve as a resource.”
According to Patton, “Time management is the most difficult part of a principal’s first year as there are so many different demands, tasks, and responsibilities. The mentor will help the principal focus on being an instructional leader in the school, not just a manager.”
Patton draws on years of personal experience as both a principal and as district superintendent. Most recently he served as interim superintendent at Crete-Monee District 201-U. Prior to that he was director of the Regional Safe Schools Program and superintendent of Bloom Township High Schools.
“Programs such as the New Principal Mentoring Program ultimately impact student learning. Helping principals focus on student learning, teacher evaluations, curriculum development, and staff development will positively affect learning,” said Patton.
According to Alicia McCray, director of MILE, “We are enlisting mentors with years of recent experience in school administration and with a strong commitment to sharing what their expertise. In addition to what the mentors bring, we also provide in depth training before they are matched to a new principal in the program.”
The New Principal Mentoring Program is one of many programs instituted by MILE at Governors State University. MILE also offers a leadership series of workshops and presentations for school administrators and school board members as well as educational programming for the community.
For more information about MILE and the New Principal Mentoring Program, or to become a mentor, call (708) 534-8451.
