2003 Principals of the Year
Congratulations to our best...

   Ms. Hardin's entire educational career has been in Baltimore County. She began her career at Hereford High School as an English teacher in 1967. She became the English Department Chair at Milford Mill High School in 1989 and than became an Assistant Principal in 1992 at Eastern Technical High School. She was the summer school principal at Perry Hall High School for one year as well as at Eastern Technical High School for two years. She was named principal at Pikesville High School in 1997.

   Hardin earned her Bachelor of Science degree in American and English Literature from Towson University and her Master of Liberal Arts in Multicultural Literature from the Johns Hopkins University.

   When Ms. Hardin was appointed principal at Pikesville she embraced a population of increasingly diverse students with a 15 percent minority population, a Level V Emotionally Disturbed Special Education program, and a 20 percent population of Russian émigrés. She wanted all students, regardless of their IQ or IEP, to have access to more than the one computer lab in the building, to feel included and welcome, to be challenged by a rigorous curriculum, and to experience success in academic and co-curricular programs. Grant writing provided the opportunity to design schoolwide writing upgrades and Internet access. That technology uplifted both the school¹s spirit and its image in the community. It also enabled 30 percent of the students who did not have a computer at home to access the needed technology skills and resources.

   Continuing gains are evident at Pikesville with the personalized relationships of the students and staff members. Teachers and support staff effectively serve the school population in an inclusive environment that values all students and involves them in rigorous classes, school-to-career internships, and courses at community colleges. The Emotionally Disturbed program is an excellent example. These students are motivated to believe that they can succeed, and they demonstrate this in standardized testing scores, in positive job shadowing experiences, and work performance in settings provided by business mentors.

   The growing group of Russian students has outstanding math skills but struggle with the English language and composition. To help with this issue and to give all students a comparable background in writing, research, and standardized testing preparation, a team of students and staff produced The Panther¹s Pen: A Writer's Guide. This brochure is available on the Pikesville web site and it enables students to have instant access to improved writing skills and preparation for Maryland¹s High School Assessments. With a more inviting climate both the ED and Russian students excel in interscholastic athletics, theatre arts, and other co-curricular programs.

   Under Ms. Hardin's leadership Pikesville has become a dynamically evolving, comprehensive high school where every student counts and has the potential for excellence.

   Her superintendent, Dr. Joe Hairston, states "Ms. Hardin's emphasis on quality teaching, commitment that all students have access to a rigorous curriculum, databased decision-making, and early intervention strategies, are all critical to the success that students experience at Pikesville High School. Ms. Hardin¹s expertise and drive to help teachers raise the bar on student achievement, coupled with an unrelenting mission to focus on what is important‹classroom instruction‹ensures that the students at Pikesville High School will continue to make significant strides, thus allowing results to continue an upward trend."

   The chair of the Visual and Performing Arts department said "As a faculty member since Pikesville opened in 1964, I can state with authority that Ms. Hardin is the first principal in Pikesville¹s history to create a vision for our school and make that vision a reality. That she has accomplished this in five and one-half years is testimony to her skill as an instructional leader."

   The Executive Director of the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce notes that, "There is a synergistic relationship between a school, the residential community in which it is located and the business community surrounding it. Dottie understands this relationship and uses her involvement in all three elements to support the school and allow her to continually improve it... She is capable! She is innovative! She is resourceful! She exemplifies excellence and professionalism in everything that she does and she demands that for her school."

   Ms. Hardin was the Person of the Year for the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce in 2001-­2002 as well as the Person of the Year by the Pikesville Rotary Club in 2000. She was the Secondary Administrator of the Year for the Maryland Music Educators Association in 2001 and Principal of the Year for the Baltimore County Student Councils. She was the Maryland High School English Teacher of the Year in 1990.

   She will be honored at the NASSP Convention in Orlando in February as well as introduced to the State Board of Education.

   Mr. Burke has called Howard County his educational home for the past 28 years. He began his teaching career at Oakland Mills Middle School as a social studies teacher in 1975. He moved to Harper¹s Choice Middle School where he became the Eighth Grade Team Leader in 1982. After a sabbatical leave he went to Owen Brown Middle School as the Eighth Grade Team Leader before moving to Ellicott Mills Middle School as assistant principal in 1989. His first principalship was at Ellicott Mills in 1992. He is now at Patuxent Valley Middle School where he has been the principal since 1996.

   Burke graduated from Salisbury State College in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and from Bowie State College in 1988 with a Master's of Education degree in Administration and Supervision.

   Burke has worked to address the needs of the low achieving student while maintaining academic rigor for all children. He has realized some success at Patuxent Valley. In November 2000 his school was recognized because the MSPAP data indicated that the school results showed improvement for all groups of students. One of the key reasons for the positive results was the intervention of the English team leader. She was provided released time to work with specific students, particularly boys, in small groups. The teacher used an instructional model that helped the students be more effective when they were responding to prompts.

   As more and more research is indicating, the low achieving students need more than educators have been giving them. The low achiever needs more time with the curriculum and more time with an experienced, highly qualified teacher. Each student at Patuxent Valley receives 124 instructional hours per school year in each core course. The new model that is being implemented now provides an additional 150 hours of instruction in the curricular area of greatest weakness for children in mathematics, reading, and English.

   Early results show that students in grade seven performed well on the Maryland Functional Tests compared to the eighth grade students. In mathematics the seventh grade pass rate was 70.6%, while the eighth grade pass rate was 75.7%. In reading the seventh graders out performed the eighth graders with a pass rate of 93.9% versus a 92.5%.

   In order to get the additional targeted time for the low achieving students, Burke worked within the time constraints of the normal school day. This model is one vehicle to increase academic achievement and to continue to close the achievement gap.

   He is a lifelong member of The Burke Family Singers, and was a volunteer basketball coach for both the Laurel and Bowie Boys and Girls Clubs as well as a volunteer coach for the Bowie High School girls' basketball team. In 1999 he was honored as the Omega Psi Phi Man of the Year.

   Allen Cosentino said of Burke, "Mr. Burke has always been patient and honest with all of the issues that I bring to him. Regardless of the issue, he always has time to listen and discuss potential solutions to any problem. Additionally, Mr. Burke has encouraged me to expand my professional goals and seek out additional responsibility at school. With Mr. Burke as my mentor, I have begun the process of becoming an administrator myself. It is no surprise that the person I try to emulate in my profession is Mr. Burke."

   According to his superintendent, John O'Rourke, "He has served on a variety of county level committees and has been an eager volunteer in our teacher recruitment process. Mr. Burke has willingly mentored new principals at the middle level, as well as teachers in his building who aspire to become administrators."