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2007 Assistant Principals of the Year
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| Christopher S. Berry James "Eubie" Blake High School-Montgomery County |
Jennifer Clements Mount Hebron High School-Howard County |
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Christopher S. Berry is the 2007 Maryland Assistant Principal of the Year. Chris has been in education for twenty years, the last three serving as an assistant principal at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring. He started his career as a social studies teacher and eventually became an Arts and Humanities Coordinator followed by the position of resource teacher before becoming an assistant principal. As an assistant principal, Chris was a key player in the creation of Blake's school improvement plan and has been the leader in the development of grant proposals which have resulted in over $800,000 for the implementation of his school's smaller learning community program. Within this framework, Chris has worked with the school staff to establish a ninth grade academy to augment their student advisory program and to implement a career academy framework at Blake. Chris was the co-chair of Blake's Accreditation for Growth Middle States Evaluation and has been responsible for the restructuring of Blake's reading initiative program as well as positive improvements in the school's eligibility and academic standing of freshman student athletes. Carole Goodman, principal at Blake stated that, "His vision, knowledge of instruction, and ability to organize, coordinate, and communicate the big picture, is nothing short of remarkable." In her letter of recommendation, Ms. Goodman stated that, "He is highly professional, collaborative and is an expert in using multiple sources of data in meaningful ways to guide instructional decisions." Ms Susan Marks, Community Superintendent for Blake High School remarked that, "Mr. Berry is an extremely hard worker and visionary. He is an outstanding communicator and an exceptional writer. Mr. Berry is a lifelong learner and continues to increase his knowledge about up-to-date best practices. |
Jennifer Clements is the 2007 Maryland Assistant Principal of the Year. At Mount Hebron, Jennifer works closely with the African American males to identify leaders, listen to their thoughts and empower them to have a positive impact on their school community. She has facilitated the introduction of Professional Learning Communities to develop meaningful, job–embedded, ongoing professional development. Jennifer has worked closely with the Ninth Grade Team to develop and implement am after-school intervention program focusing on Mathematics, Reading and Writing, and study skills. She has also worked with the special education team leader to create teaching and learning environments where Mt. Hebron's special needs students can be successful. Dave Brown, "Jen's principal wrote that, Jen is a purposeful instructional leader who uses a collaborative approach working with the School Improvement and Instructional Leadership Teams to lead the process of data analysis to facilitate positive change in daily instruction at Mount Hebron." A parent wrote that, "In her first year, Ms Clements accelerated efforts with students. Jen spearheaded an initiative to create a peer mentoring program aimed at building positive self images, self-esteem, encourage academic success, and reshaping an unwarranted negative image." Ronnie Bohn, from the Howard County Department of Education submitted that, "Jen is a personable leader who forges personalized relationships that help her keep her finger on the pulse of the personnel, students and parents with whom she works." |
