Debbie Curry, Hope Davis, Kristen Harrison, Josh Hogmire, Spencer Johnson, Miranda Knox, Heather Labbe, Florence Lafontant, Melanie Rodriguez, Brittany Senna, Lori Stokes, Kelly Williams.
Melanie Rodriguez and Spencer Johnson, assistant principals at Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School, were both recognized for their Level II Certifications at the April school board meeting.
The Level II program is an 18-month, state-approved certification program designed to prepare assistant principals for eligibility to become principals.
Participants in the program engage in a range of experiences, including fieldwork, independent activities, face-to-face sessions, and mentoring opportunities, which help them refine and develop the skills needed for a principal role. The program requires a significant commitment of independent study hours and shadowing current principals, making it a rigorous and demanding course of study.
Teachers must have at least three years of teaching experience to qualify for the assistant principal position. However, some roles, such as coaching or specialist positions, are also eligible.
The program, led by Jennifer Collins, Supervisor of School Improvement and Leadership Development for Clay County Schools, has been part of the education system for over 24 years. Jennifer served as a principal in Duval County Public Schools for 7 years and then at Fleming Island Elementary for 6 years. Prior to her roles as a principal, she was an assistant principal for 3 years and a teacher for 5 years. She is currently in her third year in her current position, where she encourages many of her colleagues to pursue careers as principals.
“I work and support our school leaders in our district, work with them to coach and support them in any way that I can in our school improvement efforts. I always wanted to be a teacher myself because I wanted to make an impact on children, and when you become an assistant principal or when you become a principal, you get to make an impact on so many,” said Ms. Collins.
“It’s not really like a linear path; it’s a typical path as teacher to assistant principal, and it really varies by person, experience, and need of the school, and strengths of the leader as to how long they are an assistant principal, and then once they have their principal certification, they are eligible to be a principal. We give them tasks and assignments and activities that will help prepare them to sit in the principal seat,” said Ms. Collins.
Melanie Rodriguez has been in education for 21 years and is currently in her fourth year as an assistant principal. She began her career as an instructional assistant at Keystone Heights Elementary and previously served as a dean. She holds a master’s degree in education and has always been an advocate for reading.
“The program was pretty challenging only because an assistant principal’s role already is very demanding. Although a lot of the assignments that we had, we were able to integrate into the things that we were already doing, there were some of the things that we had to do on our own time or in addition to it, but it honestly did make me grow as a leader,” said Melanie Rodriquez, Assistant Principal of Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School.
“You continue to learn, to grow, and aim towards the highest goal that you have set for yourself, so it doesn’t matter how old I get, one day I’d like to be principal somewhere.”
“Jen is an amazing mentor. She supported us all the way through it, was very insightful, and so supportive. She would give us a personal call, and they couldn’t have picked someone better than her to lead that program and help lead us to become better administrators,” she said.
Spencer Johnson is entering his third year as an assistant principal. He began his career as an ESE teacher, eventually moving into the dean position and earning his master’s degree in education.
“The program itself was challenging. It was a lot of work, but meaningful work, and it does a very good job of preparing you to be in a principal’s office one day. I’ve always felt that the biggest people who had the biggest impact on me when I was growing up in school were my teachers and my coaches. Jenn was pretty heavily involved in the things that we do,” Mr. Spencer Johnson, Assistant Principal of Keystone Heights-Junior Senior High School.
“I think that everybody has some type of leader in them and I always think it’s a positive thing to push yourself to get out of your comfort zone and go after things that you typically wouldn’t otherwise, but finding your strengths and I think if somebody asks me what they thought about going after or getting into some sort of assistant principal program or principal program, I would definitely say do it because it helps you grow,” he said.
“I would like to give a big congratulations to KHHS Assistant Principals for completing their Level II Principal certification. This is a lengthy and tough program to gain skills, knowledge, and experience so they can be approved to apply for Principal Job Postings. They have done an excellent job, and they share in my love for our students, staff, and our community. Congratulations to both of them,” said Laurie Burke, Principal of Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School.
For both of them, their long-term goal is to become principals in Clay County Schools. They both said they were honored and blessed to have a great mentor, Ms. Collins.
Jennifer Collins, as for her goals in the future, “The opportunities are endless,” she said.
