Search for new G-C principal launches

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GREENFIELD — Students, parents and staff will have a say in who will serve as Greenfield-Central High School’s next principal — and an application including a video segment already has given district officials a peek at the candidates.

Greenfield-Central School Corp. leaders are reviewing resumes to find a replacement for Principal Steve Bryant, who announced in August his plans to retire after this school year.

About 40 educators applied for the job, said Superintendent Harold Olin. Many have school leadership experience, either as a principal or an assistant principal, he said.

Olin formed a committee including current students, parents and staff members that will help interview candidates for the job in coming weeks.

Now, district leaders are screening applications to narrow down the field with the help of recorded snippets from each candidate, who answered a series of questions about their qualifications.

Applicants applied for the position through video software, answering questions Olin posed in a pre-recorded video session.

Those videos will be used to decide which candidates are called in for interviews. Olin said using the approach will allow the committee to see how candidates use technology, a skill that will be important for the next principal to have as schools incorporate technology in the classroom more regularly.

Beyond that, district leaders say they’re looking for a candidate who can take the high school forward, building on the progress Bryant has made: The district has a rising graduation rate and offers new programs to serve students with varying needs, Olin said.

School board president Retta Livengood said it will be somewhat daunting to pick a new principal.

As she meets candidates for the job, she wants someone with fresh ideas, concrete plans for their first few years at the helm and who understands the role a high school principal plays in a small community.

Bryant will leave behind “shoes that are impossible to fill,” Livengood said, but she’s excited to see so many educators interested in coming to Greenfield and looks forward to hearing about what they could offer the community.

Kim Kile, director of school counseling at the high school, will also serve on the committee to select Bryant’s successor.

Resumes are important, she said, but it’s a candidate’s character that interests her most. She wants to find a principal who shows the same level of commitment to Greenfield-Central students as Bryant has the past 18 school years.

Bryant rarely misses a school event; he regularly attends theater productions, extra-curricular activities and sporting events to support his students, Kile said.

“Mr. Bryant is everywhere,” she said. “I’m looking for someone who looks beyond the school day … someone who says, ‘I need to be out and about with my students.’”