Burton talks about first year as principal
Staff writer
It has been more than seven months since Corey Burton took the helm as Hillsboro Middle School principal.
As his first job as a school administrator, Burton said it has been a really good year.
"I was fortunate to move into this position because this is a good school with good kids and a good staff," Burton said.
The transition was a little easier for Burton because he knew the staff and some of the kids through coaching.
As with anyone who is new to a job, Burton had many questions.
"The staff helped answer the many questions I had and was willing to help direct me because they knew the history behind some things and I didn't," he said.
One of the challenges Burton faced as the new principal was becoming used to a new routine. It was different from teaching in the classroom because of the flexibility in his schedule, and he had to learn to organize his time.
Burton, who taught for nine years, enjoyed teaching and coaching, but came to the point in his career when he wanted something else as a challenge.
He began pursing his master's degree in school administration.
After receiving that degree, he sought a "totally new challenge" of becoming a principal.
"Being HMS principal is a learning process — there is something new every day," Burton said.
If there was a drawback in being a principal, he said it would be that instead having 20 students like he had while teaching, he now has 175 students.
"It's more difficult to build close relationships when you don't see and interact with the students every day," he said.
Burton sees getting to know his students at HMS as another challenge.
He has implemented a few "small" things since taking over as principal.
"I usually sit down with the staff and discuss various things," Burton said. "I am a big believer in being on the same page with the staff and having them on board in whatever we do."
Burton was instrumental, for instance, in condensing the disciplinary form to one page and requiring notification of parents by mail of any minor disciplinary infractions by students.
Burton addressed another issue that he felt strongly about: students leaving their bookbags in the hallways of the auditorium during music and band classes. To Burton it was a safety issue. The bookbags are now placed in one of the music rooms while students are in those classes.
He was also instrumental in getting HMS ready to take the state assessment tests online.
"One of my strengths is in technology and computers," Burton said. "With my background and our building having updated computers, students are taking the general assessments online."
Burton said the middle school is the first of the three schools in the district set up to do this. Students started taking the state assessment tests on the computer this week.
Seventh graders took math assessments, and eighth graders took reading assessments.
"The advantage of taking the tests online is that we can know within a few minutes after they complete the test how the students scored," Burton said.
Burton explained that this will allow the staff to work on those areas where each student needs help.
When taking the test by paper and pencil, the results were not known until the end of the year, which according to Burton was an obvious disadvantage in helping students with problem areas.
"So right now, we're the guinea pigs," he said.
According to Burton, the middle school has a good history of results on the state assessment tests, achieving the standard of excellence on three of the five state assessment tests.
Burton said the number of hours he spends on the job as principal is a close equivalent to the number of hours he spent teaching and coaching three sports.
"I'm attending the events but serving in a different role — more as a supervisor," he said.
Does Burton miss teaching and coaching?
"I thought I'd really miss it," he said, "but I haven't as much as I thought I would because I have been busy at the middle school."
Burton enjoys trying to help students, teachers, staff, and parents — doing whatever he can to help them.
"The other administrators have been a great help to me," Burton said.
Burton appreciates each of them for being there to "bounce ideas off of," giving directions and guidance when it comes to school policies and other matters.
