Former Activities Coordinator Jennifer Steeprow is one of the three new vice principals at Stone Bridge this year. Though the hallways may look the same, Ms. Steeprow has a new perspective and position where she faces the challenges of maintaining discipline and continuing to connect with students.
After working at Stone Bridge for six years, Ms. Steeprow is excited to embrace the challenges of her new role and create goals for this upcoming school year in her new position. One of these goals is to emphasize student voices. Not only does Streepow plan to be an advocate for students, but she wants teachers to follow her lead.
“I also want to look into…having an impact on teachers with teachers being more than an instructional coach and having kids achieve as high as they can achieve,” Ms. Steeprow said.
Although a handful of students have sought out teacher guidance in both academic and homelife settings, Steeprow strives to encourage all students to seek teacher assistance on a regular basis. In her new role as vice principal, Steeprow has found it helpful to work with her colleagues to achieve this goal.
Working together is a big part of the school’s success with staff-students. Administrators work together to decide policies from the new clear bag policy to what to emphasize each semester including study hall rules and cleanliness. In her new position as an administrator, Ms. Steeprow is now a part of the disciplinary process for students-a responsibility she did not have in her previous role as an Activities Coordinator.
“That’s probably the most frustrating part of being an assistant principal: having to discipline students who don’t follow rules,” Ms. Steeprow said. “When I was the Activities Coordinator, it was always happy things, and I didn’t have to be with students on anything negative.”
A vice principal’s job is ever-changing, never with a dull moment. One day, Ms. Steeprow could be correcting her students and the next day be on lunch duty chatting with students.
Being with students and interacting with them is Ms. Steeprow’s biggest focus for this school year. The staff have been her biggest supporters during the change from Activities Coordinator to vice principal and encourage her to rise to her fullest potential.
“I’ve been working with Dr. Flynn for a lot of years, and from day one, he was always encouraging me to go into leadership,” Ms. Steeprow said. “He saw the leadership capacity in me. So, he really encouraged me to seek out an assistant principal job.”
