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Baylor Continues Work to Ready ERHS

Eric Baylor may be the only high school principal in Virginia who spends well over 60 hours per week at his job ... and has no students and no teachers in his building. But with all that he does on a daily basis to prepare his East Rockingham High School for its August 2010 opening, Mr. Baylor's estimate of 60 hours would seem to be a conservative one.

Without employees on his staff, Baylor wears every hat needed to get every last detail ready. His days are filled with telephone calls and meetings while his evenings are occupied at his laptop answering emails and placing equipment and supply orders on the web. As the school's athletic director, he prepares all the teams' schedules and orders everything from cheerleading uniforms to a stereo for the weight room. As the school's band director, he orders instruments and uniforms. As the school's bookkeeper, he writes purchase orders. As the school's science teacher, he orders lab equipment. As its public relations director, he gives tours of the building. One of the most important duties of his actual job as principal - hiring a staff - looms ahead.

"I'm trying to get many of the things I can control finished soon so my days will open up a little more when the hiring process begins," explains the principal as he sorts through his plans for the current day. "My goal is to finish athletic schedules and equipment specs by Thanksgiving." Baylor anticipates hiring nearly 100 employees, including instructional staff, classroom aides, coaches, custodial workers, cafeteria staff, and more, a process that is slated roughly to get underway sometime late December or early January and run through April.

With plans to visit each of the other three RCPS high schools, Baylor will examine their files with a fine-toothed comb in order to learn everything he can about what their students do. "I want to make sure we're giving our kids the same advantages and opportunities that the other schools provide their students. We will leave no stone unturned as far as clubs, organizations and making sure we're doing all we can," he says with conviction. Having been an assistant principal at Turner Ashby High School gives Baylor a helpful perspective as he makes his plans for the new high school.

Baylor is keenly aware of the many concerns parents and students share over the impending move. Through an RCPS Wordpress blog, he and SHS Principal, Dr. Seth Muraskin, have already engaged in over 70 online Q&A exchanges through this forum. On a bi-monthly basis, the principals meet with parents and students in the SHS large commons area and these meetings are typically well-attended. Following the November 3 parent-teacher conferences at SHS, Baylor met with a group of 40-50 students and parents to answer a wide variety of questions.

The principal explains that some questions, however, are difficult to field at the moment because their answers depend on knowing numbers of students (seniors, specifically) who will attend ERHS; and those numbers are not firm yet due to a grandfathering policy in place that allows upcoming ERHS seniors to stay at SHS if they prefer and can provide their own transportation. On November 12 at SHS, a dialogue with potential ERHS seniors will begin as he and Dr. Muraskin, along with Helen Harman, head of the Spotswood Guidance Department, will hold a meeting to give students information about their options and the process ahead. Upcoming ERHS seniors will be given a form letter to use if requesting permission from Superintendent Dr. Carol Fenn to be grandfathered and stay at SHS, instead of heading to the new school for their final year. Those forms will be due to her by January 4, 2010. Once those numbers cease to be a moving target, many decisions and plans involving students and staff become much easier to make.

Questions cover the entire spectrum at meetings and at the online site. Recently, Baylor was asked if there will be a football game designated as a "homecoming" game next season. His answer was a definitive "yes" despite the fact that technically, there are no alumni to return. "This is a time for us to set OUR standards, build OUR reputation, establish OUR traditions," he reminds students. He has already laid plans to conduct a variety of "team building" activities to foster school spirit and cohesion among the school's staff and students this fall.

Understandably, lots of questions center around the difficult nature of splitting the SHS student population. "Will there be a prom with Spotswood?" a student asks. Baylor replies that the two schools will hold these types of events separately at their respective buildings but will work together carefully in scheduling them so students who want to attend both can do so.

He admits the questions he and Dr. Muraskin receive are warranted. "Transition is always difficult. People are naturally anxious about change and new situations. Once they see the building, the potential for technology use in the classrooms, the newness, the size, a lot of the anxiety is washed away. They realize that we have a great facility and people who care and will work with families to ensure that their children are successful."

Tours he conducts with groups and individuals through the new building, Baylor says, have been hugely beneficial in alleviating concerns people have about the upcoming move. The principal estimates that he has led no fewer than 75 different building tours so far, including 10 just this week.

At present, a huge chunk of his time entails work needed to get the athletic program underway. Ordering EVERYTHING the athletic teams need is a mind-boggling task that requires talking to local coaches for product advice, seeking quotes from vendors, and keeping track of the myriad of details in order to be thorough, accurate, and remain within budget. For the PE program alone, he must order 140 different items ranging from medicine balls to cones.

"I had no idea how intense it would be," he says as he shakes his head in reference to the specific process of getting the baseball team's orders placed. "Dealing with uniforms and the basic equipment isn't hard ... but indoor cages and nets, it gets really involved."

Having served as Athletic Director at Spotswood High School, Baylor comes to the job well-prepared to handle all the sorts of sports-related decisions that must be made. Yet one hurdle he did not anticipate was an issue concerning the school's "eagle" logo. First, the school needed to select the type of eagle it wanted. Baylor sought opinions from a committee of ERHS-to-be students and parents and they picked one used by Morehead State with plans to adapt it in various ways; but when Baylor contacted the university to obtain permission, his request was denied by the school. So, the process went back to square one and Baylor took a different approach by hiring a local graphic artist, Tiffni (Skievaski) McHone, to help the school develop a logo that would free them from any licensing restrictions or limitations. They selected and bought rights to an eagle at a stock clipart site and McHone modified it, personalizing it with school colors and the school's initials. ERHS will use variations of the mascot on its football helmets, gym floor, wrestling mats, and in many, many other places and applications.

"Nothing is ever as simple as it seems," quipped Baylor about their logo adventure, albeit pleased with the end result.

Athletic scheduling has gone well for Baylor, the former SHS football coach, but much still remains to be set in stone as he awaits confirmations and responses from various opponents. Convenience and necessity have dictated some of the matchups.

"We will play other Rockingham County schools in some sports due to travel time as a big factor, in the spring particularly, where you have to get to the school in time to finish before dark," he explains, singling out contests like tennis and baseball.

ERHS faces an unusual situation with its football schedule in that it enters competition in the 2nd year of a 2-year scheduling contract period among all VHSL schools, so nearly all schools are locked into their 2010-2011 schedules already. To help fill the ERHS schedule, Spotswood Athletic Director, Mary Donnellan, was able to make an adjustment in the SHS schedule without breaking any contracts and fit ERHS into its '10-'11 slate. So even though it wasn't the original intention, the two schools will play each other and fittingly, it seems for ERHS, in its inaugural game on August 27. Baylor has also secured games with Woodgrove and Tuscarora, brand new schools in Loudoun County that share the same scheduling issues as ERHS.

Baylor is optimistic about ERHS, a relatively large single-A school, and its ability to be a competitive member of its new district, the Shenandoah District of Region B in Group A. Shenandoah District rivals will be Riverheads, Buffalo Gap, Page County, Luray, Stonewall Jackson, and Central of Woodstock.

As the school's opening date continues to approach at a rapid pace, the ERHS principal encourages all stakeholders to continue to look to the SHS-ERHS Transition Information website as a source for accurate information, important details, and timely announcements. He welcomes questions at the website, personal communication via email, and invites attendance at the continuing meetings at Spotswood High School (11/11 and 12/9 of 2009 from 3:30-4:30 pm along with 11/25 at 1:00 pm) where individual situations are easily discussed. Parents who are interested in taking an active role in a parent advisory committee should contact Mr. Baylor to express their interest, too, he adds.

Continue to follow its progress as Mr. Baylor transforms a school construction site into an Eagle's nest.

 

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