New Longfellow Principal?
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Anonymous
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Does anyone have any experience with Ms. Chris Butzer, the newly-named Longfellow principal? Seems like she’s been around the county for a while.
Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I don't, but came across her intro video from June 2020 when she was announced as AP for Jackson MS (and no decisions had yet been made about Fall reopening): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV4o-AT_mrE |
Anonymous
| Curious how you think your former principal will do at WSHS? |
Anonymous
| If you are asking about Mr. Patrick (former Longfellow MS principal), he is an excellent manager and did a tremendous job! He mainly focused his efforts on managing the overall school and the teachers. The school seemed well-run and the teachers happy with his leadership. He worked closely with the PTA and attended all their events (so that was the time for parents to chat with them if they wished to do so). The day-to-day of parent interaction was handled by the Assistant Principals and they did nice work with that. I was a little hesitant about that, but in the end, it worked out well and I think it must give him the time to make sure that overall school is running well. Overall, we were very impressed with his operation of the school and felt that the climate and culture thrived under his leadership. |
Anonymous
Was there an email about this? If so, can you cut and paste? They just announced an acting principal who is coming over from Whitman, so it's a bit surprising they'd announce a new principal so soon thereafter. Longfellow also had/has a vacancy for one of the AP positions, so that will need to be filled as well. |
Anonymous
There was an email yesterday at 4 pm announcing the new principal at Longfellow. Ms. Chris Butzer starts Monday 7/21. |
Anonymous
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From Robyn Lady's newsletter:
I am very excited to announce the new principal at Longfellow MS, Chris Butzer, who was most recently an assistant principal at Luther Jackson MS. Principal Butzer brings a wealth of experience and passion for creating vibrant learning environments where all students can thrive, especially in the middle school setting. As a middle school science teacher and instructional coach, she increased student achievement and fostered strong, collaborative school culture. Region 2 highlighted her strength as a leader who is collaborative, approachable, and actively engaged with students, staff, and families. |
Anonymous
He did not attend EVERY PTA event. His emails were very short and there was not much communication coming forward to the parents over the weeks and months. He remained largely in the background. |
Anonymous
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I'm thinking they probably picked Ms. Butzer because of her background as a science teacher at Frost and her oversight as an AP of the math and science departments at Jackson. There are a lot of STEM-focused parents at Longfellow and that background could serve her well.
As for Dr. Patrick, he was a former Director of Student Activities at both McLean and Lake Braddock (and football coach at both McLean and Fairfax), so he'll probably be happy to be back at a high school with all the teams/activities. I think he only lives a few miles from West Springfield so that should work out well for him, too. |