Meet the New Man on Top, Principal Robert McBride
September 9, 2008
Principal Robert McBride is Neuqua Valley’s new man at the top and he has plans to change Neuqua for the better. Using his past experiences, McBride is determined to improve the way Neuqua runs. As Assistant Principal Maree Russavage simply put it, “There’s a new man in town.”McBride’s teaching career began at Oak Park River Forest High School where he taught for 14 years, three of which as the English Division Chair. Next he taught in District 87 for ten years as an assistant principal then as the principle of Glenbard East High School.
“The challenge and the strength of the school was the diversity of the school,” said McBride about Glenbard East. “It’s a hyper diverse school for the western suburbs. It had an African American population, a Hispanic population, an Asian population, a lot of English language learners, and about 20 to 25% low income.” Glenbard East’s diversity created a struggle for McBride of overseeing a school where some students are “going off to Stanford and Harvard” while others live in homelessness below the poverty line.
Despite the obstacle, McBride feels that he was successful. He fondly remembers the atmosphere of his last major assembly at Glenbard East. “We had about 3200 bodies in a gym and you could really feel and see how cohesive the student and the adult community were,” said McBride.
Academic success was also reached. At the time of McBride’s arrival, Glenbard East placed last out of four area schools in terms of ACT score and AP participation. By the time McBride left, the school reached second place and was ranked on Newsweek’s list of the nation’s best high schools. In fact, McBride claims that the number of students taking the AP tests tripled under him. One of the things that helped make this possible was his visits to Neuqua’s gold campus to improve Glenbard East’s freshman program.
Leaving Glenbard East for Neuqua was, as McBride describes it, similar to a High School student that has the opportunity to move on to something bigger. “I had a successful prinicpalship at Glenbard East. It’s a great school and I loved working there, but I had the opportunity to come to a larger school, to expand my growth as a principal, and to take on some challenges that interested me. This school has a very much can do spirit to it,” said McBride.
Changing Neuqua
“Right now, I’m a little cautious about change because to make changes that benefit others, you not only need some experience and good judgement, you need perspective. And I don’t have much experience and time here,” said McBride. To counter this inexperience, McBride says that his is essentially doing his homework on Neuqua. Before he tries to make any major changes, he wants to understand how everything works at Neuqua and if it is having the desired effect.
Change is, however, inevitable with a new principal. On the top of McBride’s list is the visibility and communication of the administration. McBride said, “I don’t spend a lot of my time in my office during the day. It’s important for me to see what teachers are doing. It’s important for me to connect with students as much as I can.” He also plans to be present and visible at events and major functions such as football games.
Part of his plan for better communication includes taking a look at how we teach. “I’m very interested in the experience [students] have had in classes,” said McBride, “My impression so far of Neuqua teachers is that they are very hard working, committed, compassionate people.”
To help teachers improve on their skills, McBride hopes to implement a planned professional discussion time. At Glenbard East, students were dismissed early each Monday to allow teachers to have professional discussion time. McBride attributes much of Glenbard East’s success to this program called Professional Learning Communities.
Rivalries within District 204 present a unique problem for McBride. “As a community, we have to work against this Waubonsie Neuqua competition,” said McBride, who has heard discouraging language such as “I hate Waubonsie” at some events. McBride explained his position by saying, “When you step out of 204, both schools are highly valued . . . let’s not be a community that fights about who’s better. If people say that this school is the best in the nation by criticizing or demeaning another school, then we are certainly not the best high school in the nation.”
When not leading a school of over 4000 students, Principal McBride enjoys spending time with his wife and two adopted children. He is also an avid runner.
McBride’s plan for professional advancement is simple: Right now, Neuqua students, parents, and staff need all my attention. I’m very content doing what I’m doing. I’ve found that if you focus on the job at hand and you do really well at that job, other things you never expected come your way.
By Jonathan Oskvarek, Echo news and web editor
