McBride coming home to FES

School board taps former Flomaton teacher as the new principal

Students at Flomaton Elementary School will see a new principal this fall following the Escambia County (Ala.) Board of Education's approval of Courtney McBride Monday.

McBride will step in to take George Brown's place since Brown became Flomaton High School principal after Scott Hammond retired this summer.

McBride has served as the school system's elementary curriculum and instruction supervisor for K through sixth grade for the last year.

A Jay High School graduate, McBride earned a degree in early childhood education at Auburn University and came back to this area for her first job.

"Mr. David Curran and beth Drew hired me as a kindergarten teacher at FES 23 years ago this coming August," said McBride. "I taught there for four years, then I left and went to Brewton City to teach elementary in kindergarten and second grade. I was then a reading coach, then a reading interventionist to help kids who struggle with reading, then I worked with Alabama Reading Initiative providing professional development developing best practices to help other teachers learn how to teach reading."

McBride then attended the University of West Alabama, where she earned a master's degree in early childhood and an administrative leadership certificate several years later, which was tacked on with the master's degree.

McBride said she worked as assistant principal at J.U. Blacksher in Uriah for one year and at W.S. Neal Elementary School for two years.

"Right now I am the elementary curriculum and instruction supervisor," said McBride. "I am kind of over all of the instruction that happens in the classroom for kindergarten through sixth grade."

McBride said she applied for principal position, although for a long time, she had no interest in pursuing an administrative position.

"It's expensive to go back to school," said McBride. "I was taking classes slowly and trying not to go in debt or deprive my savings. It all just came together and God just took care of me. It is a five year answered prayer to a burning I had. Something inside me said hold out."

As a little girl, McBride said she can remember learning how to read and taking books home and 'teaching' her stuffed animals. She said she played teacher, setting up a classroom and handing out papers. She's always loved children, from a very early age.

"I knew from a very young age I wanted to be in the classroom," said McBride. "I knew God was calling me. I wanted to babysit all the children. It's a God's calling that has been placed on my life."

She said she wrote down her dream job with every description several years ago when she was in the midst of earning her administrative accreditation: 'I want a job where my love for instruction, my love for children and my love to invest in people, teachers, a staff and show them how much they are valued, and I can lead them to a better place of excellence.'

McBride said she specifically prayed that she wanted to be at Flomaton and when she heard Principal Brown was moving to the high school, she was working at the central office and realized that God was making a path for her to make her dream come true.

McBride is strong in her vision for FES, emphasizing that she and Brown hope to form a partnership of continued excellence between the two schools with the vision to maintain that standard of excellence.

"The one thing that stands out to me about the Flomaton feeder pattern is the immense community support," said McBride. "The community is already there. In other schools, you have to do things to bring the community in. That is not the problem at Flomaton, they are already there."

McBride says she plans to go out into the community. She wants to be present at civic organizations, at churches, at athletic events, at a town council meeting, supporting students and reaching out to the community.

"I need them to find out the greater things that are going on behind the walls of that school and where we are headed," she said. "The Parent Teachers Organization here is amazing. We definitely want to keep that going."

McBride mentioned that school's library is limited right now, and noted the importance of having numerous quality high-interest books is vital to children's interest in reading.

"We've got get an increase in the number of books," said McBride. "Every single child needs access to at least 100 books. I want to try to increase individual classroom mini libraries so kids don't have to go back and forth to the library. We want to grow those books in that classroom library. We've got to get some high-interest books."

McBride said she and Brown will work as an intricate team creating one campus, one goal, two principals and ultimately, student success.

"We want to try to get something more than high school students coming over and doing flashcards with our kids," she said. "We want to build some sort of mentorship. No matter what ethnicity they are, children need to see young adults, who look like they do, being successful and of good moral character. We are planning and I think it is going to be a dynamic partnership."

McBride said the emphasis is not just on academics, but trying to produce good citizens who will go back out into the community that has invested in them and have them invest in that community.

"We want to create good, productive citizens, academically, athletically, behaviorally," she said. "We want them to go back out in that community that invested in them so they can turn around and come back and do it all over again. The cycle continues. It's a good cycle."

McBride said they want to implement some sort of mentoring program for high school students to come read to kids, start back the High Five Fridays every Friday. I want Mr. Brown and Mrs. (Ashley) Mosley to come over and let these kids see they are still around. We want it to be one campus. We are aiming for student success and not just academic success. Student engagement is very important."

McBride said the teachers at the school are pros at developing relationships with the students and feels they are hard workers. She says they are underpaid and overworked but noted they have the passion it takes to be effective, which makes all the difference in their ability to teach.

"I look forward to being in the classrooms," McBride said. "I want to know every single child's name. You've got to be where the kids are. You've got to talk to them."

McBride will officially begin her role as FES principal Thursday, (today), July 1.

 
 
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