Eric McCalla leaving for new position in Wayne-Westland schools
Outgoing Manchester Jr/Sr. High School principal Eric McCalla is pictured with December 2018 Student of the Month Autumn Cole.
Manchester Junior-Senior High School principal Eric McCalla has been popular with students and staff during his four year tenure. Two weeks ago, he announced that he would be leaving Manchester Community Schools to take a position as Assistant Principal at Wayne Memorial High School in the Wayne-Westland district.
"I'll be serving in one role instead of several," McCalla said, adding that he is looking forward to new and different directions in his new position after the many challenging situations he has faced during his time with Manchester, including the past 18 months of COVID-related closures and scheduling as well as serving as principal for grades 7-12 and for the 2020-21 school year, as Athletic Director as well.
"But I think the biggest challenge here has been the amount of superintendent turnover," he admits. "I've worked with five superintendents in four years. There's been a lot of redirecting, figuring out the next step, and new ideas. I have tried to do what is best for the district and I think I have succeeded in that."
While he will have a longer commute time to Wayne, McCalla and his family will continue to live in the Chelsea area, where he grew up.
"I'm always up for something new, something else," he adds. "I will do whatever's best for the kids — that's why I got into this business in the first place. It's why I still coach youth softball, with my own kids. That is my passion. I feed off the energy of having kids in the building; we weathered that (COVID) storm pretty well, although we're not 100% over it yet but at least we're trending in the right direction.
"COVID was the worst year in education to date, and even as an administrator of many years, it was simply unprecedented."
One of McCalla's biggest accomplishments of the past year was the development of a new five-period block schedule for the high school, which allows students greater flexibility in their course choices during their four-year high school career. An open Q & A session with Superintendent Brad Bezeau and guidance counselor Hollie Kolcz regarding these scheduling changes and elective classes will be held tonight, August 23, beginning at 6 pm in the Jr/Sr. High auditorium; the Jr/Sr. High open house will be held this Wednesday, Aug. 25, from 5-7:30 pm. Both meetings will offer opportunities for students and parents to get answers about this innovative new set-up.
McCalla's position has been posted and public interviews were held this past week with three internal and three external candidates. School leadership, staff, and community members took the occasion to get to know the candidates and provide input and feedback about this important process for the district.
McCalla's own advice to his successor would be to 'trust the staff.'
"The (Manchester) staff is second to none in my opinion," he said. "They are always willing to do new things, try different stuff, and they are consummate professionals when you trust them to be professionals."
He also suggests that the new principal take some time to "get the lay of the land," and determine what his or her mark will be; what will it look like here in two years, in five years.
He has no regrets about the four years he spent advancing the academic program at Manchester High School. "I was taught to work hard, and when you're educating kids, you just do what's best for them," he says. "It's what makes the job kind of easy in the grand scheme of things. That's been my leadership philosophy for the past 15 years and that's what it will remain.
"Thank you to the Manchester community for giving me this opportunity the past four years; I wish everyone the best in the future."
You must be logged in to post a comment Login