Southwest Lariat

Paulina Martinez 

  Sophomore, Ethan Sedano explained to me that on the first day of the new semester he was rushing to class when the bell rang and he was swept by Dr.Bracy. Sedano explained how this made him mad because he had to miss his whole class period. 

I asked Sedano if there would be any changes he would like to see happen under Dr.Bracys’ leadership. He said “No not really, besides the tardy sweeps. I mean I get how they are helping with the students not being late to class. But I’ve heard of kids getting swept when they are 2 steps away from their classroom. I think this is more of a teacher problem, but it's still frustrating.” 

I also asked Sedano if he had seen any positive or negative changes since Dr.Bracys’ arrival. He proceeded to say “Yes, like I said before less tardiness, but also less fights. Yes there are still a few fights every once in a while. But not as bad or as often as they used to be.” 

Sophomore, Kamariah Finley explained to me how she knew Dr.Bracy from her time at Scales when she was in 8th grade. Before coming to Southwest Dr.Bracy was the principal at Pruette Scale Academy, which is an alternative school for students that haven’t adapted behaviorally to the regular school program.  “I like that he’s our principle. I think he’s cool and funny.” say Finley

Junior, Q (refused to give last name) talks about his experience with Dr.Bracy. Q had lost his gloves and Dr.Bracy talked to him about keeping up with his belongings. I also asked him if he liked Dr. Bracy being our new principal and he said “Nobody is better than Dr.Monell, but you can tell he is trying to better the school, so I would say yeah.” 

Mya

Since getting a new principal at Southwest, not only do students and teachers have their opinions, but so do the assistant principals. I interviewed Ms. Robinson, Mr. Blair, Ms. Bowman, and Mr. Wertz to understand how they feel. 

For all of them, their job as assistant principal has gotten easier as they now have a better sense of direction and a new leader to follow. They all want students to get into class on time and stay there, instead of wandering the halls and jeopardizing their education, so enforcing the rules and doing the hall has definitely been helpful for them. 

Another issue for them is our school’s test scores and attendance. The 12th grade principal, Mr. Wertz, said the biggest issue for his grade is attendance. This isn’t only an issue for seniors though, all the administrators believe that our students skipping is a big issue, whether they’re on or off campus.

 Their expectations for students and teachers are to always be on their best behavior, be in class on time, and make sure they’re getting the education they need. The administrator's favorite parts of their job involve students flourishing and becoming better versions of themselves. 

Mr. Blaire loves seeing student athletes take control of their sports and play their games. The other 3 assistant principals enjoy seeing students that might’ve fallen behind bounce back and have an extreme improvement with their education.  

Debroah N 

Southwest Guilford High School has recently gotten a new principal after a long period of substitute principals. Both faculty and students are curious about Dr. Bracy’s leadership style, his policies, and how he plans to adjust to Southwest. The Southwest journalism class with Mr. Phillpott was tasked with interviewing students, administrators, and teachers and other faculty to get their thoughts on the new principal.

Many teachers say they’ve already noticed a difference with Dr. Bracy’s leadership style for Southwest. A word that came up a lot was consistency. Teachers feel that he is bringing much-needed structure to the school. One of the biggest changes is the way tardiness is handled. Dr. Bracy’s new tardy sweeps have helped keep students in class and reduce hallway distractions. “I like his version of tardy sweeps,” said Mrs. Baker. “It benefits the school, and attendance has improved in my class.” Ms. Chapman-Kennedy, also known as Ms. CK, agreed, saying the crackdown has helped clear the hallways and create a more focused learning environment as well. Compared to the former principal, some teachers say Dr. Bracy is more structured and consistent with discipline. “There’s more structure when it comes to ISS and consequences for breaking rules,” said Ms. CK. “He makes sure students understand that there are expectations and that they have to follow them.”

Mr. Tally also praised Dr. Bracy for his quick communication with staff compared to the former principal. “He’s consistent and willing to make decisions,” he said. “He’s also fair and has a sense of strength, but he’s not overly authoritarian.”

Other teachers noted that Dr. Bracy is approachable and easy to talk to. “He’s very friendly,” said Mrs. Baker. “Respectful and easy to talk to,” added Mr. Tally. Mr. Lasher also described him as personable, saying he takes time to share stories and connect with teachers.

However, teachers still have some concerns and suggestions. A big issue? Cell phones and earbuds. Mr. Lasher feels this is something that still needs to be addressed. “Earbuds are my biggest issue,” he said. “I don’t know what students are listening to, and it can be disruptive.” Mr. Tally also mentioned that a more consistent phone policy could help maintain classroom focus.

So far, Dr.Bracy’s leadership style seems to be making an impact, with many teachers appreciating his focus on structure and communication.

Rahaf Kazar

This new school term has come with many new changes for Southwest Guilford High school, including the arrival of a new principal, Dr. Bracy. Dr. Bracy, since stepping into his leadership position has implemented a stricter tardy policy stating that individuals who are late to class are to be directed to the auditorium or cafeteria for the entire period, or have a parent sign them. This measure is to minimize tardiness. While some students & teachers believe this policy is strict, others feel it fosters accountability and maintains order within the school.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. James, the new health science teacher to get her perspective on the new administration and tardy policy.

"I 100% agree with the new tardy policy, I think it has improved attendance in the classroom and less kids are roaming the halls. " But what about the students who do get picked up by the policy, having to be absent the entire block they could miss out on fundamental classroom learning? Ms. James acknowledges this concern but reassures students they are not missing anything if they take accountability and are responsible.  "There does have to be consequences for being continuously late, and as teachers, we have to put their assignments on canvas, so they are not really missing anything. "

Beyond the new policies Dr. Bracy has been making an effort to connect and engage with students and staff. Most students have not previously met him so I've gotten a statement on his approachable demeanor.  "I like the fact he takes the time to get to know the students, he interacted with my students in the beginning while we were coming back from clinicals, and he was in the hallways talking to them to start building those relationships with the students, So I really like that about him. "

Building a positive and structured school environment appears to be one of Dr. Bracy ́s key goals, and his willingness to engage with students has made a strong impression on many. As the school year progresses, it will be interesting to see how Dr. Bracy counties to shape Southwest High. While some students are still adjusting to the changes, many are optimistic that these changes will foster a more structured and supportive learning environment. If his early efforts are any indication, Dr. Bracy ́s commitment to improving the school is clear, and his hands-on approach is already making a noticeable impact.

Jayla Turner

Southwest Guilford High School now has a new principal, Dr. Bracy. With this change in administration comes new policies and rules for the school. These policies and rules impact everyone, including main office staff and counselors.

Ms. Lee, The front office manager, says that while these new policies haven’t directly impacted her job, she has noticed changes throughout the school. The amount of daily tardies have declined from around 100 a day to about 20-30. Although the new changes in the tardy policy doesn’t modify Ms. Lee's job at all she feels the changes are allowing parents to stay informed about what’s happening in the school. Ms. Lee says parents have stated they were unaware of the amount of tardies. Due to the new tardy policy where if a student comes in late their parent has to sign them in, Ms Lee feels parents are more informed about tardies causing them to be less frequent. Additionally she notices that many students are comfortable with Dr. Bracy enough to confide in him. ‘’The student body can feel like they’re being heard instead of being swept underneath the rug.’’ All in all Ms. Lee feels that the changes being made under Dr. Bracy’s administration are positive and good for the school.

Anayah Taylor, who oversees attendance at Southwest High School, is arguably the most affected by the new tardy policies that have been put in place. According to her, the number of tardy students has dropped down from about 120 to 60. Under the new rules any student who comes in late without a pass has to go directly to in-school suspension (ISS). Taylor says this new policy has affected her job in the sense that overall tardiness has been reduced, but it has also increased the number of students in ISS. Previously Taylor only had to sign in the tardy students, now she is responsible for signing them in and logging in all the kids sent to ISS. Taylor states “It's still a bunch to put in, just in a different way.” Taylor agrees that the new policy has lowered tardy rates, but she also notices that the same kids that were tardy before are still tardy now, and they don’t appear to care about going to ISS everyday. She states “there hasn’t been any real consequences implemented so the kids have ISS for one day and then they don’t care.” This is her biggest concern but she says that the policy is new and changes will be made to improve it.

Mr. Schnaith-Ivan, the lead counselor of the counseling department, says that no real changes have been made to the counseling department, but overall the school has seen less students in the halls which means a decline in altercations, allowing for counselors to focus more on their responsibilities and less on breaking up fights between students. Overall, he feels that the changes that have been made have a positive impact on the school and is looking forward to working with Dr. Bracy in the future.

While sometimes overlooked, main office staff and counselors play an important role within the school and see first hand how new policies and rules impact students and staff. While they view the changes that have been made as positive they also feel improvements should be made to further better the school. All are looking forward to the future and working with Dr. Bracy.