Administrators and office staff spent last week hunting down fans at Herndon High School when the rooftop air conditioner that keeps the office area cool broke down. In addition, the school was hit by a computer virus that required technicians to come in and clean everything out. All the while principal Janice Leslie is trying to hire new staff and tend to last minute tasks in order get her school ready for classes Sept. 2.
Even with the hectic week, Leslie found time to answer some questions last Friday:
* How long have you been an educator? With Fairfax County? A principal?
Janice Leslie: Thirty years, about 25 years, I began as an assistant principal at Herndon Middle School in 1985.
* What experience(s) led you to want to be a principal?
Leslie: A lot. When I became a teacher, I was an activities sponsor for yearbook and theater. Those things always led me to take on leadership roles. I was a department head and it kind of evolved from there.
* How long have you been at this school?
Leslie: Six years, it was my first principalship.
* Have you ever had your own children at the same school you were teaching or the principal of? If yes, how do you 'switch off the educator' when you get home?
Leslie: I have no children. I always say, I've been mother to thousands, but never to one of my own.
* What is the most difficult part of being a principal?
Leslie: Juggling the many conflicting demands on any given day. The tardy bell is at 7:15, and I have issues all day and another job at night attending activities and meetings. In the high-school setting there is something going on every night. This community has high expectations for a presence at these activities.
* What is the best part?
Leslie: Seeing the kids succeed. And probably the very best of that is seeing a young person who had obstacles and seeing him or her succeed and being able to hand him or her a diploma at graduation.
* What is your most memorable experience?
Leslie: I don't know if I could name one.
* Come June, what do you hope to have accomplished?
Leslie: I hope that we have provided the best education for our students. I hope our kids are able to score where they need to on the SOLs [Standards of Learning] tests and others to get to graduate. I hope we can all say we did the very best we can do and had fun doing it.