Last year, in her first term as superintendent, Dr. Nancy Allen-Mastro was often seen around school events, attending performances, sports games and talent shows. This is her second year here in that role, and her involvement in school activities hasn't faltered. In fact, one could even say she's doing more. I sat down for an interview with her to talk about district goals, what to look for in the coming years, and Sibley's new principal.
She says that she knows much more about the community and feels much more a "rooted" part of it, rather than a spectator. When I interviewed her last year she laid out four specific goals. She wanted to pull back the curtain on how school administration does business. Now a year later new areas for improvement and efficiency have been identified, and planning for the future has taken a key role. Last year she talked about wanting to offer more college credit options at Sibley. This year the district is entering into a partnership with Inver Hills to offer more in-school options for college credit. This innovative plan will be gradually implemented, but there are already conversations with Inver Hills.
Now that Dr. Allen Mastro has been here for a year she is also dealing with additional goals and projects. One of her pioneering achievements of the last year was the strategic framework. Created during three stakeholder engagement meetings, the framework sets out the districts mission, core values, and vision. "This is who we are," says Dr. Allen-Mastro. She views the framework and its goals as a pathway for the district (a visual of these goals is below).
Along with a new framework, our district also welcomes a new principal to Sibley. Upon asking her why she was excited to work with him she responded, "Redetzke has great passion, energy and enthusiasm." She talks about him being very student centered with a great vision for learning. "He is very excited to work with the teachers, students, and parents," she says.
But how much does a new administrator change a school? She talked about how every administrator has their own style, including personality, beliefs and personal experiences. An administrator's effectiveness is partially based on that. Whatever Redetske brings, she says, "It will be a process to get used to. The most valuable thing a new administrator can bring is new perspective." She continues, "They make objective observations that people on the inside are incapable of making. They help point out things and ask questions that make you think." With a relatively new superintendent and a brand new principal, Sibley, as the only high school, can look forward to changes, innovations, and ideas that are sure to reflect this new perspective.
