Melissa Bailey Photo
A principal lauded for bringing order to a New Haven middle school has a new assignment: running the city’s largest high school.
The principal, Peggy Moore (pictured), will begin a new stint as principal of Wilbur Cross High School on Tuesday, pending approval by the Board of Education Monday night, Superintendent of Schools Reggie Mayo confirmed Friday.
Mayo has tapped Moore’s assistant, Shawn True, to succeed her as principal of Betsy Ross Arts Interdistrict Magnet School.
Moore’s new assignment at Wilbur Cross ends an extended search for a replacement for Principal Rose Coggins, who is retiring.
Moore, who also serves as president of the school administrators union, takes over 1,300-student Cross as it undergoes a reorganization into four separate “houses” next month. (Read about that here.)
She also takes the reins of a school where officials have sought to impose more order. Moore earned plaudits for slashing the number of suspensions and improving the of the learning atmosphere at Betsy Ross through a program called Positive Behavior Supports. Click here to read a story about that.
Mayo said Friday that he recruited Moore for the Cross post this week after a second round of searching for a new principal hit a dead end. He said he offered the job to a woman from New York City who had run a 2,000-student school, but the woman ended up taking a principal’s post in a town in New York State.
Mayo said he decided that Moore had the right skills and track record to guide Cross. He broached the idea to her Monday, he said; by Wednesday she said she was ready to “take Wilbur Cross to a new level. She is an energetic person, no nonsense but still compassionate.”
When Mayo broke the news to Betsy Ross staff this week, “tears broke out all over the place,” he said.
Gloria Marley and Shawn True at Betsy Ross.
While she’s scheduled to begin at Cross on Tuesday, Moore will also spend time mentoring her replacement, True, to help with the transition back at Betsy Ross, Mayo said.
Aiming High
In a conversation Friday, Moore said she’s still getting a handle on Cross staffs’ main concerns. She begins with two major goals herself, she said: Order in the building and upping attendance.
“Paramount is discipline. I believe in boundaries. I truly believe that we have to have very high expectations when it comes to behavior. That’s key for me,” she remarked.
“The other thing that I read some place in most of the high schools the other major concern would be attendance. We’re never going to achieve if you never come to school.”
Other priorities she mentioned: Reading and math achievement. The quality of teaching. (“If I don’t have quality teaching, there’s no change.”) And data. (“I’m definitely a person who believes in utilizing data. We will definitely collect that data. We will definitely analyze it. I know that we utilize all of that information.”)
Moore has worked in New Haven’s schools for 28 years, the last 12 as Ross’s principal. She said she is a “drum major” for a MacMillan and Company motto: “Anything you do in life, you must do better than best. I’m kind of a drum major for that belief. I believe if you just walk every day with the intention of doing whatever you’re doing to the best of your ability, you will be successful in it.”