It is not every day that a school experiences the differences that a new principal brings to a school over the course of just a few weeks. However, Paint Branch was no ordinary school this past month when the principal stylings of Ms. Ruschel Rueben took over the building.
  Ms. Reuben spent four weeks running Paint Branch and gained valuable experience in her role as principal. Ms. Reuben explains that her job as active principal was to “do what Ms. Dixon does…to oversee everything from students to staff.” In short, “I had to act as the principal.”  Ms. Reuben notes that she “loved” her experience as acting principal, saying that she got to know students and staff better and saw what a principal position is all about. Ms. Dixon praised Ms. Rueben’s performance, saying Ms. Rueben did an “outstanding job” and that she was very proud of Ms. Rueben’s “fabulous job.”In fact, at the March staff meeting Ms. Dixon awarded Ms. Rueben a PB Gold Star for her work as acting principal.
 Ms. Rueben sums up her term as principal in three simple words: “Exciting, informative, and invaluable.” She also explains that she had three main goals as principal, “to maintain all the great things about Paint Branch… to be visible for staff and students… and to bring something new.”  Ms. Rueben says her most rewarding aspect of her principal-ship was that she got to know students and “they got to know me.”
When you ask most people –students and staff- what Ms. Rueben meant by “something new,” they bring up “Hall Sweeps.” Hall sweeps was an initiative enacted by Ms. Rueben (approved by Ms. Dixon) to accomplish uninterrupted bell-to-bell instruction. In her time as acting principal, Ms. Rueben says hat her most challenging time was seeing close to 80 students in the cafeteria during the first hall sweep. As for how the hall sweep initiative affected this she notes that the number decreased as the weeks went by and students began getting the message.
As for what she learned on the job, Ms. Rueben notes that, “the power of the principal-ship lies in affecting student’s lives.” She also notes that her experience has given her a renewed respect for Ms. Dixon.
As to the question of any failures she may have experienced, Ms. Rueben says, “No,” adding, “I knew the time I had, so I structured myself to achieve my goals.
While Ms. Rueben was achieving her goals, Ms Dixon was traveling. Not exactly the type you do on vacation but rather she traveled to other schools in our area (17 to be exact). She spent time with other principals and got to know students at other schools. She explains that this was a great “professional development experience.” However, Ms. Dixon is glad to be back, saying, “it’s great to be back, doing what I do every day.”