Longtime math teacher is new assistant principal

By HADLEY NEAL, Gazebo Staff Writer

Theresa Ferrari has hit the ground running.

Ferrari is the new upper school assistant principal. So far, she said, students have been more respectful in class, paid closer attention to the dress code, and have been better about cleaning up after themselves in the lunchroom and hallways.

She seems to be everywhere- up and down the halls, around the curves, and in the lunchroom. She is ready to greet students (by their full names, of course) and enforce the new rules.

She is responsible for the new discipline policies and their consequences.

♦ Surrendering your cell phone and silent lunch for two days if you disrupt class.
♦ Complete cleaning or recycling duty after school if a mess is left in the lunchroom.
♦ Surrendering a cellphone every tardy a student has (in excess of three per quarter).
♦ Male students must put on a provided belt if they forget one.
♦ Female students must change into provided pants if they violate the five-inch dress code rule.

Ferrari keeps a notebook with all her daily tasks listed, and she’s constantly busy.

Yet, she still finds the time to form personal relationships with all her students, even if she did not teach them. It has been a goal of hers to learn every student’s name, and she enjoys socializing in the hallways as well.

In fact, one of her main concerns when she accepted the position was if she was going to “get enough interaction with the students.” Ferrari believes she’s doing a pretty good job of that.

“I’m going out of my way to try and be in the halls, and be at the lunch tables, and be talking with the students, because I really enjoy that part of my job is interacting with people,” she said.

Upper school principal Margaret Brogdon has helped Ferrari when it comes to managing the stress of school starting, by reassuring her that soon “everything will slow down.”