For these new school leaders, their teacher was a student

EVERETT — For two days last week, after students had been relinquished to parents and teachers began their summer hiatus, Everett’s newest school administrators boarded a yellow bus and headed back to campus.

Sixteen trainees embarked on a bus tour that has now become a district tradition.

Guided by a student, Everett High School’s Amina Hussein, the veteran educators crossed the district, at each stop attended training sessions and along the way learned something about the community they will serve.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Jalene Finley, the new assistant principal at Heatherwood Middle School and a transplant from Spokane.

The bus tour, now in its fifth year, is Everett Public Schools’ way of emphasizing its priorities and core values to the newest leaders, while introducing them to the geographical diversity of the district and building camaraderie.

Before they got far, the inductees heard from a voice even newer to the district than many of their own. Superintendent Ian Saltzman greeted them on his first day leading the district.

“It’s nice to be new with everyone, it’s just exciting,” Saltzman said afterward.

On day one, with plenty to do, the 30-year veteran of public schools from The School District of Palm Beach County in Florida wanted his new colleagues to feel welcome.

“I am always going to set by example, I am with you, so I always want you to think I am part of the team,” Saltzman said.

The administrators’ introduction to Saltzman was brief, but they will be seeing a lot of him.

The former special education teacher and principal boasts a history of visiting classrooms as an administrator in his last district. He said that while today he dons a suit jacket, by the first day of school his sleeves will be rolled up and his tie loosened.

“You are never out of the schools, I am learning every day,” he said. “I will visit schools a lot, get to know the kids, get to know the principals and get to know the teachers, that’s always been my mantra. I learn by doing, I learn by being visible.”

While the new superintendent didn’t continue on with the tour, his top confidants delivered the district’s message. Deputy Superintendent Peter Scott, and three assistant superintendents, Sally Lancaster, Larry Fleckenstein and Jeanne Willard, accompanied both days of the tour.

“Leadership matters,” Scott said before pointing to a quote on the tour itinerary, which read: “Wherever one finds an effective school there exists an effective principal as its leader.”’

“That is why, that is the big why,” Scott said. “You won’t find a successful school without a successful team of leaders and they lead by example, so it’s worth every penny and it’s worth every hour we put into it.”

In classroom sessions, administrators received the same introduction one might get at any job: computer system set-ups, finances and human resources. The topics became more specific, as seasoned principals led sessions on “The Everett Way,” evaluating teachers and crafting effective staff newsletters.

“I have felt so supported,” Finley said on her second day in the district. “I feel like they are looking out for my success and that translates into success for my students and families.”

Once they’d bounced between three high schools, two middle schools and a pair of elementary schools, the newbies turned their attention toward the tour guide.

Hussein offered a perspective quite different than any other on the bus, that of a student. She shared her knowledge of Everett, the city she grew up in, while also interjecting facts about the city’s history from note cards she prepared.

“It’s more than just symbolic that a student is the first face they see, because that is who we serve,” Scott said. “The new administrator induction in and of itself would not be as complete without a student sharing perspectives about his or her community.”

Hussein shared the restaurants her peers frequent and some favorite spots to relax. For parts of the sprawling 26-school district that she knew less about, Hussein crowdsourced tidbits using Snapchat and friends from other schools.

“We are learning a lot about Everett, not just the school district, but the city of Everett and the history behind it,” said Clinton Porter, assistant principal at Woodside and Cedar Wood elementary schools. “It’s really creating a connection between myself, not living in Everett, and the school district and the community.”

Even as the tour ended and tired administrators funneled off the school bus, their education was far from complete. They weren’t sent off with homework. Each month throughout the year, this same group will gather for instructional follow-up sessions.

For now, the principals and vice principals will unleash their new-found knowledge on their new schools, where their most recent instructor — an incoming high school junior — forecasts nothing but success.

“I know that they are going to be a good fit for every single school they go to and the schools are lucky to have them,” Hussein said.

Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3449; idavisleonard@heraldnet.com. Twitter: IanDavisLeonard.