Administrative trust starts with administrative continuity

By Sam MacklemJudging from the pep rally fiasco that happened only a few weeks ago, one can assume that the Samo administration understandably feels disrespected. I don’t think that the administration is at fault at all for the students’ behavior at the rally. However, I honestly do believe that there are steps that administration can take to dissuade that from happening again.I’ve had three different house principals during my four years at Samo, and I know other seniors who have had a new house principal every year they’ve been in school. This is the first real issue, because students aren’t able to establish a real relationship with the administration that they’d be exposed to the most. I understand that being a house principal at Samo is often a transitional job for people to build up experience to work in a higher-level position at another school, but the high turnover rate of house principals is so high that it fractures the culture between students and the administration. Former H-House Principal Leslie Wells was one of the longstanding house principals at Samo, having worked here in varying levels of administration for 13 years. When Wells gave a presentation in my English class my junior year, he talked about how important it was to establish a personal connection between administration and the student body. That’s why he purposefully stood outside every morning and wished every student he say a good morning. Wells was a great house principal, but, unfortunately, he no longer works at Samo. All the effort that he put into building a personal relationship with the students is wasted.The house counselors often cycle out too, which causes different problems in its own right. Personally, I’m extremely lucky to have had a fantastic counselor all of my four years, but I know students who just don’t have that, and it’s really damaging to their high school experience. Not having a personal relationship with your house counselor makes it almost impossible to get a meaningful letter of recommendation for college applications, and it also makes meeting with a counselor more of a business conference than the friendly discussion it should be.The culture of respect that an administration position demands comes over time. The more that students see an active administrator helping the school and doing their jobs efficiently, the more that students will be compliant in working with them. When you have house principals that basically come with a shelf life sticker on them for two years if you’re lucky, it’s really hard to establish that respect.Furthermore, it’s hard for these administrators to be efficient when they aren’t used to the climate of Samo as a school, and that makes it hard for certain standards to be held consistent between years. The dress code, homework policy and tardy policy have all been changed in the time that I’ve been at Samo, not only in content but also in the extent to which they’re enforced. I’m sure many students remember the days of Principal Eva Mayoral telling us over the intercom to refrain from showing “bellies, breasts, butts, or bras/boxers.” There’s been almost no mention of the dress code since then.With the pep rallies, I’m not insinuating that the rowdy behavior was administration’s fault. I simply believe that it isn’t an issue without a solution. Respect is a personal relationship that develops over time. For Samo to truly have a well-respected and decisive administration, the administrators have to start treating their jobs as long-term positions. It’s that simple.