McClellan's new principal Mr. Burton greets students Keanna Cox and Kensley Hewlett while conducting one of his many classroom walk-throughs.
McClellan's new principal leads school in pursuit of excellence
Mr. Marvin Burton is a principal who has built a solid reputation during his many years as an educator. He is known as an administrator who gets results, as shown by his success in recent years at Henderson Health Sciences Magnet. a middle school in Little Rock.
"The teachers and I were able to transform the mind-set of the students to want to do better, and our test performance showed that. I’m trying to do the same here by getting all the teachers and students to buy into my ultimate plan for academic excellence,” explained Burton.
His leadership style has been described by staff and students at McClellan as "earnest," "organized" and "meticulous."
“I’m a very serious-minded individual especially when it comes to students and their education. I take their education as serious as their lives, because it really does determine what type of life they will have," said Burton.
"I am very respectful to students but I am extremely serious as far as what I expect from them. I will try my best to help any of them as much as I can, because I really want the best for our students," he added.
Burton's measured enthusiasm and no-nonsense approach to his job has impressed many. AP Pyschology and Civics teacher Ms. Reed said, “I appreciate that changes he’s trying to make academically, and hopefully we’ll reach the goals of increasing our test scores and student achievement.”
Others have adopted a more wait-and-see stance to Burton's efforts. ” At first I didn’t like the things he was doing, but he’s okay…I guess," said junior Amber Thomas.
Burton has a wife who teaches chemistry at Parkview Magnet High School. Even though they have no children yet, the Burtons are looking to adopt some day. When he's not engaged with work at McClellan, Burton enjoys lifting weights and working in his yard. He said, "I like to work with my hands."
Hands-on. It's an approach that Burton lives by, and it is an example that McClellan seems to be moving toward more and more each day.
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