When the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy board and administration decided to return the school to a two-principal model last winter, they found new strength and leadership within.
Todd Clauer, a 14-year HBHA veteran who teaches math and science and runs the college-counseling program, was promoted to the role of Upper School principal. A nationwide search for a new Lower and Middle School principal also ultimately ended inside the school’s walls, when Jessica Kyanka-Maggart, who has taught at HBHA since 2004, was hired in late May to oversee grades K through eight.
Head of School Howard Haas explains that the administrative restructuring is primarily an effort to place more emphasis on course-programming and teacher development.
“From an academic standpoint, we strive to be the best in the city, and to be able to do that, you need experts in curriculum and evaluation,” he says. “In both Todd and Jessica, we have that.”
Haas notes that Clauer has been part of the administrative team for years, even serving as interim principal of the upper school the year before Haas arrived.
“Todd is a proven commodity,” he says. “He has the total respect of the students, the staff, and the community.
“Likewise, we found that Jessica’s knowledge and her history with HBHA would give her a recipe for success. She was the best candidate and she knows this community. She has great rapport with the staff, and she’s a warm, open-hearted instructional leader. I think she embodies what we want for our children.”
Along with Rabbi Avi Weinstein, head of Jewish studies, Clauer and Kyanka-Maggart look forward to pursuing and expanding HBHA’s holistic approach that integrates Jewish and general studies — endeavoring for excellence in both — and charts students’ growth as a seamless whole, from kindergarten through high school.
Plans for the new school year, which began Aug. 19, include further development of HBHA’s “Profile Of A Graduate,” an inventory of characteristics, measured through benchmarks, that the school wants to instill over each student’s K-12 experience. Formed through focus groups of parents, teachers, students, alumni, clergy, and other community leaders, “it’s an incredible document that helps guide what everyone in their classroom should be doing,” Kyanka-Maggart says.
As part of a three-year development process, HBHA leaders are now mapping out how to help students reach these goals. “One characteristic is ‘personal connection and commitment to the State of Israel,’ ” Clauer explains. “Well, what does that mean and how do we get our students there? This process will help us grow and stretch as an institution, and be firmly connected to why we’re here.”
The administrators are also looking at how best to apply new technologies to learning, as well as evaluating and expanding outside opportunities — engineering programs through Shawnee Mission, pre-med programs through Blue Valley, classes at local colleges — to balance the intimacy of a small school with greater possibilities.
Having two administrators in charge of curriculum also allows for something impossible with only one, Clauer says: “meaningful dialogue.”
“As a small school, we need to be learners with each other about the most relevant research and by thinking deeply about what is good teaching and powerful learning for our students,” he explains. “We will include that in the way that our teachers operate and the way that we talk about education and interact with families.”
Haas adds that he has already seen the new collaboration pay off during staff development days. “The veterans — some of whom have been here for 30 years — said it was the best opening that we’ve ever had,” he says.
Kyanka-Maggart, who is completing her doctorate in education leadership at Baker University, looks forward to the challenge of her first administrative role, and already feeling at home helps.
“For starters, it was lovely interviewing with people I had known for the last nine years,” she says with a smile. “I feel so fortunate to be in this school. We are one of the oldest K-12 (community) day schools, and now that I’m an administrator, it’s really hit me that I am part of something so special.”
She has been delighted to witness the Lower School’s recent growth; she started here as a co-teacher for a combined fourth-and fifth-grade general studies class; within a few years the numbers had grown to the point where it wasn’t even practical to share recess. “Now, as an administrator, I am fortunate enough to see all the kids and see them grow throughout the years,” she says. “I want to continue that positive energy and atmosphere that this is a family place — it’s a school, but we’re a family. We stick together and support each other, and we all grow up together.”
For Clauer, whose three daughters are current HBHA students, “family” means a blend of his personal and professional roles. “The experience my girls have had here — they love coming every day, they feel connected to their Jewish identity, they’ve developed incredible Hebrew skills, as well as general studies capabilities — is a tremendous inspiration and motivation to do everything to make this school even better.”