Devon Weeden
Principal, North Middlesex DHS
Raised: Kingston
Lives: London
Experience: Napanee, Strathroy, Glencoe, Saunders (VP), Arthur Voaden (VP). This is first principal position.
Coming to North Middlesex
It is a big change. I’m looking forward to working with the community and the kids. I’m working on the school improvement plan with the staff. There have been lots of things since I’ve arrived. We have been working on the Grade 9 successful start program, where kids come in and meet with the Student Administrative Council and Marauders Athletics Association. They’ve learned about transition and using the library as well.
New this year:
I’m interested in working collaboratively with school council and as part of our school improvement plan, we’ll be working on merging the board goals with our tailored goals here.
Focus for the year:
We’re taking a very active role to improve student learning. The goal statements we’re merging are to improve student learning, reduce identifiable instruction gaps, and to increase graduation rates. We’re putting a large amount of effort into our Grade 9 successful start program so they earn their eight credits for the year and they’re in good stead for the remainder of their high school career.
To students:
My overall vision is that we’re all people first and nothing is insurmountable.
To parents:
We’re all working together. At school, it’s not only about the curriculum, but also the leadership skills and the opportunities to be exposed to different things.
Outside of work:
I don’t have a lot of hobbies because school keeps me busy. I like to be physically active and on weekends I bicycle through the Springbank Park system. It’s a gorgeous area and a great opportunity to stay in shape and spend time with friends.
Urban vs. rural:
There’s a connectedness here. Urban kids have access to different things, but here people are very supportive of each other.