THE INTERVIEW WITH LABOSKI
The Spartan Scoop gets a unique look into the life of the school’s principal
Mr. Laboski gives a thumbs up at his desk.
Surprise! Once again, Sentinel is looking for a new principal, one to hopefully stay for a while. The school has gone through a few principals in the past two years, all for different reasons. The current principal, Trevor Laboski, is getting promoted, leaving the position open for anyone who might want to apply.
In an interview with Laboski, we were able to find out what he thought about being the head of the school for the year. “It had been ten years since I was a principal,” he said. Interestingly enough, he’d been a principal at multiple schools, including an international school overseas. “I was a principal in Corvallis… down the bitterroot. And then I moved to Big Sky, and I was there for four years… and the last six years I was overseas… in Malaysia.” Laboski commented that the transition into being Sentinel’s principal was not difficult, because he’d had the experience before he came here. And, before he went to Malaysia, he’d been the school’s assistant superintendent for four years. When asked why he returned, Laboski said: “there was a position open here… just a one year position. It was a good opportunity to help us get back.”
Some of the positives of being the principal make the job worth it. “The kids and the teachers are the primary thing… it’s a really good group of people. Sentinel’s way more diverse than people think… being principal, I interact with students more, and it’s a great school.” Some negatives, too: “The biggest challenge for me was probably moving back into the country… but also, the time and energy that goes into athletics.”
I think we all need… to be forgiving of one another.
Mr. Laboski
So, finally, what do we know about the coming of the new principal? As of now, there’s not a whole lot of information available about the behind-the-scenes work of choosing the new school leader. Even Laboski wasn’t able to answer very many questions. The promotion he is being offered is a big step from being the principal. “I’m excited. It’s a great opportunity to learn new things, and I like change… I’m becoming the Executive Director of Human Resources [for MCPS].”
We started looking for a new principal about a month ago, in the beginning of January. It should be wrapped up by the beginning of March. So far, very little is known, even just about who has applied or how many have applied.
“The applications close this Friday (February 10th)… and then it closes, they find the people who applied, and they screen the applications. They have an interview committee who interviews them.” The actual announcement about the new chosen principal won’t come for months.
Unfortunately, a whole lot of information won’t be given to anyone in the school, whether staff or students, for a while. It’s a waiting game as we prepare for the arrival of the new principal at the beginning of next year. At the end of the interview, Laboski said, “I think we all need… to be forgiving of one another. Work through everything the best we can.”
