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From the Pasadena Star News:
Article
Published: Friday, May 28, 2004 - 8:47:29 PM PST
Webb
to take reins at Muir
El
Segundo Middle School chief will try to revive beleaguered campus
Daniel
Webb standing in front of the Muir High School building
adjacent to the a metal sculpture of a Mustang, the school mascot.
Daniel Webb has been selected to be the new principal at Muir High School.
(Staff photo by Walt Mancini)
PASADENA
-- After a four-month selection process involving teachers, students and
community members, veteran principal Daniel Webb has been tapped to lead
troubled Muir High School.
Webb, 52, who
has headed El Segundo Middle School in the El Segundo Unified School District
for the past five years, will take the spot vacated by Melda Gaskins, who
stepped down after complaints by teachers and community members alike.
Gaskins took
over as the school's sole principal last fall when co-principal Eddie Newman
moved to district headquarters, and her appointment prompted an immediate outcry
from Muir community members who said she had neither the experience nor the
ability to lead the school. The criticism only increased in volume as the months
went on, and assistant principal John Finn stepped in as an interim replacement
in March.
Percy Clark,
superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District, took a pre-emptive
strike in looking for Gaskins' replacement, assembling a team of 13 students,
teachers and community members to narrow the field to three candidates.
Webb, whose
appointment was announced Friday, will earn $102,000.
He'll be
entering a different world at Muir.
The
830-student El Segundo Middle School is 74- percent white, 14- percent Latino
and 1- p ercent African American, according to the state Department of
Education.
Muir's
1,400-student campus is 46- percent African American, 44- percent Latino and 8-
percent white.
In terms of
test scores, El Segundo is ranked in the top 10 percent of middle schools in the
state. The school's Academic Performance Index base score increased from 780 in
1999, when Webb became principal, to 826 in 2003, the last year for which data
are available. The statewide target is 800.
Muir didn't
receive a 2003 API because the school didn't test enough students. In 2002,
however, the API base was 561 and the school ranked in the bottom 20 percent of
high schools in the state.
"We've
got state intervention looking right at us,' Clark said. "It'd be a miracle
if we were able to avoid it. (But) it's all about leadership.'
Webb said
increasing morale and teamwork is one of his first challenges.
"The
strategy is to get all of the teachers on board in teaching the standards,' Webb
said. "They're strong teachers, they're dedicated teachers, but they're not
as happy as they can be. If the teachers are happy, they want to be motivated.
If they're on board, the scores will zoom up and not just for subgroups, for the
whole school.'
"There's
just a piece missing. I'll put the piece back and it'll be OK.'
Bob Harrison,
co-chairman of the principal selection committee and a Muir parent, said visits
to El Segundo to talk to teachers, students and the superintendent played a
large role in Webb's hiring. Webb was consistently described as a good listener
and someone with the students in mind, Harrison said.
"That was
really the most powerful part of this thing because we were able to see whether
what we heard in the interview was really true,' Harrison said. Teachers at El
Segundo said Webb was in the classroom every day, selection committee co-
chairman Johnie Driver said.
"I think
we have someone who's capable, energetic and hands-on,' Driver said.
Before moving
to El Segundo Middle School, Webb spent seven years as principal of three rural
Northern California high schools: the 150-student Hayfork High School in the
Mountain Valley Unified School District, the 250-student Tulelake High School in
Tulelake Basin Joint Unified School District and the 235-student Weed High
School in the Siskiyou Union High School District.
El Segundo
resident Robin Funk, who said she worked closely with Webb when she was PTA
president at the middle school, said Webb's strengths include instilling
discipline and structure on campus.
"There
were a lot of kids who were clearly upset that he was leaving the school because
he did provide the guidance and structure they needed at that age,' Funk said.
She said he is
also a strong proponent of music and the arts and welcomes parent involvement.
"He's
very open to hearing a better way to do things,' Funk added.
Webb said he
anticipates a substantial increase in the API score in his first year.
"A big
part is educating the parents and the kids as to how important the testing
process is,' said Webb, who held assemblies at El Segundo honoring students who
made gains on standardized tests. "A lot of it is the energy of the
community. And a lot of it depends on the people that you hire.'
-- Gretchen
Hoffman can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4494, or by e-mail at gretchen.hoffman@sgvn.com
.
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