JENNIFER GRIFFIN NAMED NEW BRENHAM HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Brenham High School has named a new principal.
The Brenham School Board voted unanimously Monday after an executive session to hire Jennifer Griffin as the next principal of the high school. Griffin comes from Montgomery ISD, where she served as assistant principal at Montgomery High School and as the At-Risk Coordinator.
Griffin fills the position formerly held by Joseph Chandler, who in September accepted a new position with Houston ISD. Currently, Brandi Hendrix is serving as the interim high school principal, in addition to her regular duties as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.
Griffin says she was drawn to Brenham’s smaller, tight-knit community.
(courtesy Brenham ISD)
At Montgomery ISD, Griffin developed a comprehensive At-Risk program including a mentoring component for students. She also introduced an RTI program that focused on interventions for students struggling in math and reading. In addition, she expanded the CTE courses and increased opportunities for students to earn Industry-Based Certifications.
Griffin is looking forward to meeting students, teachers, staff and community members, and says she is eager to help however she can.
Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin said Griffin impressed the hiring committee with “her energy, enthusiasm, and her knowledge of structures, processes, and procedures.”
Griffin will assume the new leadership role at the start of the second semester.
Also at Monday’s meeting, trustees recognized the teacher, student and paraprofessional of the month at Brenham Junior High School, as well as the district’s child nutrition employee and maintenance employee of the month. This month’s honorees include:
Teacher of the Month: Diana Kohring
Student of the Month: Jordyn Dickson
Paraprofessional of the Month: Claudia Bartkowiak
Child Nutrition Employee of the Month: Martha Wendt
Maintenance Employee of the Month: Willie Ford
Department of the Month: Counselors
During Dr. Chaplin's monthly report, he recognized longtime KWHI Sports Director Ed Pothul and avid Brenham Cub supporter Dr. Robert Stark, who both passed away in late October. He also extended condolences to the family and friends of Gwen Adams, a paraprofessional at Brenham High School, who died on Sunday.
I adore all the locals already calling for the heads of anyone not born and raised here. This is very on par for this town. Teachers ran off “outside” principals in the past and locals will do all they can to run outside people out of town, not understanding that the “outsiders” are the future of Brenham. And it doesn’t matter if you have been here 5 years or 25 years or if you were born and raised here and your parents were not. If your bloodline doesn’t trace back long enough for the locals, you are looked down on and treated like dirt the second anyone discovers you are not local. It is sad and goes against the “culture” this town likes to brag about: warm welcoming and neighborly. The only people who have been that way in my experience are people who transplant to this town or people who don’t know you are not local.
We did not expect anything different from this school board and supt. They ran off Dr. Jackson, several principals and teachers are leaving by the bus load. Teachers are treated as liabilities rather than appreciated as talented professionals who have dedicated their lives to instructing OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN and in return are paid “slave” wages. The school board DOES NOT represent the thinking of the majority of residents in this city and that is the problem. Look at the mess that the so called “intellectual elites” of our town have made whose only agenda is to keep Brenham/Washington County locked in the dark ages of ignorance and racism. Speak to your neighbor, host community rallies and town halls, speak at your local church, do mass mailings and know the power of the “streets”. We can turn this around. The lives of our children and grandchildren are at stake. Promotions should come from within the district! Teachers, counselors, para-professionals, administration should reflect the diversity of the community it serves; otherwise, we have the kinds of issues that are provoking anger, discontentment and causing ineffective learning for our students.
Brandi Hendrix (assistant superintendent and interim at HS) came to BISD from Montgomery. She has done nothing but worsen the situation at the high school. Ran off a good principal. Put herself as interim. Implemented the inclusion disaster. Shuffled assistant principals around campuses. A whole laundry list of bad decisions with terrible impacts on students and faculty . This is her protegè from Montgomery. It will be more of the same. Great job, school board. I was born and raised here. I raised my kids here. My husband and I have dedicated decades of life and service to this District and community. And now I’m approaching the end of my career and I am more appalled every day by the direction this administration is taking this school and this District. And the school board has rubber stamped every bit of it. I will be one of MANY dedicated teachers and staff leaving BISD as soon as possible. If the community cares, they’ll hold the school board responsible.
Great, another outside hire. Does BISD learn nothing?