‘Everything you said is true’
Assistant principal treasures his students, then and now
Educators seem to
either love or hate teaching
at the middle school level.
Rolando Parkins is the former
– he wouldn’t want to work
anywhere else.
“I love middle school,” said
Parkins, assistant principal at
Mountain Island Lake Academy.
“It’s a really awkward time in
kids’ lives when they’re trying
to figure out who they are. But
you help them learn that it’s
not all about what their friends
think and teach them to listen
to their parents and to be a
better person.”
Parkins is one of 251
assistant principals who work in
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
The National Association of
Elementary School Principals
and the American Federation
of School Administrators
have designated April 9-13 as
National Assistant Principals
Week to honor assistant
principals and recognize their contributions to the success of students across
the United States.
Dr. Clayton Wilcox, CMS superintendent, recognized the district’s
assistant principals for taking on the challenges, responsibility and hard work
inherent in their jobs.
“Every day, you work with our teachers and staff, students and families
to drive instruction, improve school culture and make your school the best it
can be,” he said. “I encourage everyone to take time to thank an assistant
principal this week.”
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Parkins decided to become an educator while
attending Pace University. He taught two years in New York and four years
in Montgomery County, Md.,
before moving to Charlotte in
2004. He taught eighth-grade
social studies at Piedmont
Middle, where in 2014 he
became dean of students in
charge of the seventh-grade
team. He became assistant
principal at Mountain Island
Lake in 2016.
“I initially didn’t think I
wanted to be an administrator
but I was a site coordinator for
Freedom School and liked the
leadership role,” Parkins said.
“At Thomasboro (Academy),
we had 120 scholars and 12
college students working with
them. I liked teaching them to
be leaders.”
Parkins joined Mountain
Island Lake for its first year
as a full K-8 program and
worked to create a middle
school culture and to start
new traditions. This year, he
instituted a house system
(think Harry Potter) across the middle school grades. The four houses are
named for gods from Greek mythology, which is part of the sixth- and eighth-
grade curriculum. Students earn points for making honor roll, playing sports,
etc. and the house with the most points will win a party.
Parkins’ goal is to become a middle school principal in about three years,
after his sixth-graders graduate from the school. He said one of his daughters
currently has a teacher who was his student in eighth-grade and he likes
seeing how the time and effort has paid off.
“Some of them come back and say, ‘Everything you said is true,’” he said.
“Those are the moments that are really cool.”
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Parent Teacher Magazine • May/June 2018 • 5