Partnership Principal Janie Hill Hatton

     Janie Hill Hatton, principal, North Division Virtual University High School, Milwaukee, is an energized visionary with a mission to help young people and her community. Servant leadership sustains this principal.

     “When I asked to be assigned to this school three years ago, we set about transforming it from a low-performing school into a mecca of learning for the disenfranchised, poor, and under achiever who lives in this neighborhood.” The school is now described as a “global electronic campus from where students project themselves via computer into a web of learning opportunities and experiences. It is becoming into three small schools”

     A person who has the skill for pulling together people who are willing to work for change, Hatton went to the PTO, alumni, and others with a plan to create by the 2001-2002 school year from learning academies that would reach out to families and return the school to being a hub of the community in an urban renewal setting. Working closely with Charlene Hardin, vice president of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, and local community members, Hatton moved ahead with the mission.

     “The parents and students in this community wanted change, and my responsibility, as school leader, was to explore ways to bring about that change,” she recalled. “I traveled around the country and to Europe to visit successful schools and was able to bring ideas back to help our young people, especially African-American students. The clear message that comes from every successful school is that education allows us to do great things. This is distributive leadership in action.”

     Then another opportunity presented itself to Hatton, who is never one to pass up an opportunity.

     “We learned that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was interested in Milwaukee and would provide additional opportunities to redesign our high school,” she said. “Under the Gates initiative, each school would become an autonomous academy. We pulled together more than 110 people including alumni; the Chamber of Commerce president; Pamela Clark, representing the Gear-Up Program; NAACP representatives, parents, and representatives of religious groups to help us evaluate the potential. Teachers were especially excited, many having written plans for the academy early in the process.”

     Now a number of schools supported by the Gates Foundation operate in Milwaukee. Under this plan, North Division, which currently has 363 juniors and seniors, will be phased out in 2006, and small schools will be the learning communities for diverse needs.

     And while that means Hatton will be moving now to another assignment, she is proud and excited about what is happening in Milwaukee. Her new role as facilitator principal coach will be to support emerging small schools and other traditional schools transitioning from large to small.

    “Good things are going on here,” she says. “Our superintendent, William Andrekopoulos, is a visionary; we have the finest teachers in the world; and we are developing a working, responsive set of learning communities.”

     Hatton, who was the first National Principal of the Year named by the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 1993, credits The Principals’ Partnership and especially Consultant Howard Jennings will helping her move her school forward. In addition to the research and other consultative services, the Partnership has caused her to look at leadership from a different perspective.

    “I’m seeing corporate thinking, quality control, assessment, and corporate partnerships as great catalysts for reforming an organization.”

    Hatton, who calls her husband and daughter her greatest supporters, believes principals must be “capacity builders” and advocates for services for 21st century learners.

    “A major responsibility of principals is to build capacity for people,” she indicates. “It’s about schooling the public. Schools must become the hubs of our communities.”

    She also believes that school systems must invest in stronger professional development for school leaders, and cites principal centers as a successful model. Principals should also have the opportunity to attend seminars with CEOs of major companies and become better connected with elected officials.

    “We also need to identify more women and people of color for the principalship and have more people emerge from communities who can walk the walk and understand the needs and abilities of all children.”

   With strong feelings about young people, strong leaders, and the essential value of public education, one has to believe Janie Hill Hatton will find yet another challenge when North Division is phased out.

    More information can be found about North Division High and the Milwaukee reform initiative on the Milwaukee Public Schools web site, http://www.milwaukee.k12.wi.us. Hatton’s email is [email protected]