Assistant Principal Marianne Hew ‘switches’ places with Trudy Gross from the District Office.
A student finally reaches the library after standing in line for hours waiting at Running of the Bulls. He stands nervously, waiting for Assistant Principal Marianne Hew to approve his schedule change; instead, he looks up to see a bright, unfamiliar face.
Hew left MVHS at the end of last year to take the position of Coordinator of Curriculum and Assessment at the district office. Former Director of Educational Services Trudy Gross has filled Hew’s position.
The switch in jobs comes with a twist. While Gross replaced Hew, Hew replaced a man who took over Gross’ former job, forming a unique triangle switch.
"The three of us are very good at what we used to do," Gross said. "Now we all feel kind of anxious about learning new jobs. But it’s the three of us, safety in numbers."
Gross, a veteran of the district, taught for a year at Lynbrook High School before serving 11 additional years at the district office. While Gross has worked with groups of special education students at different schools, MVHS will be her first time working with students on a daily basis in an administrative position.
As the school year kicks off, Gross’ first challenge and primary responsibility is to develop the master schedule and staffing—the mechanics of MVHS. For an assistant principal, creating a master schedule that allows all students to take the classes they want is a daunting task. Fortunately, there will be less confusion at Running of the Bulls this year as the administration expects that most of the schedule changes will only come from classes of conflicting times.
While the master schedule is difficult to create, Gross is not completely alone in her task. Though Hew will not be at MVHS everyday, Gross and Hew have been collaborating to complete the task.
"It’s always difficult transitioning to a new job. We actually met this morning for an hour and went through the things that happen before school starts," Hew said. "I think Gross will be the be the right person [for the job]."
