ROWE — For Jon Friedman, stepping into the role of Rowe Elementary School principal felt familiar.
He had previously worked as the adjustment counselor for the Northern Berkshire School Union, and as an assistant principal in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District. As the adjustment counselor, Friedman spent time in each of the schools in the Northern Berkshire School Union, including Rowe for one day each week.
“I was an assistant principal down in Southern Berkshire for two years prior to taking the adjustment counselor position here. A lot of this position mirrors that in some ways,” Friedman said. “I think familiar is the best word I would use. It’s comfortable, there’s a really good staff here.”
Friedman said he was impressed by the commitment of the school’s teachers and staff, and all they do for their students, making him excited to step into the role of principal.
“This is the one that really drew me in, in terms of their approach to kids, the availability of doing all the activities, and the enthusiasm and professionalism of all the staff,” he said.
Friedman replaces former Principal Bill Knittle, who retired at the end of last school year after 14 years at the helm of Rowe Elementary.
He said the first day of school on Wednesday went about as smoothly as a new principal could hope for.
“The bus was a little bit late, but you expect that on the first day,” Friedman said. “We got everybody home safetly, which was my big goal for today.”
In his first year as principal, Friedman said he does not plan to make any big changes. He wants to get to know the school and make small tweaks to what has already been working.
“My goals are to maintain the culture that’s here, and to really be a listener and learner,” Friedman said. “I want to figure out how do we move forward with things that need to be looked at and adjusted slightly, but not to lose what has made the school the school.
“I’m sure there’s some adjustments we’re going to make along the way, but I truly trust the staff and feel like the school was left to me in really good hands,” Friedman continued.
Friedman said he has been working in counseling since 1991, when he graduated with a master’s degree in social work from the University at Buffalo. Having not been a teacher before, he said he plans to spend a lot of time listening to his staff on how he can best support them in implementing the curriculum.
“Coming at it from a counseling perspective, I think I bring a unique way of looking at things,” Friedman said. “But what that means is, having not been a teacher, I have some work to do around some of the academic pieces and figuring out how I can support the staff the best.”
In addition to getting to know Rowe Elementary, he said he hopes the school community and the greater community get to know him.
“I want to be approachable. If they have questions, if they have concerns, if they have needs, I want them to contact me so we can sit down and talk about it,” Friedman said.
As he works to introduce himself to the community, he also hopes to spend time introducing the school to the greater community beyond just parents and families. He said that with budgets getting tighter each year, he wants to ensure the whole community understands the importance of the elementary school. Friedman hopes the school will be able to host more community service days where students can give back, and welcome more parent and community volunteers to support a class activity or join a field trip.
“My ultimate goal is for this community to see the school as valuable a resource as I think everybody here and most of the parents feel it is,” Friedman said, “regardless of budget constraints.”
