The changes of the new year, from new faculty to new students, brought new opportunities for Mr. Kyle Slatery, previous religious studies, philosophy and ethics teacher. This year, he also added Assistant Dean of Students to his already numerous titles, yet Mr. Slatery does not seem daunted by this task.

“Transition in terms of experience is just a deeper experience of what I already had,” Mr. Slatery said.

Mr. Slatery is excited to see what he can achieve with his new job. There were many reasons Mr. Slatery wanted to take the job but the main one was the students.

“We have awesome kids here. They are a lot of fun to work with,” Mr. Slatery said.

Students are also excited about Mr. Slatery’s new position.

“I think he is going to be a great Assistant Dean,” Junior Morgan McGuffee said.

Dean of Students Mrs. Kalyn Underwood was also thrilled by Mr. Slatery’s eagerness to work with the students.

“He is more interested in being involved and in helping kids,” Mrs. Underwood said. The teamwork between Mr. Slatery and Mrs. Underwood was very important to both of them. Mrs. Underwood was pleased at how efficiently everything ran and that they were able to make the referral system more helpful to students.

“We have tried to create an opportunity for kids to get to referral without any real immediate mandatory scheduling conflicts so at a time of day where we feel it is low impact and doesn’t interrupt their schedule to much,” Mr. Slatery said. “It’s just enough to remind them there are certain things they can improve on, in terms of general behavior, dress code, demeanor, discipline, timeliness or whatever it might be.”

Mr. Slatery hopes that referrals are now a constructive part of a student’s day, rather than a punishment that interferes with a student’s schedule. One goal Mr. Slatery set for himself this year was to develop stronger relationships with the students.

“The most important thing for me this year is to dig deeper into the relationships I already have with kids so that if disciplinary issues ever do come up, there is a lot of trust,” Mr. Slatery said.