On Monday May 2, current eight- and ninth-grade Assistant Principal Janel Dorn accepted the position of being Sarasota Middle School’s Principal. Over the last few weeks of school Dorn will be splitting her time between her duties at Pine View and getting assimilated with her new job at Sarasota Middle School.
For Dorn, the process began two months ago when she applied. The process included an application and various levels of interviewing. “The job was posted and this position was open for two weeks and then I had to wait for an interview,” Dorn said. Since this was a job for a principal position, Dorn had to go to another interview once she had made the district’s top three applicants.
Upon making it to the top two applicants, Dorn then proceeded to have an interview with Superintendent Lori White and the director. “I ended up getting second place to Mr. [Roy] Sprinkle and I was very gracious to the director and truly was happy because I had learned so much from the process,” Dorn said. Sprinkle initially accepted the position and the announcement was released to local media, however, Sprinkle later declined the job offer and Dorn was offered the head position.
“I think it is a really good lesson to everyone to show that even after a disappointment that it’s important how you act because you never know what is going to happen,” Dorn said.
With a new adventure ahead of her, Dorn feels both excited and nervous about her new job. “It’s going to be a change to no longer have a principal to ask questions to and have the guidance of a great mentor like Dr. [Stephen] Covert,” Dorn said.
However, for Dorn there is no doubt that her time at Pine View will help her in the future. “At Pine View we have a lot of middle schoolers so I think that the two schools are similar enough that it will be comfortable. I had also taught middle school in the past and it’s like my hub,” Dorn said.
“I am going to miss the students and staff, I just felt loved here and I love being here. I hope that I have helped Pine View get on the right path with an exciting construction process so that after all the years of construction that I can say that I’ve been a part of the foundation of innovative improvement on campus,” Dorn said.
With Dorn leaving Pine View, the spot for Assistant Principal at Pine View still is open. “We are just now starting the decision process but I can tell you that as of right now nothing has been finalized,” Covert said. The executive director of high schools will be working in collaboration with Dr. Covert to find a replacement. “There are a lot of folks with masters degree and certification and a lot of people who I anticipate will be interested in this position, both internally in the district and outside of the district,” Covert said. As of right now there is no set time frame by which a replacement Assistant Principal will be found but they will most definitely be decided by the start of the following school year.
In the mean time, Dorn’s current school responsibilities are being divided to allow her to spend time assimilating to her new job environment. All eighth-grade matters will got to Assistant Principal Sue Fair and ninth-grade matters will go to Assistant Principal Jennifer Nzeza for the time being. “Ms. Fair and I are going to be working on construction matters,” Covert said.
“She has been an educator for many years and I fully support her. She’s going to be a great principal,” Covert said.