Q&A With Incoming High School Principal Amanda Fagan

Ledyard High School students will begin next year with a new principal but she won’t need any introductions. Amanda Fagan graduated from Ledyard High School and has been teaching in the district since the late 90s. Patch sat down with the incoming principal to find out what she has don since graduating from LHS and where she hopes to take the school next.

I understand you gradated from LHS, did you grow up in Ledayrd? Anywhere else? 

My father was in the Navy, so we moved around some when I was younger.  I was born in Hawaii, then moved to Gales Ferry where I began my schooling at Juliet W. Long.  We moved to Virginia Beach for four years, and my father finished his naval career there.  After that, my family moved back to Ledyard in time for me to begin 8th grade at Ledyard Middle School and then go on to do four years at LHS.

Where did you go to college?

I went to Fordham University in the Bronx.  I double majored in English and French Studies and played soccer.

Why did you become a teacher?

I originally went to school as a communication major, hoping to pursue journalism, but I started to see by my sophomore year that the lifestyle of a traditional journalist wasn’t going to be for me.  I started thinking about adults I knew who seemed to enjoy their work and whose work seemed “meaningful.”  The people I repeatedly came up with were teachers.  My own high school teachers had played such a significant role in shaping who I became and also in stimulating in me a love of learning that I adjusted my goals towards becoming a teacher.

How long have you been working in Ledyard schools?

Full-time at Ledyard High School for 12 years…but really 14.

What positions did you hold and which schools & years did you hold them?

1998-1999: graduate intern at LHS while getting my Masters at University of New Haven

1999-2000: substitute teaching, mostly at LHS, after completing my student teaching at Old Saybrook High School

2000-present: English teacher at LHS…English 9, journalism, public speaking, creative writing

2008-2009: hired as English department chair at LHS

2009-2010: became Social Studies chair as well as English chair

2010-2011: continued as Humanities Department Chair while also serving for one year as an Assistant Principal at LHS

2011-2012: continued as Humanities Department Chair, continued teaching public speaking, assumed role of Instructional Specialist, overseeing alignment of high school curriculum to the Common Core State Standards

When Sharon Hightower said you "get Ledyard" what do you think she meant by that?

Perhaps she meant that I am a student of Ledyard, both literally and figuratively.  I am a product of the school system and therefore am privy to that perspective of the schools, but I am also deeply invested in the district and, in various leadership roles over the past several years, I have gained a broader perception of our strengths and needs.  I “get Ledyard” in that I see us clearly.  I see our rich traditions, but I also see our as-yet-untapped potential.  I recognize how unique our student body is, fed as we are by twelve feeder towns; I understand how hard-working our teachers are; I see how eager so many of our parents are to be involved and informed.

What are you most looking forward to?

It’s impossible to narrow this down.  I guess in a general sense I’m just excited to build upon the educational experience we are able to provide for kids here.  The most immediate factors that will impact that experience are our shift to a year-long schedule next year and our rolling out of new curriculum aligned to the Common Core State Standards.  Both of those things will contribute to our efforts to cultivate in our students—all of our students—the skills they will need to be successful in the college and career worlds.  And those skills extend beyond academics.

What do you think will be your biggest challenge as LHS principal?

The same as the above.  A smooth transition to a new schedule and new curricula will require a great deal of planning and support for students and teachers alike.  I think clear and thorough communication is going to be essential.

Are there any immediate changes you'll make, if any?

See above.

What does being a principal mean to you?

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I see it as a sacred responsibility, and I am flattered to be trusted with it.

Principal Fagan lives in Waterford with her husband Tim, sons Boden (4) and Declan (2), a her baby girl due June 11, and an unforgivably hairy lab/golden mix named Levi (named for the American cyclist Levi Leipheimer, not for the jeans!)