GROTON, Conn. – Mr. Matthew Brown stepped into the new role of principal at Fitch High School last month, moving up from his previous role as assistant principal..
Mr. Brown started off working at Fitch in 2001, he obtained a position as a math teacher at Fitch in 2005, and has been assistant principal since 2016. The possibility of impacting more young minds, the school itself, and teachers rather than just his classroom is what motivated Mr. Brown to become involved with the administration.
The transition from assistant principal to principal has been a new and welcomed change for Mr. Brown. The process for interviewing for his position was very extensive, and required him to discuss an area of weakness at Fitch and how he would work to improve that.
“The area of weakness I focused on was just getting staff and students more united, to get the true community feel,” Brown said when asked about what he felt like he could do to improve on a weakness here at Fitch. “I feel like COVID pulled us apart in so many different ways, and so a lot of what I did was focus on ways that we could reunite, and one of our themes this year has been consistency and accountability”
This weakness led Mr. Brown to work towards accomplishing a couple of goals this upcoming year, his first year as principal. He believes in Fitch becoming a better place for all students and staff.
“One of my biggest goals as principal is to get back to where we were pre-COVID,” Brown continued. “There’s still more that needs to be done.”
Additionally, Mr. Brown has had to consider what his goals are for both student education and involvement.
“[I would like to] see us improve academically as much as possible… [but also,] I would love it if every single kid at this school was involved in at least one thing; either a club, an activity or a sport.”
Mr. Brown has found that he really enjoys his position, he’s excited about what’s to come at Fitch and has been pleasantly surprised by his warm welcome and the receptiveness students and staff have expressed towards his new position.
Earlier this month there was a round of interviews at Fitch to find who would be filling the open position of assistant principal left by Mr. Brown. Students and teachers’ opinions were taken into consideration, and ultimately, Mrs. Amy McKenna of the English department filled the position, completing the administrative team.
