Westbrook High School to stick with co-principals for time being

Westbrook High School Co-principals Wendy Harvey, Jeff Guerette and Patrick Colgan say the new administrative model continues to be successful. Chance Viles / American Journal

WESTBROOK — School officials weren’t initially sure how the co-principal model would work at the high school after one of the original trio left, but now they are happy with the results and plan to leave the system in place.

“With the faculty and students split between us, we find that we are actually able to focus our attention much more. Instead of one principal having to get to know every student, we can split that load, and I think people have seen a faster turnaround with responses,” Principal Wendy Harvey said.

“We also just have better ideas in general, as they are vetted by the three of us,” she said.

The system of having three administrators dividing up the principal’s role was adopted after former Principal Kelli Deveaux left in March 2019. Jennifer Mull-Brooks, Wendy Harvey and Jeff Guerette then took over as a team to share the principal’s responsibilities. Mull-Brooks left to be principal at Congin School this past fall. Bringing Patrick Colgan on as the third co-principal was an opportunity to see if the model could succeed with a different combination of people, Superintendent Peter Lancia said.

Just like last year, the three co-principals have divvied the administrative work into three “lanes.” While many roles and duties are shared, they divide the rest of the work according to each person’s specialty. With this setup, Harvey said, parents and staff have found the communication to be much stronger.

“It’s been going really great, and the feedback has been positive,” Lancia said.

Colgan, the new addition to the team, was previously a Latin teacher and department head.

“As a teacher I was skeptical. We had a really strong singular principal, but as we moved into the model we saw how well it really works, both through the lens as a teacher and now as a principal,” Colgan said.

For now, the system will stay in place, and the school district has not been actively looking for one new principal. Lancia is collecting data and feedback from parents before presenting his findings to the School Committee, which will make the final decision.

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