News of a new assistant principal at Knox Central spread on Tuesday as a familiar face to students begins to assume new roles and responsibilities at the school.
Julie Osborne, math teacher and most recently curriculum coach, was selected for the vacant assistant position following two rounds of interviews with applicants during a two week period.
Although she is changing positions, one thing that students can expect to remain the same is her commitment to giving individualized attention. During the past year, Osborne has worked with students on achieving college and career readiness benchmarks through personalized attention consisting of getting to know the student, identifying goals, and providing support and resources needed for them to meet their targets.
“The biggest challenge in the new role will be creating supports that will allow 900-plus students to achieve each of their individual goals,” explained Osborne. “Prior to this position I have been focused on supporting academic achievement. Now I will broaden my perspective to include providing support for behavior expectations needed to be successful academically.”
Through that individual attention, Knox Central seen gains in academic achievement last year that moved the school out of state assistance and the designation of being a focus school for the Department of Education.
“Knox Central’s biggest achievement related to CCR is simply that we have more than doubled the percentage of our seniors graduating with the necessary skills for either college or a career,” said Osborne.
“When the turnaround process began 30.3% of seniors were ready their post-secondary goal, but as of the 14-15 school report card 65.8% of seniors are now ready for the next step.
“Going forward Knox Central is poised to sustain these gains through pathway mentoring and intervention supports that have been implemented at every grade level to help student progress toward college and career readiness throughout their four years at the high school.”
Seeing students achieve their dreams and having access to the support needed to be successful is the way that Osborne views each student at Knox Central. Being a mother of three, all enrolled in the Knox County Public Schools, her goal daily is to provide the same attention that she gives and expects her own children to receive.
“My goal for every student whether they are my own child or yours is that each student will be able to make their lifelong dreams possible because their experiences at Knox Central have equipped goals to become a reality.”
The experience that students have at Knox Central is one area that Osborne is making plans to continue to improve. Citing her strengths as being able to build and structure a plan and persistence to achieving an end result, Osborne has the goal of creating a positive culture for student success.
“The most immediate project that will be implemented at Knox Central is a system of Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports (PBIS),” said Osborne.
“While full program implementation will carry over until next school year, proactive mentoring programs targeting students experiencing attendance, behavioral, and academic difficulties will be in place this school year. Parents and interested community members should watch the school website for information regarding the rollout of this initiative as well as for ways they can be involved.”
The first step in building that relationship with students is to get to know them better. “Primarily between now and Christmas break, I want to be a visible presence to students. I will be at the front door to greet students upon arrival, walk through hallways between classes, be in the cafeteria for all lunches, visit classrooms, and watch over students as they exit to their cars in the parking lot.”
From the daily operations of the school to achieving the vision of all students being college and career ready upon graduation, Osborne is excited to join the administrative leadership team in continuing the success that Knox Central is seeing.
“I am proud to have been a part of the progress that Knox Central has already made and look forward to applying the lessons learned from that success to areas where we can expand the support systems we offer our students.”