A School in Flux:

Administrative Upheaval and What It Means for Parkway Center City High School

By: Crystal Thomas and Kariana Prentice

Whats Happening?
Parkway Center City High School has seen plenty of changes this school
year. A lot of transition has been taking place. First, Dr. Karren Dunkley, who was
Parkways principal since 2013, resigned. Then, Mr. Frank, the schools Dean and
Roster Chair, took her place as an interim principal. Shortly later, he was replaced
by two new interim principals, Ms.
Christine Black and Ms. Francine
Deal. Parkway is still waiting for its
next full-time leader to emerge.
Rumors are circulating that that person
has been chosen, but no official news
has come yet.
Transitions have not only been
taking places among the schools
leaders. Teachers have been
transitioning too. Mr. Donahue, a
Geometry teacher, recently left
Parkway to pursue other interests. Earlier this year, longtime teacher and Special
Education Liaison, Mr. Thomas Buonanno, left Parkway for a job opportunity in
the suburbs. Those departures, and the leadership instability, have forced changes
on the rest of the staff. Ms. Alicia Villa, the Spanish 2 teacher, now teaches
Chemistry. Mr. Muhannad Qasem, Q for short, moved from managing the roster
exclusively to a full set of classes. Many other teachers simply had to stop teaching
the classes they had spent their summers preparing for and start teaching different
classes with different scholars on about one weeks notice.
Lastly, the school is changing too! Next year, Parkway Center City High
School begins its transition to a Middle College Program. That planning has
taken up a lot of staff members time and energy, and left our peers without a lot of

unanswered questions about what the transformation will mean to everyone

moving forward.
All of these changes, from leadership to teachers to building changes, have
resulted in instability for staff members here. More importantly, the changes have
resulted in a lot of confusion and uncertainty for scholars.

How Scholars Are Impacted?

Scholars at Parkway Center City were distressed when they realized they
were getting their classes switched and getting new teachers. Let's not forget, its
midway through the second marking period. We asked several scholars at Parkway
about their feelings about the changes. Many of their responses were similar.
Most scholars, such as freshman
Naru Jacobs, feel as though the roster
changes are unsettling. He figures that they
will hurt his education too. Jacobs said, I
liked how my classes were before. I now
have a new teacher, so I dont know how
its going to be with a new class and
teacher. I was comfortable with my other
one. Sophomore Liana Nguyen felt the
same way. She said, Im going to miss my
old teacher, Mr. Donahue. I dont know if
my new teacher will help me as much he
did. Quadirah Lewis, a freshman, opined,
Personally, I feel sad because Im going to
miss Ms. Rogers as my science teacher. I was comfortable with her and now that I
have to switch classes, I dont know... She left the rest of her answer unfinished,
as she reflected on what another teacher, probably a rotating substitute, would do
for her science education. Many of the scholars we have spoken with for this
assignment feel sad and frustrated.
Not everyone felt upset by the changes to their schedules, however. A few
scholars saw the switch as an opportunity. Freshman Makyah Taylor said, It is an
okay thing to me. I get to meet new teachers, and thats exciting. Amyah
Roberson, class of 2019, agreed with Makyah. Roberson said, I actually like the
idea. It gives me the chance to meet new people and learn in new innovating

ways. While these two scholars looked at the abrupt transition positively, their
opinions were less frequent than those that expressed concerns.
Scholars at Parkway are not only concerned about their own studies, but
theyre concerned about the school altogether. Jacobs went on to say, It might just
feel better as a school if we did have a principal here full-time, and if the teachers
were here without leaving. Makyah Taylor agreed. I think the school is very
unorganized right now there shouldnt be this many problems [at school] only 3
months in. Quadirah Lewis feels even worse about things. I feel like Ive wasted
my 9th grade year so far. Theres a lot of problems and situations going on, and I
think it's gonna affect me in the long run.
The schools counselor, Michelle Racca, has been
concerned about the scholars' feelings since the changes
started as well. Now that shes always busy helping the
administration and planning for the middle college
program, she doesnt have time as much time to talk to
scholars. She told us, I wish I could spend more time
engaging in opportunities to work more closely with
scholars in small groups, in the classrooms, walking the
halls, and attending events. I miss them. I feel it every
day. I worried that we're going to let scholars fall through
the cracks since we're focusing on so many other things. At The Parkway Press,
we have similar concerns.

How Our Staff is Impacted?

Assistant roster chair and teacher, Mr. Q, was very
polite when asked about the ongoing transition and
didnt seem too disturbed. Q has been teaching for
quite some time at Parkway. Q was the assistant roster
chair and then became the head of the roster chair for a
couple weeks. He was also teaching two Pre-Calculus
classes and one AP Calculus class. Now, Q is back to
teaching full time. My return to teaching is not new to
me. I'm in my 7th year of teaching. It's what I love to do.
The extra duties I had earlier were a lot of fun, and it's

been a great experience for me to see if it's something I want to pursue in the
future.
Our former interim principal and current dean and roster chair, Frank
Grandizio, embraced the changes too. Mr. Frank has been affected as much as
anybody. Because of the many departures, Frank will be teaching a class again as
well as juggling many responsibilities." I love being in the class. I love doing the
rostering. I love planning for testing. So, wherever I am needed, I will do that with
pleasure. Frank is a multidimensional staff member. Although Frank is no longer
our interim principal, he still manages to lead Parkway in the right direction
regardless of his title.
Ms. Rogers, a science teacher here, is not happy with whats going on as Q
and Mr. Frank. She thinks its unfair to scholars that they have to deal with new
rosters and different classes. She used to teach four Physical Science classes and
one Environmental Science class BEFORE rosters changed. Now, she teaches two
Physical Science, two Physics, and one Environmental Science class. Its harder
because its more to do. Its unfair to kids, but they are resilient. Its not fair, but
life is not fair. She doesnt like the fact that students, mostly seniors, cant have
math class anymore because there arent enough math teachers at Parkway. Ms.
Rogers isnt upset because she has more work, shes upset at how the switch
affects the scholars. Shes not the only person at Parkway that thinks that way.

Interim Leadership!
Parkways new interim principals, Ms.
Christine Black and Ms. Francine Deal, seem very
cordial. Even though theyre still adjusting to the
Parkway community, they have come to
understand what Parkway stands for very quickly.
Blacks opinion is that, Parkway has always been
an innovative program designed to promote young
thinkers into developing insightful, tolerant, and
compassionate people. My first impressions are
that the Parkway community is earnest about the
scholars becoming lifelong learners and that
scholars attain the necessary skills to become
positive and excellent citizens. Being in this

position is not new to the Black or her partner, Deal. They have been in education
for over 40 years and were appointed to lead George Washington High School in
2015 amid a scandal that resulted in the dismissal of the schools previous
principal. They seem prepared to lead Parkway during this difficult time, and we
welcome them with open arms.

Our Thoughts?
Generally, we agree with Counselor Raccas opinion that, Students
recognize that we as a staff are spending a lot of extra time doing other things.
Many of those things are middle college planning. Were distributing other
leadership jobs amongst ourselves to compensate for missing staff and leaders. So,
for us to think that students arent affected by all of this is a miscalculation. Its
irrational to think that. You see it in the comments students make every day.
It is obvious that the changes happening at Parkway are very draining for
students and staff. Everyone feels the impact of them, and everyone is troubled.
Kariana and I feel like ever since Dr. Dunkley stepped down from being Parkways
leader, the school has lost much of its stability and some of its community values.
We know the staff are working hard for us, but we need even more support and
consistency. We need stability. We need dedication. Mostly, we need a permanent
principal. Its just too challenging for everyone for things to continue like this. It is
our hope that everything is sorted out by the end of January. The school, its
scholars, and its staff needs consistency. Right now, we dont have it.