New principal will tread lightly

FALLS VILLAGE — Jennifer Law has been named the principal of the Lee H. Kellogg School.Law, a veteran teacher who spent most of her career at Salisbury Central School (she is a resident of the Amesville section of Salisbury), took over as interim principal last month, replacing Maria Bulson, who retired in December. At its February meeting, the Board of Education decided to skip the search process, offer Law the permanent job, and authorize Region One School District Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain to negotiate a contract.At last week’s Board of Finance meeting, the topic of the school board offering Law the job came up in passing. Lou Timolat said Law was “the right person in the right place at the right time.”In Salisbury, the school board also recently opted to offer interim principal Lisa Carter a permanent position without going through a search for other candidates.Law said Sunday morning, Feb. 17, that she was “delighted.”She said her first faculty meeting as the permanent principal would be during the coming week.She said she’d been thinking about what to say to Kellogg’s teachers, and was reminded of her seventh-grade science teacher, “who taught me the importance of treading lightly on the earth.”“A teacher is in a position to make a huge impact,” she continued. “As a principal I have to make sure the teachers understand that power, and support them.”Law said she was also thinking of her experience as an undergraduate at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.The seal of the college has the motto Non Satis Scire, or To Know Is Not Enough.Hampshire “encouraged students to challenge the status quo,” Law said, adding she has retained that mindset.“Not because I disagree, but because I want to know.”Law said, for instance, implementing the Common Core State Standards “will force students to do the hard work of thinking critically — which eventually leads to creating.”For the moment, however, Law is busy with pressing questions of school security, upgrading the computers and the network, and thinking ahead.“As a small school with declining enrollment we can’t afford to stay with the status quo. We have passionate teachers, and a great group of citizens who love their school.“We’ll think creatively, differently, and figure out what’s going to work for us.“It’s very exciting.”