In the public eye: Assistant principal proud of work at Windham Primary School

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

The role of Assistant Principal at Windham Primary School is a responsibility that veteran educator Diana Jordan takes seriously.

Diana Jordan is entering her seventh year as
the Assistant Principal for Windham Primary
School. She is originally from West Baldwin
and is in her 27th year overall as an
educator. SUBMITTED PHOTO

A longtime teacher and school administrator, Jordan is entering her seventh year as the assistant principal at WPS this fall and her 27th year overall working in education.

Her duties at the school are vast and include assisting and supporting the school’s Behavior Specialist with parent, staff, and student communication; attendance; school bus issues; class lists; crisis planning; chair for Individualized Education Plans; major and minor disciplinary issues; and leading the school’s student support team. She is responsible for school scheduling, a school RtI member; answering student or staff questions; staff supervision and evaluation; and the evaluation of Special Education educational technicians.

Jordan also is a member of the school’s Response Team; Placement Team; a DEI Advocacy Team Member; a District A-Team member; and serves on various district committees.

According to Jordan, the best part of her job is helping to support WPS students, staff, and families.

“I love working as a team to meet the needs of our students,” she said. “We have the best students, staff, and community. My number one goal is to help support all the students, staff, and families. I want to be a positive influence and support for our students, and it is so important to take a team aspect towards the teaching of our students. I truly care about each and every member of our school and helping support the needs of our students is always my number one goal.”

The most challenging aspect of her work is not having all the answers and best solutions, Jordan said.

“I work hard to help students, staff and families to the best of my ability, but not having the best answers to support our students, staff or families when they need it is challenging for me,” she said. “I want to do what is best for our community, but sometimes I don't have the answers.”

The biggest misconception that people may have about her work is that she’s the school disciplinarian.

“I do have to work with students when there is a behavior concern, but I really take the view that we want students to learn from mistakes, take responsibility and make it right, and make different decisions next time,” Jordan said. “I also see my job as much more than just dealing with discipline. I serve many roles and those roles are always changing, which is one of the things that makes this job so rewarding. There is never a dull moment.”

She grew up on a farm in West Baldwin and attended Baldwin Elementary School, and then Sacopee Valley High School. After graduation from high school, Jordan earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Saint Joseph's College and then worked as a fourth-grade teacher in Lebanon with SAD 60 for three years.

She went on to work for SAD 6 as a fourth-, fifth-, and second-grade teacher before returning to Saint Joseph’s College to obtain a master’s degree in educational leadership and became a math interventionist as well as the first elementary Dean of Students for SAD 6. Overall, she worked for SAD 6 for 16 years before accepting the Assistant Principal position at Windham Primary School starting with the 2016-2017 school year.

Her family is supportive of her work and knows she’s doing what she loves, which is working with students, staff, and families.

“They also know how much I love to teach and being an assistant principal is allowing me to help support even more students and staff,” Jordan said. “They know that I love to help support people.”

The role of WPS Assistant Principal keeps Jordan extremely busy and no two days are alike.

“I also strongly believe that Windham Primary School is the best team of educators and community members around,” she said. “It has become even more clear to me that it truly takes a team to run a school and meet the needs of our students, staff, families, and community. All the members of our school community work together to make each day and year a success for our students. We as a school community take pride in doing what is best for our students and are always willing to improve our practices to support our students, staff, and community members.” <