Assistant principal leaves Blair for Edison

Assistant principal Patricia Hurley announced on July 1 that she will leave Blair for an assistant principal job at Thomas Edison High School of Technology. Hurley is being replaced by Myriam Rogers, who returned from maternity leave on July 3 to take the position.

Rogers has worked as an assistant principal at Parkland Magnet Middle School and Albert Einstein High School. Prior to that, she was the science resource teacher at Westland Middle School and taught chemistry at Blake. At Blair, Rogers will be working with the Human Service Professions Academy.

Hurley was offered the opportunity to work at Edison in April. After foot surgery in May forced her to stay home, Hurley thought over this new prospect and decided to try it. "I would like to have one more opportunity to do something different before I retire," said Hurley.

After working at Blair for 17 years, leaving Blair was a difficult decision for Hurley. Hurley noted that she will miss the strong relationships she had with the students and the staff. "I will always be a 'Blazer' at heart," said Hurley.

PTSA co-president David Ottalini was reluctant to see Hurley leave but understood her choice. "We're sorry to see someone with Mrs. Hurley's experience leave Blair,
but many times it's a personal decision that goes beyond a single event," said Ottalini.

To select the new assistant principal, Principal Darryl Williams worked with community superintendent Heath Morrison. Williams had worked with Rogers while he was an assistant principal at Blake, when he hired Rogers to teach chemistry, and decided to consider her for the position. "I knew of an assistant principal who was returning from maternity leave and thought about the possibility of having her work at Blair," said Williams.

Rogers's name was on the list of eligible candidates for the position. After interviewing Rogers, Williams forwarded a recommendation to Morrison, who approved Rogers for the job. "This is my first appointment as the new principal of Blair High School and I am very pleased about this decision," said Williams.

After her maternity leave, Rogers is eager to start working again. "I am excited to return to the world of work," said Rogers. "I am happy to be a part of the Blair team."

Meanwhile, Hurley will have to adapt to a lot of changes in her new job. Edison is a special science and technology school where students either attend a morning session or afternoon session and then return to their home schools for the rest of the day, according to Hurley. "[The students] all belong to different high schools," said Hurley. "None of the students are just ours."

Hurley will also be working with a much smaller staff at Edison. At Blair, Hurley was one out of five assistant principals. At Edison, Hurley will be the only assistant principal. Previously, Hurley was the administrator for Blair's English and Social Studies departments, which comprised 40 teachers. In her new job, Hurley will be working with Edison's 23 teachers.

Hurley hopes that the smaller environment will allow her the opportunity to act more as a teacher. "I'm hoping I'll be able to spend a lot of time in the classroom," said Hurley.