> A Colleague Highlights Dr. Anderson’s Work Throughout the Pandemic.
Marshall Fundamental (Photo – Felita Kealing)
Monday, June 28th, Marshall Fundamental Principal, Mark Anderson, Ph.D. announced to the Marshall community that he has accepted the position as the Executive Director of High Schools in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District.
By Felita Kealing
I am embedded in the Marshall community in a multitude of ways: as a Marshall Fundamental Alumni Parent, Community Representative for two years, and as the Assistant Coordinator of Marketing, Student Recruitment, and Communications since 2016.
On Monday, June 28, Marshall Fundamental Principal Mark Anderson announced that he has accepted the position as the Executive Director of High Schools in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District.
Following his announcement via PUSD Blackboard and social media posts, the text messages and emails began pouring in. It was the Marshall Fundamental Community sharing their sadness in hearing of his departure. They conveyed their gratitude for his work and dedication, while applauding and celebrating Dr. Anderson’s next journey.
Professionally and personally, there are many things I can say regarding Dr. Anderson’s work as a principal. However, I would like to highlight the past 15 months and what I observed during Distanced Learning.
Throughout the Pandemic, Dr. Anderson maintained his regular routines in communicating with the Marshall Fundamental Community and with his staff. His regular Sunday Blast were informative and included attempts at singing messages for special occasions. He wrote, orchestrated, conducted, edited, collaborated, and/or participated in Marshall Video productions including Marshall Love, Distance Learning Can’t Touch This, Hot Honey Rag, Marshall Dance Thrills, the Twelve Days of Marshall, and more. To stay connected with the parents throughout the pandemic, he hosted Virtual Lunch, Coffee, or Happy Hour with the Principal nearly every week. Parents logged in and asked questions, shared concerns, or simply sat in the teleconference to get the latest information.
If this was not enough, he started a note writing campaign, writing a unique personal message to close to 2000 students. He started, in August, writing to each Class of 2021 Senior. He turned his attention to the Class of 2025, 8th grade students. He redirected to our youngest student population, the Class of 2027, 6th grade students and so on until reaching the entire student population. He reviewed grades, attendance, and sometimes observed virtual classrooms to help capture the essence of the student. One student was amazed. Sharing how impressed she was with her note from Dr. Anderson, stating, “I know they were personal, he told me to work harder to raise my “C” in Physics.“
Dr. Anderson continued to lead by example hosting the weekly Admin Meeting, the monthly Leadership Meetings, and scheduled virtual meetings with Classified Staff members for instruction and connection. He continued his Monday e-Newsletter to staff, and the normalcy of his management continued. Although, I will state he was more forgiving and softer on timelines, as he would kindly remind us, “We are in a pandemic.”
Knowing his last days of work as a Marshall Eagle is fast approaching, I will note this is the end of an era and the beginning for a new legacy for so many including the next Principal of Marshall Fundamental. Over the past seven years as teachers and staff have moved into other career paths, I have watched Dr. Anderson model the acceptance of change and growth. Now as change will impact our community, we will have growth and we will continue to thrive.
In Dr. Anderson’s parting message, he reminded us that, “Marshall Fundamental has a strong bedrock of collaborative leadership in staff, students, parents, & community members that will provide a smooth & stable transition.” This is so true, and I am looking forward to the amazing things the Marshall Fundamental Community will achieve in the coming school year and beyond.
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