Principal Henry Turner will move on from his decade-long term as North’s principal to pursue a role as superintendent of Reading Public Schools, July 1.
“Having been here for 10 years, it’s a good time for a transition for North,” Turner said. “We’ve done a lot of great work, and there’s still some good work ahead.”
In an email announcing his future plans, Turner said, “I will continue to work tirelessly for this great high school. That commitment has not changed and will continue between now and my last day at North.”
Turner added that his decision was not made lightly, and that being North’s principal has been “a dream job.”
According to Vice Principal Amy Winston, North will have an interim principal for one year white the district works to find a replacement principal.
PEHW Department Head Courtney Albert said that she began working closely with Turner after she became department head five years ago.
“He has helped me grow into my leadership position,” Albert said. “He has challenged and supported my thinking of teaching and learning, and how to best support all of our students.”
Albert described Turner’s leadership style as collaborative.
“He ultimately makes final decisions and he’s not afraid to make those final decisions, but he also really listens to people’s perspectives,” she said.
Albert added, “I’ve really enjoyed working with him as an administrator and as a person. I think he’s going to be greatly missed.”
According to teaching assistant Allegra Dubus, “He has been very much the most grounding, calm, warm leader. He feels very steadfast in the way he has led this school.”
In addition to his leadership skills, students noted Turner’s positive interactions and involvement within their community.
“He’s always super friendly and invested in how our team did and always had encouraging words to say,” said senior Nikki Rao, a girls’ basketball team captain.
According to senior Sadie Mulligan, she worked with Turner on a project for her Leadership in a Diverse Society course this year. “He’s pretty interactive with all students,” she said.
Turner said that the responsibilities that he will be taking on in his new role as superintendent overlap with some of his previous duties as principal. However, he will also be working with schools on a larger scale within the district.
“The superintendent who’s stepping down has been really successful in creating a shared vision for what a great school system should look like in Reading and my priority is to keep that work going,” Turner said.
According to Winston, it is challenging when there is a leadership change in an institution as large as North. “There’s some loss of institutional knowledge with somebody who has a job that’s very involved in lots of different facets of a very large school,” Winston said.
Winston added that she believes the interim principal will create a space to help the next principal “start their own legacy and not feel like they’re having to follow in the footsteps of somebody who was such a strong principal for North.”
