The search for a new principal is over. President Richard O’Hara has named Madelyn Ball the principal of JC for the 2011-2012 school year. O’Hara announced his decision at a faculty meeting after school on Tuesday, June 3.
Days after the decision was announced, Ball met with Principal Paul Barker and other faculty. “I am so excited to be coming to John Carroll,” Ball said. According to Ball, she wants to “find out what makes John Carroll unique.”
While students, teachers, and parents were involved in the interviewing of the three candidates, the ultimate decision was left to O’Hara. “[Ball] was very true to the list of qualities we were originally looking for,” O’Hara said.
“We were looking for somebody who is dedicated to the students, and we think that she really puts students in the center, which is why we’re here. We also wanted somebody who would be collaborative and a strong leader for the staff. We found all of that in her. She was the whole picture,” O’Hara said.
Ball will officially start as principal on July 1, and according to Ball, she will “be here every day after that.”
“I have an open door policy,” Ball said.
Ball has been in the education field for 35 years, and has been an administrator at The Catholic High School of Baltimore as well as Our Lady of Good Counsel. She also teaches a course at the College of Notre Dame that instructs teachers on how to implement and use technology in the classroom.
Ball has taught Spanish in previous years and also has a certification in business education and being a principal.
“I’m going to start to identify what I need to do first,” said Ball. She would also like the “learn names” and “get to know [the students].”
Ball plans on taking initiative in making efforts to have “everybody feel comfortable around [her].”
“I’ll probably be asking student groups to eat lunch with me,” Ball said. “I want to make sure that everything that I do is grounded in the mission of the school.”
She also said that student achievement is her “first goal.”
According to O’Hara, Ball was a very popular candidate and scored two to three times higher than her opponents on every question on the surveys sent to those who interviewed her. “She got very high scores,” O’Hara said.
“Mrs.Ball definitely stood out in my mind among the candidates as my top choice, and I’m excited to have her as principal next year to see how she tries to bring John Carroll into the new,” junior Adam Kuester said.
“I think she’s going to be great for the school. She’s experienced but modern so I think she could bring about some great change,” junior Miranda Ripken said.
Kuester and Ripken were two of the students chosen to interview Ball at a student interview session.
According to Vice Principal Gary Scholl, the entire faculty, including him, was involved in the visitation process. “I did have a meeting with all of the candidates for an hour [and] I did have an opportunity to ask questions and get to know the candidates,” Scholl said.
The faculty was asked for their input after the visitations.
“Essentially I’m excited about Ms. Ball coming in as a new principal…In my conversations with her I found her to be very experienced, very friendly, and the comments that she made reflected good judgment and good instincts on the role of a principal and how to run a Catholic school. I was impressed by her as a result of the visit that she had with the school. So I think it’s safe to say that I’m optimistic about the future of the school with her leadership,” Scholl said.
Scholl says that he will be working with Ball to prepare for the new school year and “share with her the culture of JC.”
“Coming to John Carroll to me feels like coming home,” Ball said. “This would be where I want to end my career.”
Martha Schick is a contributing writer for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.
Additional Reporting by Grace Kim.