Woodland Middle School has undergone many changes in leadership in the past few years. It has recently become public knowledge that our current principal, Mr. Richard Fowler, will be leaving our school after just two short years.

Our school needs stability, and considering the upcoming changes with regards to school start time, and once again, two new administrators, our students, parents, faculty, staff and the community deserve a loyal leader who understands the exceptional challenges that we often face at Woodland Middle School. The constant shift in administration, which now includes a new area superintendent, makes it potentially difficult for our school to sustain the initiatives that have contributed to our esteemed reputation as a Distinguished Title 1 School. In order to minimize further disruption to our students’ education and to provide a seamless transition for all stakeholders, it is our collective belief that our new principal should be Mr. John Madden who has humbly yet assertively served as an assistant principal at Woodland Middle School for the past six years.

Mr. Madden is an instructional leader who works extensively and tirelessly with teachers to facilitate professional development in order to improve teacher effectiveness. Through a series of workshops focusing on best practices which include instruction on effective methods for the implementation of differentiated instruction, the use of technology in the classroom, and an effective co-teaching model, he has helped teachers achieve instructional success while increasing student academic success. He has successfully implemented incentive programs such as the Woodland Middle School PAWS program which encompasses the principles of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports or PBIS. This hands-on no nonsense approach towards discipline positively impacted daily instruction through the use of incentives which motivated students to conscientiously exhibit appropriate behaviors both inside and outside the classroom. As a result of PBIS, negative behaviors decreased and student productivity increased school wide.

Mr. Madden has been instrumental in developing systems which not only identified students in need of remediation, but also assisted teachers in developing methods to provide and sustain support for those students through the use of a highly structured living document which monitored student performance and recorded student progress. Additionally, Mr. Madden has and currently serves as the summer school principal at Woodland.

While we, the faculty and staff at Woodland Middle School, will fully support Fulton County’s appointment, we respectfully request that our current assistant principal, Mr. John Madden, be assigned the role of principal at Woodland Middle School. Mr. Madden is knowledgeable of our school processes, and he is more than capable of ensuring the school runs smoothly, as he has single-handedly carried out many of the school’s successful programs in the past few years. He is the epitome of a school leader who routinely demonstrates firmness, compassion, and exercises shared governance. As a disciplinarian, he is fair and moves expeditiously to resolve student issues which, as a result, enable faculty and staff to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment. Moreover, he is well respected by students, faculty, staff, parents and the community.

Petition:

We, the undersigned, call on Dr. Robert Avossa and the Fulton County Board of Education to ensure the successful future of Woodland Middle School by appointing John Madden as principal.