Dennis Newell Meets Hazelwood West High School

As students say goodbye to outgoing principal , they welcome new principal . Along with a small handful of parents and teachers, Hazelwood Patch attended a reception for Newell on Wednesday in the high school's library.

A former United States Marine, Dennis Newell has been an educator for nearly 21 years, he told the group. He said he originally got into it for all of the wrong reasons. While he was contemplating law school, his wife Vicki’s mother suggested that he go into education so he could “make some money," he said.

“True story,” Newell said with a smile. “I thought I’d do it for just a short time, but I fell in love with it and haven’t looked back.”

Newell said he thinks working in education is the best job in the world as well as one of the most important. He and his wife Vicki have been married for 36 years and have two adult children and a grandson. Vicki said that her husband is a gifted teacher.

“My mother recognized that in him early on,” she said. “He loves the kids, and he engages the students.”

She said that Newell taught both of their children in government and economics classes, and that whenever she tried to drop something off to him at his old school, she would end up leaving it with another staff member, because he always had students in his office.

“I would stand outside his door because they were so engaged that I didn’t want to interrupt,” she said. “I would leave what I was dropping off with a different teacher, because it never ended. He gives 110 percent—the job is never done.”

With that, Newell leaned over and put his arm around his wife.

“I just love this woman,” he said.

Mrs. Newell was quick to point out that she wasn’t just supporting her husband, but that Newell is really a dedicated administrator.

“He has touched a lot of lives,” she said.

The Newells are currently looking for a home in , and both said that they really like the community so far.

“I love the area,” Mrs. Newell said. “You have a beautiful community.”

Newell said that after spending nine years as the principal in an Ohio high school, it was time for a change.

“There was talk in our district about me going to the central office, but I’m a building person,” he said. “I think next to being a classroom teacher, being a high school administrator is the best job in the world.”

He said he had worked with Superintendent Dr. Steve Price in another district, and Price encouraged him to apply for the Hazelwood West job. After some soul searching, Newell said he decided to go for it.

“You’re always apprehensive about coming to a new place, but from the very first interview I had, there was just a good feeling about this school and this community,” Newell said. “From that day to this day, that hasn’t changed.”

Newell went on to say that when he first walked the school's campus, he had a positive feeling.

“The young adults that I encountered were all friendly and it just seemed like a good fit,” he said. “I’ve seen nothing that would change my mind.”

He said he feels privileged to be coming to Hazelwood West, and he’s excited to get to work. His contract starts July 1, but Newell said he will likely be in town before then.

He has been meeting with the assistant principals, staff and the outgoing principal, and said that he’s been very impressed with them. He said he looks forward to sitting down with them and getting more information about what they’re doing and how things work at Hazelwood West.

Newell also said that while he’s got a lot of ideas of his own, he wants to see what’s currently in place and hear the ideas of the rest of the staff first.

“From what I can see so far, we have a lot of good things going on here,” Newell said. “I want to sit down and listen and learn, and then I’ll share my ideas at the appropriate time.”

Parents at the meeting brought up the earlier this month and asked Newell for his thoughts and opinions on discipline. Newell said that as a former Marine, he believes in strong discipline.

“I believe you can’t teach out of chaos,” he said. “You have to have order, especially at a school this size.”

He said that while he hasn’t had a lot of time yet to see what needs to be corrected at the high school, the halls were clear, and students were in classes at his old school. While he said he believes that discipline is extremely important, he thinks keeping kids in school is also a high priority.

“I came from a single-parent family, and education is the thing that has made the most important difference in my life,” he said. “So I don’t want to deny any child an education.”

After a lengthy discussion about discipline with those in attendance, Newell said that the bottom line is that he believes in having discipline in school, and that right next to that, he believes in having as many kids as possible in school.

“You have to have a solution that includes many people and organizations working in concert,” he said. “I want to talk to the students and the teachers and find out what they think about this high school and the discipline policy that’s already in place.”

Hazelwood West junior Jacqueline Petry was the only student to attend the reception. Petry wasn’t sure about the new principal yet. She said that while she didn’t have a great relationship with outgoing principal Dobrinic, she at least knew he wasn’t judgmental.

“I’m getting used to the idea of the new guy,” Petry said. “I think they should have picked someone who has been here instead of someone from a different school, since every school is different.”

Hazelwood West teacher Dr. Loraine Raziq said that she’s excited about Newell joining the staff.

“He’s been very honest and open,” she said. “He’s learning a lot about us, and we’re going to learn a lot about him.”

Raziq said that when a new principal comes into the school, everyone involved gets a fresh start and gets to prove themselves all over again, almost as if they’re starting at a new school.

“So far, I haven’t heard anything that concerned me,” Raziq said. “You kind of get a feel for people and sometimes that feeling’s not so great, but I get a really good feeling about Mr. Newell.”