ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607150043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Paul McKendrick, principal of Addison Aerospace Middle School in Roanoke, has taken a leave of absence to enter a special program at Harvard University to train new superintendents to lead America's large urban school systems.
McKendrick, 44, is one of seven people nationwide who have been accepted into the Urban Superintendent Program for next year.
Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris, a graduate, serves on a national advisory panel for the program.
McKendrick said he doesn't know whether he will return to Roanoke after he completes his studies. He is on unpaid leave but is not obligated to return to the city school system.
He hopes to become a superintendent at some point in his career. Graduates of the program, which began seven years ago in Harvard's graduate school of education, have a good track record of getting jobs as superintendents and assistant superintendents, he said.
The program is intensive, with a customary three years of doctoral course work compressed into one year. Students also are required to complete a six-month internship and write a dissertation.
"It's a rigorous, very intensive program that really shortens the time," McKendrick said. Graduates receive both a master's degree and doctorate after they finish their thesis.
McKendrick, a Georgia native, is a former principal in Fairfax County and an English teacher at Hampton University. He has been Addison's principal for two years.
Sandra Puckett, assistant principal at Addison, has been appointed to succeed McKendrick, Harris said.
Puckett is a former coordinator of middle schools for the city.
Jackson Middle School, which will reopen in September after being closed for a year for renovation, is also getting a new principal.
Helen Townsend, principal at Breckinridge Middle, will move to the the Jackson post. Breckinridge will be closed during the next year for renovation.
Townsend plans to remain at Jackson and won't return to Breckinridge after it reopens, Harris said..
In another personnel shift, David Partington, director of secondary education, has been reassigned as a hall principal at William Fleming High School.
Partington's supervisory job in the school system's central office has been eliminated as a result of a cost-saving move by Harris.
Rita Bishop, assistant superintendent for instructional systems, will assume Partington's duties and take over supervisory responsibilities for the city's high schools and middle schools.
Harris has also announced two other appointments:
Richard Poindexter, a city teacher for 25 years, has been named principal of the Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science, an elementary magnet school. He succeeds Margaret Thompson, who retired.
Herbert Olinger Jr., a former elementary school and middle school principal in Pulaski County, has been appointed principal of Virginia Heights Elementary School, succeeding James McCorkindale, who retired.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) McKendrickby CNB