THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408110152
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
For Edgar Morgan Jr., taking over as principal of William E. Waters Middle School will in many ways be like buying new shoes that already have been broken in.
Morgan will follow Michael C. Spencer, a popular principal who ran Waters for the past five years. Spencer now heads Hunt-Mapp Middle School as part of a district reorganization for the upcoming year.
Waters, in the Cavalier Manor neighborhood, has many of the key ingredients that make up a strong school: Parents are involved. Many students are fired up to excel. And teachers have high expectations.
About three years ago, for instance, the staff decided to eliminate academic tracking and offer all students challenging course work.
Morgan, a former middle school principal, said his aim is to build on the school's strong points.
``We're going to try to continue the same good things that (Spencer) has done there,'' he said. ``If we can improve the situation, that's what we're going to do.''
But is this principal-turned-central office bureaucrat-turned-principal rusty?
``This is my 29th year that I just finished being with the school system, and for 26 years I had been a principal,'' said 51-year-old Morgan, who was moved from his job as a special assistant to the principal of the S.H. Clarke Vocational Center. ``I don't feel rusty at all.''
Increasing parental involvement will be high on his agenda.
His plans for a so-called ``parental volunteer program'' are still sketchy and, like other principals, he spoke of the need for greater communication between administrators and parents.
But Morgan also is seeking more effective ways for teachers to reach out to parents.
``I'm willing to encourage staff members to visit homes more, if necessary,'' he said. ``We can teach . . . (students) exactly what we want them to learn if we do it correctly and if we have parental backing and support.''
He described his management style this way:
``We try to work with teachers and staff members the same way we work with kids. We want them to be successful, and if they need to try again, we let them try again. But sometimes you come to the point where you must do something to correct a problem.''
In these times of having to do more with less, Morgan has no trouble deciding how he would spend any additional dollars at the school.
``More teaching materials and teacher training, definitely,'' he said. ``I'd also look for ways to have constant staff development and exposure to new things so we wouldn't just talk about new ideas or methods but we could be trained and actually implement them.'' MEMO: RESUME
EDGAR ``BUTCH'' MORGAN JR., principal of William E. Waters Middle
School
Age: 51
Residence: Portsmouth
Family: Married; four grown children
Education: Undergraduate in psychology from the former Frederick
College, now known as Tidewater Community College-Portsmouth campus;
master's in educational administration from the College of William and
Mary
Previous position: Principal on special assignment for Superintendent
Richard D. Trumble. Morgan served as an acting coordinator of
transportation for most of the past school year and also assisted the
principal of the S.H. Clarke Vocational Center
Years in district: Beginning 30th year this fall; 26 years as a
principal
Salary: $65,270.40 ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Edgar Morgan Jr. is taking over as principal of William E. Waters
Middle School.
by CNB