![]() Many of the school’s students graduate not just with a high school diploma but with associate’s degrees and certifications.Īdditionally, Watson wants to continue to grow the Girl Up student club, in which Highland Park girls learn about life skills like healthy eating, self-defense, car maintenance and health. ![]() More: Why adults should 'listen' to Topeka High students' photography Restoring Highland Park's traditions and building Girl Up clubĪs principal, Watson said she wants to help restore some of the school’s traditions and bring back some of the build up of excitement and pride in the school that COVID dampened, as well as more fully restore the school’s selection of concurrent enrollment classes for college credit. “They appreciate the fact that she's firm but also very kind and takes care of her students.” “She holds students to high standards and high expectation, and I think that's why parents respect her and support her, as well as the young people,” New said. “We know their stories, we know their strengths and we know their struggles.”īeryl New, director of certified personnel and equity for the district, said Watson has grown up professionally in the district. “We know all of our children,” she continued. Obviously, not all of our kids are there, but even with our highest kids, we push them to higher levels. We keep them high, and kids come up for us like. It's all about the expectations that we all strive for,” Watson said. “It's all about the time we spend with them. Many of the schools’ students do come from more challenging backgrounds, but the relationships Highland Park faculty build with students allows the school to dream bigger and better. ![]() More: Topeka USD 501 won't add any International Baccalaureate programs - yet She knows the school, in the past, has had a reputation as being somehow lesser than its counterparts in Topeka High and Topeka West, but she challenges the community to see Highland Park for the relationships and work its kids continue to put in. In her 15 years at the school, Watson has come to know Highland Park as a magical place, especially in its ability to just make things happen. “I would have missed them, I wouldn't have been able to help them to graduate and now I do because that's what I work with are all the kids now.” “I truly believe I’m where I’m supposed to be because there are kids who I wouldn't have had hands-on experience with if I were just in a classroom,” Watson said. It’s a path Watson felt called to follow nine years ago, when she moved from a strictly classroom teacher role to become an instructional coach, then an assistant principal and most recently, an associate principal. ![]() Watson on Friday started her first day as principal at Highland Park High School, succeeding John Buckendorff, who is moving to Topeka West. More: Here's where these Topeka USD 501 principals are going next Juli Watson following in Dale Cushinberry's footstepsįifteen years later, she’s sitting in the job Cushinberry once held. When Cushinberry called again, Watson hardly had to think before taking the job as a freshman English teacher. It would be a few years before Cushinberry had a job to offer her, but in the meantime, Watson volunteered with the Peace Corps. “It's all about kids, 100%, and relationships were very important to him to build children - who other people might see as ’not going to make it’ - and help them to achieve their goals and know all that is possible.” ![]() “He had the same kind of style as I did,” Watson said. From that moment, Watson was sold on Cushinberry’s description of the school’s approach to education. It was about two decades ago that the Connecticut native first met Dale Cushinberry, then-principal of Highland Park High School, at a career fair in Missouri. Juli Watson may not be from Topeka, but you’d be hard pressed to know it. ![]()
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