On the first day of school at St. Mary of the Mills, students and their parents will find a new principal and assistant principal standing at the edge of the carpool lot and welcoming classes into the 2016-2017 year.
Principal Alicia Jordan and assistant principal Tiffani James were both welcomed into the St. Mary's family in July, and immediately dove into plans and projects for the upcoming school year, which begins Aug. 29.
Jim Pavlacka, the school's former principal, left in 2014 to become the director of leadership development for the National Catholic Educational Association.
At the end of the previous school year, Jordan said, St. Mary of the Mills bid farewell to its former assistant principal, Katrina Fernandez, who had served as its interim principal. Fernandez has accepted a principal position in southern Prince George's County.
"You always have first-day jitters," said Jordan, a former principal within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. "I'm still like that second- or third-grader coming in like, 'Oh, I get to meet the new teachers.' I'm excited about meeting the students and their parents, letting them know that they're in a safe, nurturing environment."
In between her time as principal and assistant principal for the Archdiocese, the 16-year educator said she briefly left for an assistant principal position with Baltimore County Public Schools.
Jordan said she saw St. Mary's as an opportunity to inspire a new community, while being closer to her family's home in Upper Marlboro.
"I've only been working here for the past month and a half and I already noticed the family atmosphere," Jordan said. "Catholic identity is very present in Catholic schools, where students are in an environment, they feel safe and secure and they know that at any given point they can get down and pray."
A Columbia resident, James said she was also familiar with this sense of expression in the education system, having previously taught at St. Mary's School as a substitute teacher nearly 15 years ago. During her 18 years in the field, James has come and gone from Laurel, but always found a way back to St. Mary's.
"You can spend your whole life on this block" at the corner of Main Street and St. Marys Place, said James. "You can go from Pallotti Early Learning Center to St. Mary of the Mills all the way through to Pallotti High School, go to college, come back here and teach. People have done that."
After teaching language arts and religion at St. Mary's School for about 11 years, James left to pursue a principal position at another Catholic school. However, the school closed before she began, she said, bringing her back to St. Mary's to teach religion.
James said she later worked as the assistant principal at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, but decided to returned to St. Mary's for a third time.
"It's great to be back with a new vision for the school," she said. "Having had the honor to be here for so long, I taught families of four and five students. I got to know the whole line of the family."
Suzanna Pieslak, a Home and School Association board member and mother of fourth-grader Ben, said she has high hopes for the school's new leaders. Pieslak will begin her second year with HSA and continue as co-chair of the annual spring gala.
"We're excited to have Mrs. Jordan as our new principal," Pieslak said. "I was really impressed with her energy and enthusiasm at the meet-and-greet a few months back. As both our principal and a mother of two sons, she understands and emphasizes the importance of a parent's active role in their children's education."
Although she has yet to meet James, Pieslak said she's heard nothing but praise from other parents about the former St. Mary's teacher and the excitement of what she'll bring in her new position as assistant principal.
The Rev. Mike Mellone, of St. Mary of the Mills Church, also praised the school's new leadership.
"As the new school year begins, I am filled with hope and joy at our selection of Mrs. Alisha Jordan and Mrs. Tiffany James," Mellone said. "These two women are experienced educators [and] administrators and they will lead St. Mary of the Mills into a bright future."
With students' first day of school just a few days away, both Jordan and James said they couldn't wait to see the hallways filled with teachers and students. The principal and assistant principal are ready for a new year of learning, they said, and forming partnerships with surrounding education systems, like the Pallotti Early Learning Center and Pallotti High School.
"I'm just ready for there to be noise in the building. I'm ready for the building to be alive," James said.
"My goal is to look at the culture of the school to see why the school has been here for years and to continue that mission of the school," Jordan added. "I want to look back in June to see that we made some form of progress. At the same time, after I look back at 10 months of school, I want to see that we moved some way."