[ot-caption title=”The 2014-2015 school year will mark Mr. Clark’s first year as Head of School on the Boca Raton campus.” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/AKCalxF25HthBTg1kEcna0M0k3My1V0Q_elm4kaHGW0jEXeSHfb4kAGZGd8DdkoCxyuKZl8u6KC8veNVZktZ8g.jpeg”]

When students received the letter that Mr. Clark was moving to the Boca Raton campus, many could not help but speculate what the reason was for the change. Mr. Clark has been an icon to everyone at the Fort Lauderdale campus. His influence has been invaluable. Type One had the chance to interview Mr. Clark about his move to the Boca Raton campus and find out what his goals are moving forward.

T1: What do you do in your new job?

Mr. Clark: I am responsible for the management of the entire campus and I work very closely with Dr. Markham. The things I do range from the academic side, so the faculty, staff, and students, to other aspects like food service, facilities, Learning Network, Security, and Development Office policy. I make sure things are in order, students are being served, and all constituents work together. I have the vision for what is needed for students, the campus, the curriculum, and financial issues–like if buildings are necessary. Though that doesn’t occur often, I deal with the problems when they arise.

T1: What is biggest difference?

Mr. Clark: I don’t work on a day-to-day basis with students, instead, I work with them indirectly through principals and faculty. Every day that I’ve been here, I’ve been fortunate to visit classes. I’ve gone to different classes in the Middle School and neighborhoods in the Lower School. I’m very happy to have done that. In the past, my job had contact with kids to help them solve problems, give them advice, etc. Now I help others to help our students.

T1: What do you like best about the Boca campus?

Mr. Clark: I like the family feeling of the smaller community. There is a lot of camaraderie within the faculty. I enjoy getting to see every student everyday in the cafeteria. All of the faculty and stuff seems to know what they need to do and then they just do it with pride. I don’t think that this is different from the Fort Lauderdale campus, but I like looking at it from a different perspective.

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T1: What do you miss the most about Fort Lauderdale?

Mr. Clark: That’s a tough question. I miss having high school students since you can have a different type of conversation with them than you can with elementary and middle school students. Now that I’ve been here, I do miss you guys but I know that you’re in great hands with Mr. Walters.

T1: What was the transition like?

Mr. Clark: I was very fortunate to have the luxury of coming here a couple days a week last year to watch things happening on the Boca campus. This made it easier because people already knew who I was, I met people, and many of the kids knew who I was and were excited for me to be at Boca full time. There are always bumps in the road for transitioning. There were some solvable bumps in the road along the way. My approach to the job is: are there better ways we can do it to serve kids?

T1: What are your goals for this job?

Mr. Clark: I want to try to make the experience the same in middle and elementary school for both the Boca and Fort Lauderdale campus. We want the kids and faculty to have a similar experience on both campuses so that students entering ninth grade can feel the same way. We’re trying to incorporate things that are great about each campus to both campuses. I like to watch Dr. Markham put her vision together and I help to implement all things to make students successful for the future. I’m looking forward to getting involved. We are moving forward and implementing different things.

As students, we know that the Boca Raton campus will benefit tremendously under Mr. Clark’s leadership. From Type One and the Upper School, we wish Mr. Clark all the best and thank him for the impact that he has had on all of our experiences at the Pine.