Greenbrier Middle School Principal Kelli McGaha-Martin said she’s had a couple of back-to-back blessings in the past few weeks.
She was named the 2017 Arkansas Association of Middle-Level Administrators Principal of the Year and just received her Master Principal designation from the Arkansas Leadership Academy.
McGaha-Martin said she considers the Principal of the Year honor as a school award.
“It’s not about me. … All of these things can’t be accomplished by one person,” she said. “I’ve been blessed and surrounded by a lot of other people who want to help our kids.”
She received the award in April at the middle school from former Greenbrier Superintendent Mike Mertens, assistant executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.
“He actually gave me my first job,” she said.
McGaha-Martin said she was surprised by the announcement.
“I knew I had been nominated, but I was surprised on that day and very humbled. Again, it goes back to being blessed by being in the district and surrounded by people who go above and beyond.”
Greenbrier Superintendent Scott Spainhour said being named Principal of the Year is “a huge accomplishment; it’s a big honor. There are a lot of great principals, and she’s just at the top of her game.”
He said she is an outstanding administrator and a great leader.
McGaha-Martin, who is wrapping up her 17th year in education, is taking on a new role, however.
“I’m transitioning into a district-level position,” she said. She has been named director of teaching and learning for the Greenbrier School District. She will oversee curriculum and instruction, as well as professional development, and will develop professional learning communities.
“It seems like that’s what happens,” Spainhour said. “You get good at what you’re doing, and we ask you to do something else. Her leadership skills are just impeccable, and she’s going to provide great leadership to our staff, to our teachers in curriculum development and instruction, and make sure we stay on the cutting edge.”
She is an Arkansas Leadership Quest lead principal, a training program for principals, through the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative and is certified through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
McGaha-Martin has received other awards in her career — the Arkansas Administrator of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Educational Office Professionals and the Above and Beyond Award from the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.
“I serve on a few state-level boards,” she said, including the Project Learning Tree board. “I enjoy advocating for public education,” she said.
McGaha-Martin said she and her husband, Shawn, and her stepdaughter, Carlee, live on the family farm in Holland were she grew up. A graduate of Greenbrier High School and the University of Central Arkansas, she said she attended kindergarten on the campus she’s on now, before it was a middle school.
She started her career in 2000 teaching kindergarten at Westside Elementary School in the Greenbrier district.
“That’s what I wanted when I started; I had in my mind [that teaching kindergarten was] what I would retire doing because I loved it so much,” she said.
Then she moved to teaching fourth grade in 2006.
“I realized I liked the older kids as well,” she said. She taught fourth grade at Wooster Elementary School.
She also discovered that she enjoyed leadership roles, making an impact on a broader area of the district.
McGaha-Martin earned master’s and specialist’s degrees in educational leadership from Harding University in Searcy. She became assistant principal, then principal, of Wooster Elementary School before being hired four years ago as Greenbrier Middle School principal.
“I love education, and I love kids, and I love the idea of adults continuing to learn,” she said. “If we expect kids to learn at a high level, [adults should].”
McGaha-Martin said her goal relates to the school’s goals.
“The collaboration piece is so important,” she said. She said the middle school’s vision and mission were collaboratively written.
“Our vision is to be the turning point in leading, teaching and learning,” she said. “The thought is, No. 1, it’s a turning point for the kids at the middle school level. … The bigger idea is being the turning point in education, being the trendsetters or ones out in front trying new things for students.”
McGaha-Martin’s selection was made, in part, on best practices in schools, according to the National Distinguished Principals program, which gave the award. These best practices included the following:
• The development of Greenbrier Middle School’s Fast Focus initiative, which allows students to connect with an adult advocate at school while also receiving interventions or enrichment each day.
• Clubnections, a student-club initiative that allows students to discover connections between current interests and college fields of study, possible career choices and community resources or partners. Guest speakers and community partners are used throughout the school year to promote the enrichment experiences.
• A no-zero/no-failure culture, where every student completes every assignment through the Power of ICU program.
• The Very Important Panther after-school program, which supports not only the academic needs of at-risk students but also the personal, social and emotional needs.
• Taking adult learning to scale by developing leadership capacity in staff members and creating a school culture of professional learning communities, collaboration and high expectations.
The national distinguished principal winners from each state will be recognized in October in Washington, D.C.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.