Indian Prairie's new faces learning their new places

Hundreds of high school students maneuvered their way through the halls of Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools for the first time Monday.

Their principals, meanwhile, had barely a two-month head start.

New Waubonsie Principal Kristine Marchiando and Neuqua Principal Robert McBride began preparing for life in their new district July 1.

For McBride, the transition from Glenbard East High School - where he spent two years as assistant principal for instruction and the past three as principal - has been less of a change than Marchiando has experienced.

For the past 18 years, she has served as a high school administrator in Arizona, most recently as principal of Basha High in Chandler.

Despite their experience, both said they still get butterflies on the first day of school, especially in a new place.

"I always get anxious with the start of year, probably more so than the students," Marchiando said. She admits she still hasn't mastered all 388 staff members' names or all the routes through school.

"Every day since July 1 I have tried to enter the building from a different door to find my way around," she said.

McBride woke up "a lot earlier than usual" Monday, excited to start the new year at his new school.

"Experience is the best teacher," he said. "Someone can tell you what it's like to walk into Neuqua Valley for your first day as principal, but you don't know until you walk through those doors yourself."

Both principals are excited by the challenge of immersing themselves in the cultures and communities of their new surroundings.

"I'm just living, breathing, and learning Waubonsie Valley," Marchiando said. "We're going to keep our traditions intact and we're going to make a new one: challenging every student every day."

On the lighter side, she enjoys ending every meeting with students and faculty with a cheer of "Let's go Warriors!"

"That's made me feel part of the team," she said.

Across the district, McBride already has been blown away by the number of traditions designed to celebrate or honor student achievement.

"There seems to be great deal of pride in having those events," he said. "There's a deliberateness about bringing adults together at the school to celebrate student achievement."

He hopes to add to that by improving communication throughout Neuqua's three campuses and working to make students and families feel as if they've been individually served.

Marchiando already has expressed her goal for faculty and students in the form of a green and gold banner outside the entrance that reads "Excellence in every endeavor."

"Whether it's a student mastering a new skill or a teacher learning a new technique, we're going to do it with excellence," she said. "That's what we've talked about since July 1."