The Windsor Journal

Lori Foote, new Coordinator of Guidance for Sage Park Middle School and Windsor High School knows exactly what makes Windsor schools different. It's the sense of pride the student have, she said recently, during an interview at her WHS office.

“We had a pep rally, and everybody was really into it, and it was great,” she said. “There is a great sense of community here. The diversity in the school is a wonderful thing. I think the students really appreciate the diversity, and I feel the staff appreciate the diversity. And there is great pride for their school.”

It was the same pride for Windsor High and the same love for her community that led Foot back to her alma matter last July. Foote, a Windsor native and a 1991 WHS alumna, was working last year at Hall High School in West Hartford when she heard that the position of Guidance Coordinator of the Windsor school system was opening. With a Master's in Psychology from Springfield College a solid experience in West Hartford and Bloomfield in school counseling, and her Six-Year degree, she definitely had the credentials. On the other hand, she had been an Assistant Principal for summer school for only a year and a half before the opening in Windsor beckoned.

“I had contemplated whether or not I wanted to go into a director position,” she confided. “And I knew that if I was going to look for one, it would be a very specific place.”

“Windsor had always had my heart,” she said beaming.

Windsor must have also have been waiting for someone exactly like her, because when she called to find out more about the position, she was told that the posting had been closed without someone landing the job.

“And so I asked if I should still apply, and they said 'yes,' because they were reconsidering opening up the position again after the initial search. So I applied, and they reopened the position, and here I am.”

How does she find her old school? The Windsor Journal asked.

“I feel there's been a lot of change since I've been in school, when the diversity switched,” she responded. “But I do feel that the school offers a lot of opportunities for students in the business, whether it be culinary, or it be graphics, art. There are a lot of different programs that students can participate in a lot of clubs, activities, sports. It's an amazing school.”

There is a change, however, that Foote is not happy about.

“I think there's a lot of students who don't live up to their potential,” she laments. “I think it's a cultural thing, I think it's a youth generation thing, and by 'cultural' I mean specific to the youth culture of 'it's okay for me to not do as well as I can.'”

Part of that is the adults' fault, she believes.

“We all want to raise our kids to have more than what we had, and at some point where does that end?” she asks. “So the kids don't feel they need to work as hard. ... And technology has made it so that, literally, you have access to anything at any time, very quickly.”

Still it's a recipe for failure Foote says, and the only response is instilling in the kids the sense that they can do anything that they want to do, and they can achieve at high levels, and to make sure that they have the resources to help them do that. Windsor High School with is large list of course offerings and network of support is exactly such a place she says.

The same network of supports offers students an advantage that students in many surrounding communities don't have, Foote points out: a safe environment.

“I feel very safe and comfortable, and I think the kids feel safe and comfortable in general,” she observed.

It's something that she has worked hard to sustain over the few months she is in WHS, says Sergeant Chris McKee, of the Windsor Police Department.

“Since her start at Windsor High School at the beginning of this school year, the working relationship between the Police Department and the School Counseling Department has taken off by leaps and bounds,” he noted. “The School Resource Officers have collaborated with Ms Foote and her counselors on everything from students in crisis, and truancy issues, to working together to find the best possible community resource for parents and families requiring assistance. We work so closely together now, due in large part of Ms. Foote's guidance and supportive nature, that police officers and school counselors have attended off-site training together on several occasions, and we collaborate almost daily on issues to find the best possible solution for students and their parents.”

Foote's main concern, however, is how to help students expand their horizons, Foote says. That was clear last week, when WHS hosted College Goal Sunday, during which low income parents were advised on how to complete the various financial forms for College.

“It's great event because it's for first generation students and families, low income, people who just have no clue about financial aid,” Foote explained.

So, what is her plan for the future? we asked the new guidance coordinator.

“One of the things that the state is asking us to do, is come up with a Student Success Plan for grades 6 through 12,” she responded. “Starting in July, every student has to have one, and basically it's a way for the students to set goals for themselves, to put in place different academic, social and emotional plans, so that we can make sure we're developing the students appropriately. It is a lot of work, but it's pretty much everything that we've been doing already and maybe a few extra things. And what we'll have to do is document everything that we're doing for each student. We have a program that's called Naviance that we'll be using to make sure that's all is documented, and then we'll go from there.”

For now, though, Foote is savoring the moment.

“I am ecstatically happy to be back in the town,” she said. “I am happy to be a home owner in the town, I'm happy to be an employee of the town, and I'm excited for what the future has to hold.”

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