Banos settling into new job heading the Middle School
Published on October 31st, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - New Stoneham Middle School Principal Christopher Banos couldn't have asked for a better job.
According to Banos, named last summer to succeed former Middle School Principal Christine McMenimen, his transition to the building's top administrative post has been quite enjoyable.
The career-long Stoneham educator, who taught seventh grade math for as many years before becoming asst. principal at the middle school for two years, believes that a plethora of mentors prepared him for his newest career challenge.
"When I first got into teaching, I always thought it was a goal that I'd like to reach," said Banos of becoming an administrator. "And I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by a lot of veteran teachers and administrators who gave me some great advice."
"I'm appreciative of all the support from the parents. We have wonderful kids, the teachers have been great, and the central office has been very supportive," the new principal added.
According to Schools Supt. Dr. Les Olson, Banos has proven that the vote in confidence in his abilities last summer was well warranted.
When McMenimen, who moved to her hometown of Wilmington for a similar position, announced her departure, Banos was by far the favorite for the post, Olson explained.
"Everything that I've seen and heard has indicated that he was the excellent choice [that we expected]," said Olson. "Clearly, Chris was head and shoulders above everybody else and we knew he'd be able to step right in. He's doing a great job."
Although he has been involved in the hiring process before in his previous position, Banos admits that the most challenging aspect of his promotion revolved around bringing in 13 new middle school personnel this summer.
Specifically, the new principal found himself in new waters as he started searching for the most qualified teachers possible, a task that forced him to network with other community administrators and education contacts.
At the same time, Banos believes that he thrives on new challenges, which is what drew him to the principal job, and administrative positions in general, to begin with.
"It's not routine. Everyday is different. I'm going into each day with an outline of what I have to do, and my schedule fills pretty quickly with all the rest," Banos explains. "It' challenging and that's what I like the best about it."
A former teacher, the principal is a firm believer that a successful leader has to understand the challenges within a classroom and what types of atmospheres are needed in order to create an environment best suited for learning.
And based upon the challenges within the middle school, Banos will strive to return some of the basic educational concepts that have been lost to the building in recent years due to budget cuts.
Foremost amongst those considerations, the educator stresses, is a return of the team concept at the middle school level, a loss that has had great impacts on the environment in the classroom.
"What I'd like to change is really just get back the things we used to have. Seven years ago, this middle school was thriving. We had a team concept. We had intramural and club activities," said Banos.
"I would say the biggest challenge is re-establishing the team concept. We've had a lot of support from the community, but I think the community has to understand what has been taken from the middle school."
"The team concept is not something that can be summarized in just a couple of sentences. It's the whole concept of the middle school and it benefits kids," the principal said. "Not having [it] is an erosion of the academic system."
According to former principal and current School Committee Chair Maureen Soley, who has long advocated for a return of lost middle school activities, she believes Banos is doing a great job, given the lack of resources at the building.
Like Olson, Soley underscored the new principal's communication skills and ability to bring the middle school community together as some of his strongest attributes.
"He's attuned to the middle school students and knows the curriculum well. There haven't been anything but good things going on there and he's transitioned very well into the role," said Soley.
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