The mid-year departure of former Principal Moussa Hamka may have roused many feelings of uncertainty for South students and their families. Many may ask: “What will the rest of the school year look like without a permanent principal in the building, and how will this affect students?” However, the promotion of former Assistant Principal Cindy Parravano to Interim Principal provided the structure that students needed to persist through the school year.
“Whenever something changes, there’s a lot of uneasiness for people,” Parravano said. “I’ve been here for eight years. I know the school, I know the people, I really love the kids. If they were to put somebody new as interim, that person may not know the systems. They may not know the kids, they may not know the teachers, they may not know what is and has been happening at South. So I wanted to make sure that it was stable for everybody here.”
Because of Parravano’s previous role as assistant principal, it was a natural progression that she would advance to the position of Principal. However, that is not the only reason for her nomination. Parravono’s eight years of experience in the Grosse Pointe Public School System alone set her apart from other candidates. In addition, the positions she has held throughout her career show her well-rounded experience, such as assistant principal, athletic director and even principal at other schools. Despite her experience in various roles, Parravono admits that she is still adjusting to this new promotion.
“It is very different,” Parravono said. “While I’m still dealing with students, parents and working with staff, it’s from a different vantage point. The things that I was doing as an assistant principal, with the discipline, attendance letters and enforcing the policies and everything that’s supposed to happen here, that’s not the role of the principal. If the role of the assistant principal is like a sheriff, the role of the principal is like the mayor. You’re doing similar things, but very different things now. It’s more direct and in a very different lens.”
Although Parravano is more than qualified for the position, the district is required to begin an official search and interview process for potential candidates. The process begins with a committee that administers initial paper screenings, followed by a first and second round of interviews. During the second round of interviews, multiple representatives are brought in to observe and provide feedback, such as parents, students and teachers. Those recommendations are considered and a final interview is done with the superintendent who gives the recommendation for hire.
“Having sat in the seat of a principal before, there’s not a huge learning curve,” Parravano said. “The learning curve would be huge if I was stepping into a different school, trying to learn new students, staff, systems and all of that. But the good thing is, we have a lot of stability and institutional knowledge here. I’ve been here for when Mr. Hamka went through with his training, when I went through with my training. Even though there was some aspects of his job that I wasn’t doing, I understood them.”
Although Parravano is only temporarily filling the role at this time, she expressed her willingness to assume the role permanently as an applicant. Her long-term goal is to maintain stability and excellence for the South community.
“My goal is that we continue providing the same service and provide the same level of education to ensure that our systems and structures stay in place. I want to guarantee that at the end of the year, we can all say that we did our best to ensure that South stays the institution that it has been for years.”
