Mr. Reilly, New Dean of 2019

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Reilly, the new dean of the Class of 2019. I was able to ask him several questions that I thought the grade would like to know.

Me: Is there anything you would like the class of 2019 to know about you?

Mr. Reilly: I would like everybody to come and see me, and that my door is always open, because the more I know about the students, the more I’ll be able to help them make good decisions. Or at least to guide them through the difficult times or when they’re pursuing their dreams. I want everybody to leave here accomplishing the dreams they hope to accomplish.

Me: Do you expect this transition to be smooth sailing? How do you think both sides could make it easier – You, Ms. Dutton, and the class?

Mr. Reilly: Well, I don’t think that Ms. Dutton could do anything more than what she is already doing, she’s a fantastic person, and just walking around with her for one day shows me how much she cares about the kids and that’s really inspirational to me. Seeing how open she is and how willing she is to drop everything and help out a student, is probably the best thing I have seen. And that’s going to help the transition. Today and several other days, we have looked at class placements for students and that just helps me get a nice overview. The fun part of my job is going to be getting to know everybody and sitting down with Ms. Dutton and learning about the students is going to be really helpful.

Me: What do you think will be the hardest thing we will have to go through in the coming years? (March Madness, College, etc.) How do you think we should go through with that?

Mr. Reilly: I think the most important part is to look at it one year at a time, and building up every year towards that college goal, but, my focus for next year is to help the class of 2019 focus on March Madness and pursuing their goals for their academics, as well as their life outside of academics while also keeping in touch with what they need to do for March Madness. I think it’s a fun way to approach sophomore year.

Me: So considering how we had a very big cellphone issue this year, do you have any problems with that?

Mr. Reilly: I don’t have a problem with that. I understand that that’s an issue in other schools and I understand that it’s going to be an issue in most years, but I don’t have a proper policy yet, because I’m not even sure what it would be, but I like the idea of trying to give students as much of a chance to figure out what works for them, before we make restrictions, and I think that given an opportunity to regulate their phones on their own is really important before we go ahead and make the rules. And observation would be a big part – I need to be able to see the issue before addressing it, but I believe we can adapt to this growth of technology. Currently, I’m more content to watch than to decide. I’m in the learning stage right now.

Me: Any previous experiences in teaching?

Mr. Reilly: For the last ten years, I’ve been a sixth-grade teacher at Grace. I taught English, History, and Geography, and I was a homeroom teacher and advisor, but I have no experience in being a dean with that title yet. I also have had some administrative experience at Grace Church School.

Me: How do you think we will be able to get to know you better?

Mr. Reilly: I hope that sitting down together in my office, the cafeteria, or anywhere and just talking on the way to a class, will help us get to know each other. I hope to be as open as people would like me to be, I want to learn about you guys, since that’s how you make good decisions.

Me: Thank you so much!

I’m sure we all are looking forward to getting to know Mr. Reilly next year!