Last spring, Justin Hunt was promoted from assistant principal to head principal of HCP. His promotion was well-received by the faculty and his family.
Hunt and his family were extremely excited about him taking the head principal position.
“My family was also very excited, understanding and encouraging. Although I did not think it would be a hard task, but I knew it would be more challenging and important,” Hunt Said.
Hunt’s main goals as a principal are to prompt life-long student learning as well as student safety. If Hunt could describe a school principal in three words, he would choose honesty, integrity and caring.
“The reason I chose the characteristic of being caring for a school principal is because every environment’s different from inside of school than at home for everyone,” Hunt said.
Hunt credits his caring attitude to two role models: his high school principal and his father.
“I am who I am because of how I was raised,” Hunt said.
The daily life of a principal can be quite demanding. Hunt’s routine as principal begins at 6:35 a.m. when he arrives at school. He tries to get at least one important thing accomplished, such as paying bills or checking finances. Then, at 7:00 he tries to be present in the office for parents, students or staff who have questions or want to talk. In the afternoon he tries to be present at both lunches. He also tries to do one or two classroom walk-ins in the morning and afternoon. Finally, at 3:00 p.m. Hunt and staff members are outside the school monitoring for about 15 minutes.
“In the mornings I try to be present in the halls before first hour. Everything varies day by day. As Mrs. Kelley says ‘It’s tyranny of the urgent,’ meaning anytime something comes in you might be in the middle of a project but you’ve got to deal with that,” Hunt said.
Transitioning from a teacher to an administrator for Hunt comes down to two things: lunch and a planning period.
“I try to drink a shake whenever I can get my hands on one because there is no time for a lunch and I have no plan while being a part of the school administration,” Hunt said.
Hunt’s expectations for this year are to be at or above last year’s ranking as well as maintaining high test scores, but he says there is really no need for change this year.
The faculty is glad to have Mr. Hunt as their head principal.
“I know Mr. Hunt has a strong passion for the students he serves and understands the key to changed lives is through education. I look forward to seeing the continued growth and development Mr. Hunt will bring to Harding as the new principal,” said counselor Joe Hughes.
