What They’re Thinking: Iowa’s top assistant principal Jeff Schneekloth

CEDAR RAPIDS - Jeff Schneekloth, an administrator at Taft Middle School in Cedar Rapids, has been named the top assistant principal in Iowa.

The School Administrators of Iowa honored Schneekloth - who has been at Taft since 2010 and also has worked at Harding Middle, Roosevelt Middle and in the Linn-Mar district - earlier this month.

'I felt honored, and I felt humbled, and I'm just very, very appreciative of all the relationships I've been able to develop along the way,” Schneekloth said.

His work in behavior intervention and conflict resolution helped earn him the recognition - which he said is in line with the district's push toward restorative, rather than punitive, practices.

Q: Can you explain 'restorative justice”?

A: 'When a student gets sent to the office, it's probably one of the more easy parts to determine a consequence. The more difficult part and the more critical component is how you're going to assist that student in moving forward. You try to take more of a proactive approach, so you're not consistently in a response mode.”

Q: How does that philosophy influence your work with students?

A: 'I try to be as proactive and positive as possible. That doesn't mean there's not a level of accountability - there is.

'One of the things I try to do is being visible. I think it's important to be visible during passing time, instructional time, at the co-curricular activities.

'The other thing I do is a positive referral program. Students can get sent to the office not because they made a mistake, but because they 'did their PARRT” - which is an acronym for personal best, active listening, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness.”

Q: When students are sent to your office for positive reasons, what happens next?

A: 'We talk about why they received a positive referral, and then we really try to reinforce and promote that. They receive a special certificate and ... we'll take a picture and send that home with kids to parents. Those pictures are printed and put on my office door, too.

'When possible, it's very nice for parents to hear from us not only for the negative but for the positive things, too. They're key, especially when you're talking about student discipline, they're a key part of the process.”

Q: What keeps you motivated at work?

A: 'The students - to see them show up each and every day and look at how hard they're working. As assistant principal, I get to go around to our classrooms. … It is really neat to not only see the outstanding work our kids are doing, but the phenomenal work that our teachers do.

'That's really encouraging to me and motivating to me. I try to be as good as I can be because I watch them performing at their best.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8330; molly.duffy@thegazette.com