Goodbye, with Love, to NJHS Principal

If there’s one word to describe how Catherine Ward-Mikes completed her tenure at Newark Junior High School, it would be love.

“Let’s see if you can get this right,” she said to the eighth grade class of 2011 during a promotion ceremony last week. “I will always…”

“Love you,” responded 400 students.

“And I love you, too,” she replied.

This year marked Ward-Mikes’ third and final year as ’s principal. She leaves the district to join Dublin Unified School District as the principal of Dougherty Elementary School.

The reason behind her departure is a personal one.

As a mother of two sons, 19 and 17, and a daughter who is two years away from completing high school, Ward-Mikes said she chose to leave Newark with the intention of having more time to spend with her family.

"And that’s all it is really," she said. “It was a really hard decision. ...I needed to be employed closer to home."

While the junior high community expressed regrets over Ward-Mikes’ decision to leave, they were also supportive.

“I worked with a great deal of principals, and several have been good…I would put Catherine at the top of the list,” said Tom Collett, science teacher for the junior high.

It is her ability to build motivation in and incentives for everyone, her willingness to listen and work with parents and her genuine interest in students’ best interest that has built her reputation among her colleagues.

“You can tell she loves the kids. …She’s got a contagious enthusiasm,” Collett said.

“She’s made believers out of everyone,” added Assistant Principal James McGee. “This is the best the junior high has been since it was built. … And (the students) look happy to be here, which is a great feeling.”

“I hate to see her go, but I understand,” McGee said.

Ward-Mikes’ biggest hope for the school she has lead for the last three years is continued success.

“What I want after I leave is that whoever comes in is better than I am. I really, really hope that happens,” Ward-Mikes said.

During her tenure, the school built a number of initiatives to promote support among the school community, including anti-bullying campaigns.

Ward-Mikes said she has been impressed with how students embraced such campaigns throughout the 2010-11 school year and said promoting the class was "my proudest moment as a principal."

“This year will always stick out to me personally for the rest of my life,” she said. “I chose Newark, and I loved every minute of it.”