Eric Ebert has been the principal of Homestead High School for several years. But what does the job of the Principal of Homestead High School entail?
Mr. Ebert starts his day by arriving at the school around the same time as most students.
“I’m typically standing out front saying hello to people as they enter the building. It’s nice to see students as they come. For the most part, people say hello back. But, you know, it’s a little bit early in the morning, and not everybody is a morning person,” Ebert said.
The day continues on with a flexible schedule of meetings, teacher sit-ins and calls by staff.
“It’s my goal to help set the vision for our school improvement. I utilize some teams to help us get there. … There are multiple teams that work together to help promote or help grow the vision that’s been set for the school year. I chair all those teams. So we meet at different times, and we set goals for growth and a vision for what we want our school to look like when it comes to our students and their engagement in the classroom.”
In addition to these meetings, Ebert also leads meetings about school budgets, new clubs and acts as a Homestead representative with other schools.
“I met this morning for an hour and a half with leaders from the Waukesha School District who are considering implementing the trimester schedule. So I met with them to talk about some of the strengths and areas of concern around a trimester schedule so that they could help make better decisions for themselves if they want to head in that direction. I also today met with leaders from Port Washington High School who came to ask us questions about the systems of support in some of our on-level classes like Geometry, Algebra II and English 9,” Ebert said.
This fluctuating schedule of meetings, sit ins, calls and visits is what Ebert accredits his love of being principal to.
“The best part about being the principal is that every day looks different and I get to collaborate with all sorts of different people to try to make Homestead the best it can be.”
Out of all of the events that Principal Ebert gets to be a part of, he names graduation as his favorite part of the year.
“Graduation is the best event, which is something that I plan and oversee. Graduation is a special event because I get to see students from freshman year through their senior year, all with different stories and challenges and then to see it come to fruition where that group who we invited in as incoming freshmen four years prior walks across the stage is very, very satisfying,” Ebert said.
While some may find this job tough and stressful, Ebert is more than glad to handle everyday at his job.
“I love being Homestead’s principal,” he said.