New Berkley principals reflect on first months, goals

BERKLEY — Two new principals began their tenures in the Berkley School District this year.

Both Angell and Rogers Elementary schools started their school years with new principals, Matt Provost and Katie Lewis, respectively.

Before coming to Berkley, Provost was a principal in the Waterford, Center Line and Wayne-Westland school districts. This is his 10th year overall serving as a principal of a school.

But once upon a time, Provost was a graduate of the Berkley School District, where his kids now attend. His family resides in the city.

“I always had a want to come back to the community that gave so much to me and give back to that community and be close to my kids and family,” he said. So, that was the main driving reason (in taking the position).”

Now with a few months under his belt at Angell, Provost said the job has been going great so far and he’s enjoyed connecting with families and getting to know the students and staff.

“I’ve been able to connect with our PTA, who are amazing — so much support,” he said. “And then within the school building, I have those one-on-one conversations with staff and learn their background, what’s important to them as an educator and what I can do to support them. So it’s one thing that Berkley schools, I think, does a really great job of, is that sense of community. So I’m really proud to be a part of that.”

For the remainder of the school year, Provost is hoping to still make a better connection with members of the community, his staff and students.

“Those opportunities, it’s not just a matter of me getting to know the school community, but also for them to get a chance to know me as well,” he said. “So communication, especially the first year in a building, is No. 1 to me to continually work on that and build those relationships throughout the school.”

While Provost came to Berkley with a number of years as principal under his belt, this is Lewis’ first year as a principal. Before becoming principal of Rogers Elementary, she previously was an elementary literacy coach at the school.

Lewis said she wanted to become a principal in order to help better serve the teachers at Rogers.

“One of my top values is to support teachers and to make teachers feel supported,” she said. ‘When teachers feel supported and happy, they’re better able to meet the needs of their students, and so I felt like this was a way that I could do that.”

So far, Lewis feels she has been accomplishing that goal four months into her tenure, but she hopes to help them more by increasing the teachers’ capacities to implement small group instruction.

“It was something that I started work on as an instructional literacy coach, and it’s an ongoing goal,” she said. “It’s something that I want to continue working on, some work that I started last year at the beginning of this year, that I’d like to continue working on with teachers. Because again, if teachers feel supported in implementing small group instruction, their students’ needs are better met.”

“It’s important to me to build a culture of deep listening and deep care to foster a positive culture in the building, in the community, where teachers, students and families feel seen and heard,” she continued.