This Monday, Courtney Pepe began her first day as an instructional coach, after being an English teacher at Rouse for three years and the head of the English department. Pepe’s last day in the classroom was last Friday, but she will remain on campus to assist teachers. She took over following Jamie Maples, who left to work a district-wide position.
As an instructional coach, Pepe will be working to help teachers to improve the quality of education for students; her impact will benefit everyone regardless of staff or student. Pepe will begin her first project with the professional development day on Oct. 14 by leading activities and structures.
“Education is power,” Pepe said. “There are lots of things in this world that can be stripped from you, people can break you all they want, but your mind is one thing that you get to hold control over and that’s to me, what education is. It’s power that no one else can take from you.”
Pepe’s ultimate goal in her first year as an instructional coach is to establish trust with the teachers.
“I’m as vulnerable as they’ll be with me,” Pepe said. “I offer support and knowledge to help them grow in a non-threatening, non-intimidating way. It’s all about getting better. I want people, regardless of what they believe or what I believe, to feel comfortable talking to me, to feel heard [and] to feel like I can provide the support.”
Pepe wants to be able to research and spend her time helping teachers build their own niches in the school or classroom within their students, whether it is instructional practices or classroom management.
“Whoever is coming to me I want them to feel that I truly am like a resource like I’m an internet browser,” Pepe said. “You can open up and they could ask me anything. There’s no judgment on anything, regardless of what decisions they’ve made, anything. It’s all about taking and reflecting on what we’ve been doing and just getting better.”
Long-term substitute Katie Bartow will step in to teach Pepe’s English lll and lV classes until a new teacher is hired for the position.
“I’m devastated in a sense, this is what I’ve done for a long time,” Pepe said. “I’ve been in some form of education since I was young, so the idea of not having a direct hand in student education is something I’m having to come to terms with. However, I’m also grateful for [the] impact that I can have in this position.”
By taking on this new role, Pepe wants to reduce the negative experiences that students can have with teachers.
“I’m sure everybody, adults and students alike, can look back and reflect on [the] different teachers they’ve had,” Pepe said. “Some you’ve had are really good and like you’ll never forget them. And some, you just kind of wish you could erase it from your memory because for whatever reason it just didn’t fit, and it could be a personality difference. It could be that they weren’t the strongest teachers, whatever the case is, we all have those experiences.”
Pepe plans to incorporate student views in her coaching process by having a task force where students voice problems they observe in the classroom. .
“Education looks different for every person,” Pepe said. “Regardless of how it looks, every student has potential to be successful and success looks different for every kid and that is something that has been adapted in my philosophy over the years.”
Pepe is completing a principal certificate, and would like to eventually move into an AP position and grow into a principal. She feels that becoming an instructional coach will make her a better AP as well.
“This is the first time I’ve taken those big steps, starting with the department head,” Pepe said. “I would have never told you I could be a department head. I never would have thought I could be. Then I was grown into that here because of our administration and because of the support I had from the campus. From there, again, I gained some traction there and I felt confident enough to move into a structural position. It’s Rouse and its people and the kids and all of that that make a difference.”