Message from the Principal

I would like to welcome all of you to our wonderful school. My name is Kent Cromwell and this my second year as principal at Brook Haven. I am very happy to be part of such a great team. This year promises to be full of opportunity. We are happy to have added French and Spanish to our already strong elective program. We are also excited about the reading, writing, and math intervention classes that have been added to our schedule. These interventions will help to supplement our Language Arts and Math departments.

The 2008-2009 school year is already off to a great start. The staff is back in full swing and the students are working hard and enjoying all of the opportunities that the school has to offer. We have a terrific group of students on this year's student council and they are already busy planning a variety of activities such as dances and spirit weeks. We also have a great athletics program in place. This year's teams are up and running and enjoying the experience of teamwork and friendly competition.

I wish all of you a great year and look forward to spending time with and getting to know each and every one of you.

Kent Cromwell
Principal

Our principal is in the news!

Taken from the Sonoma West Times & News

SEBASTOPOL - If home is where the heart is, then Kent Cromwell, Brook Haven Middle School's new principal has at least two homes, his own and the big bright one filled with students, teachers and staff on Valentine Avenue.

"This is where I want to be," offered the 35-year-old principal as he looked around the campus with anticipation of the upcoming school year.

Cromwell, initially interested in physical therapy and who graduated from Sonoma State University in 1998 with a BS in Kinesiology, may well be a natural at his new post.

"I come from a long line of educators on my Dad's side," he said. "My great-grandfather, Dean Cromwell, was a 40-year track coach at the University of Southern California, the track is named after him, and my grandfather and my father taught and coached in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles."

Cromwell said he found himself attracted to education after he began teaching job skills to at-risk kids at Laguna Continuation High School in Sebastopol while working for West County Community Services back in 1999.

Two years ago Cromwell enrolled in a course for administrative credits at Sonoma Statue University, which then led to a stint last year as dean of students at Healdsburg High School and as principal of that district's Marce Becerra Academy continuation school.

"I went to Healdsburg to get my feet wet in school administration," Cromwell said, "and although I liked Healdsburg, I always thought of moving back to this town."

His chance came, he said, "when I learned of the opening at Brook Haven. Coming to work here was actually a long-term goal. It just happened sooner than I thought it would." His wife, Deanne, is a cheer coach at El Molino High School in Forestville. They have Kyra, 9, and Alysia, 13, who not only graduated from Brook Haven but will be a student this fall at Analy High School.

"What's great about Alysia graduating from here is that I'm already familiar with most of the teachers and the program," he said, adding "I established myself professionally here while working with West County Community Services and I always felt I wanted to be in this town. One thing was I always participated in community events and joined Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, I was always planning on moving here."

As principal, Cromwell said he wanted to be just the opposite of the school administrator he had as a school aged youth.

"When I went to middle school in Los Angeles I never saw the administration. For me that doesn't wash," he said.

"I believe in establishing a community at your school," Cromwell said. "School is part of the community."

He said he intended to create a "school culture where everyone wants to be here, the students, the teachers, and do that by being an approachable leader who communicates and works on trust but one who also understands that not everyone will approve every decision."

"But," Cromwell added, "Everyone will know that their opinions were listened to and considered."

With students, he said, he wants to ensure they had a principal who was "open and friendly and who could let them know that he wants to be around them and on the campus." Health and healthy student lifestyles will also be a big part of his program, Cromwell said, "I have a strong appreciation and physical fitness, and not just athletics. It really means having a life that is filled with physical activity and a stake in promoting health and healthy attitudes."

As an example, he showed off the school garden, a richly green plot of earth behind the school and which he credited in large part to 7th Grade English teacher Pat Corcoran, an Occidental resident.

"It's amazing what he has done and how much time he has put into it," Cromwell said, adding that the garden, and some additional landscaping which will be part of a major art education project and will greatly enhance the school's already attractive potential and ambience, something he hopes to share with faculty, staff and students indefinitely.

"I hope I'm here a long time," he said.

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Article courtesy of SONOMA WEST TIMES & NEWS