By Luke Sonderman
After Mr. and Mrs. Coffey announced their departure from Palm Valley after the 2021-22 school year, a search looking for who would fill Mr. Coffey’s shoes began. After a thorough search, the school landed on Mr. Winter, a current history teacher at Palm Valley.
Mr. Winter came to Palm Valley this school year (2021-22) teaching 8th grade US History, 9th grade Human Geography, and AP US History. He has a background in teaching history and in administration. In an email interview between Mr. Winter and myself, Mr. Winter said, “I believe that it is important [to continue to teach], so I can continue to connect with students in the classroom. In my previous administrative experience in public schools, continuing to teach was never an option, so I am grateful that I can do this. What it is I will be teaching hasn’t been solidified yet, so stay tuned!”
When asked about current policy change, Mr. Winter said, “One of the first things I will be doing before school is out for this year is to speak with as many staff and students about those things that really work well, those things that may need to be looked at closer, and any new ideas to enhance the experience here at PVS. From there, I will start to work closely with Dr. Sherman to then take what I have learned from staff and students to inform any new policies or procedures that will benefit everyone here.” He also commented on students’ voices saying, “Student voice is very important, and I want to be able to help bring those voices forward. This does not mean everything that students would love to see in place or to change will happen, but it does mean that I will not make all decisions on my own.”
After the administrative merger of the Middle and Upper School in the 2021-22 school year, I asked Mr. Winter what his plans were for either keeping them together or creating privileges and policies to separate the Middle and Upper School. He responded saying, “I believe there are certain things that should be reserved for Upper School, so that Middle Schoolers have something different to look forward to as they move into the upper school.” Mr. Winter also commented on the AP and Elective selection choice saying, “This is the time of year when those decisions are being made, but the bigger contributing factor in class and AP choices comes down to how we are staffed, and what each staff is able to teach. Our first priority is to ensure that required classes are for sure being taught. Then, based on the number of staff we have and the number of periods there are available, we can get an idea of what can truly be offered in the form of AP or elective offerings. Currently, we offer 6 AP classes, and a handful of various elective offerings. If we are able to expand these, again based on staff availability as well as budget, I agree that this would be one of those things that could expand the high school experience.”
In conclusion, it looks like Mr. Winter has a very open mind about new policies and ideas for the 2022-23 school year. It will be interesting to see what changes come next year, and if you have any suggestions or ideas for next year, Mr. Winter encourages you to reach out to him.