McLean principal Dr. Ellen Reilly was appointed as assistant superintendent of Instructional Services on July 1, marking the end of her 13-year tenure at McLean and beginning the search for a new principal. Following this announcement, on June 30, Region 2 Executive Principal Brendan Menuey and FCPS human resources member Dr. Adam McGeehan held a community meeting to inform FCPS members of an opportunity to be part of the principal selection process.
Potential candidates for the next principal of McLean High School will be interviewed on July 22 by a panel of three school staff members, three parents and one student.
“[The input form] has components like leadership skills, or experiences one might be looking for, any sort of personal characteristics you appreciate in a principal, or perhaps don’t appreciate,” McGeehan said during the June 30 meeting. “We put [the information] together, compile it, and generate themes from the various inputs we get. It drives different pieces of our process, including the questions we ask on the interview day, and the candidates that are selected to be brought forward.”
McLean students expressed what traits they hope McLean’s next principal will bring to the school in order to address community needs.
“I want our next principal to care about the well-being and health of the students and who puts more effort into making academic balance more achievable,” rising sophomore Juliet Sheehan said.
Melissa “Missy” Brady, former assistant principal of Justice High School and Falls Church High School, is McLean’s current acting principal.
“I’m honored to be leading this community, school and staff,” Brady said. “I’m looking forward to it, and I will hold down the fort until a permanent principal is on board.”
The principal evaluation team, consisting of FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid, the chief of human resources and the chief of staff, will also consider transferring a veteran principal from another high school. Although rarely seen, this could expedite the selection process.
“We think about it as the stars aligning,” McGeehan said. “Their background and skill set [should be] kind of a perfect match for the specific needs of a school.”
During the June 30 meeting, McGeehan explained the importance of receiving input from community members before the day of interviews.
“The region will look through the [panel applicant] pool and the background of the people interested and assemble a diverse panel to represent McLean,” McGeehan said. “It’s critical we get a lot of input so that we can make the [interview] questions as tailored as possible to the school and ask questions that staff, community and students really want to hear answers to.”
