With a career that has encompassed 23 graduation days and speeches (four of which her own). June 13, Principal Deborah Kelly will take the mic for the final time, wishing her final senior class farewell.
Her words will capture experiences from four years as principal, four years as assistant principal, nine years as a counselor, and five years as the head of the school counseling department at ELHS.
“Seeing her in so many roles has only expanded my love and respect for her. She’s always had her tenets of connecting with people, wanting to do the best for people, and really taking everything to heart. Her heart is her best feature,” school counselor and Curriculum Instructional Leader Lisa Belisle said.
Ms. Kelly will leave an undeniable mark when she retires at the start of the second semester of the 2024-25 school year.
“This was a very difficult decision. It’s never going to be easy for me to leave because I’ve been here for so long and care so much about the community,” Ms. Kelly said.
As for Ms. Kelly’s plan for retirement, she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family.
“This is a job where I work a lot of hours. I wanted to probably move on to a different job where the time is not the same level of commitment, so that I can have more time to spend with my husband and kids,” Ms. Kelly said.
As for her career, Ms. Kelly became interim principal in June of 2020.
“Think about that date,” Ms. Kelly laughed.
By the end of COVID year she was named full time principal.
“I think her biggest legacy will be her willingness to take on leading this school at the height of the pandemic. It was a selfless act, and she did a great job, so I thank her for that,” assistant principal Henry Kydd said.
Much of Ms. Kelly’s motivation to take the job was “to get ELHS through [COVID-19]… I did a lot of listening and a lot of trying to make sure that we were supporting people’s mental health as well as supporting them as students and teachers,” Ms. Kelly said.
Ms. Kelly carried her counseling background and her utmost care for ELHS throughout her principalship.
“First and foremost, [Ms. Kelly] cares about people… her top priorities here are the kids and the teachers… I’m very sad she’s leaving,” Ms. Kelly’s administrative assistant Tiffany Hunt said.
Mr. Kydd agreed: “She is somebody who truly cares about other people. I think that’s what makes her really good at her job, a really good friend, and just a really good person overall. You work with a lot of people over the course of a career, but not all of them become good friends. More than anything else, what I will remember is when Ms. Kelly laughs, it lights up the room… We’ve had a lot of tough moments but we’ve also had a lot of good things to laugh about too,” he said.
Although Ms. Kelly didn’t always know she was going to be a principal, in her four years as leader of ELHS she made a lot of important changes.
Amongst other initiatives, Ms. Kelly introduced career concentrations at ELHS. According to Ms. Kelly, career concentrations are something students who are looking for a job coming out of high school can add to their resume.
“The number of concentrations has grown tremendously… one tiny thing that we started grew into something that’s been really good for a lot of kids,” Ms. Kelly said.
Ms. Kelly has also helped to institute more mental health support for kids at ELHS, such as the new drug and alcohol counselor.
“When you work someplace for as long as I have, you’ve been part of the conversations for a really long time. As my career has moved along, it’s given me opportunities to try to take what I’ve heard and try to do something with it,” Ms. Kelly said.
Through her incredibly kind heart, her work ethic, and her love for ELHS, Ms. Kelly will leave her personal touch on ELHS.
“Ms. Kelly would always tell parents at senior night to think of a mobile, like a baby’s crib. If you take a piece of the mobile off, it’s still the mobile, but it has to teeter and totter to find its balance again. There will be balance again, but there will never be a piece that could be the same as her,” Ms. Belisle said.
