This interview is edited for brevity. 
I got to hang out with Mr. Kelley, who has been an assistant principal at EHS since 2023. Here’s what he had to say!!
The Hive: What is your role at EHS?
Mr. Kelley: I’m an assistant principal here, and I primarily work with the ninth graders in terms of maybe behavior issues and support that they might need just to kind of be successful. In addition to that, I support world languages, ELL, and the fine arts. And then I have some projects. I’m on the equity team. I just joined that this year, and work for various other projects in the school.
I also do a lot of work with the RP coordinator, Ben Gilliam, so I work closely with RP restorative practices work.
The Hive:
What did you do before becoming an assistant principal?
Mr.Kelley
I was a principal at a middle school for two years, and then I was an assistant principal at a middle school for six years. That was Hunt Middle School. Prior to that, I was a science teacher at Edmonds Middle School. I was in the Burlington School District for a long time, for 11 years, and I even worked at Colchester High School for three years. So I’ve been doing this a little while.
The Hive:
What do you enjoy most about working at Essex High School?
Mr. Kelley:
I love the feel of Essex High School. I really like the students. There’s a great energy here. I really enjoy the camaraderie I have with my adult colleagues and how well we work together to support students. This is my second year. I’ve said over and over how easy a transition it was to come into this new place because I felt people were very friendly and welcoming.
The Hive:
What advice do you have for high school students?
Mr. Kelley:
I think students should try new things. We have a high school of 1200 or so students. Most people have come from a much smaller school when they first get here. And one of the ways to make a school feel smaller and get yourself connected is to get involved with things like The Hive, or get involved with sports or get involved with clubs. There’s just so many different things.
The Hive:
What is something that people wouldn’t know about you at first glance?
Mr. Kelley:
They may not know that I used to be the director of the Tibetan resettlement project, which helped resettle Tibetan people that had to flee their country because the Chinese government came in in 1950, and they took over their country. My wife is Tibetan. I speak Tibetan, so most people wouldn’t look at me and say, Oh, I bet he speaks Tibetan.
The Hive:
Are you fluent?
Mr.Kelley:
I’m pretty, I’m good, really good conversationally, yeah, and I can, I can read it, not always understand it. I can write it, but not, you know, my spelling is horrendous. So conversationally, I’m pretty good. I can sit down and have a nice conversation with somebody. I do it all the time.
