Wildwood's Kevin Hill leads cheers for schools

Editor's Note - This the third of a three-part series on local administrators who have been nominated for Wake County Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year. Winners will be announced tonight.

He may not have the right physique, but make no mistake about it, Kevin Hill is probably Wake County schools' biggest cheerleader.

Hill, principal at Wildwood Forest Elementary, spent his first few years in Minnesota but never called another place home after moving to Wake County in the eighth grade. He even attended N.C. State -- twice -- getting his bachelor's and master's at the Raleigh university.

He began his career in education teaching social studies at the then West Millbrook Junior High and spent five years at Millbrook High. After a year as an assistant principal, he returned to the classroom, later going back to administration at the suggestion of a friend. "It was time," Hill said.

Over the next few years Hill led several Wake County schools, saving up ideas about what he'd like to do if given the chance to open a school of his own. That opportunity came in August 1999 when Hill and then assistant Kristen Faircloth flung open the doors to Wildwood Forest.

Hill credits Faircloth with helping implement many of his ideas, including looping, where students stay with the same teacher for two years at a time. Proponents say looping strengthens teacher/parent/ student relationships and eliminates transition time in the second school year.

Wildwood Forest students loop only from first to second grade and from third to fourth. The transition from elementary to middle school can be tough "if they've been the cocoon of a loop," he says.

Hill also instituted a School/Family Contract. The contract asks parents to commit to spend 75 hours per year on their child's education. Time can be spent reading, volunteering, even visiting an educational site. Parental support is so important to student success, says Hill.

And last year, the principal asked every fifth-grader to spend 15 hours per year doing community service. "I believe it's not too early to get (them) to give back to the community."

As much as he'd like to take credit for the ideas, Hill says all he did was throw them on the table. Others, he said, made them happen. "I always tell people 'Go with it, take the risk.'"

Del Lancaster agrees. When fifth-grade instructor Frank Bogden thought the school needed a greenhouse, Hill jumped on board. But Lancaster, a third-grade teacher, says Hill didn't just rubber stamp the idea, he approached the PTA and neighboring Mallinckrodt for funding and later got the entire school using it.

At a time when studies show lagging parent confidence in Wake County schools, Hill is at a loss to figure out why. On the president's No Child Left Behind Act, Hill says, Wake County schools have "been there, thought of that. Wake County is an awfully successful urban school district. I don't know why all the people in Wake County don't know that."

The principal is doing his best to keep Wake schools on top. He's in his second one-year term as president of the county's Division of Principals and Assistant Principals. The division, the professional organization for school administrators, boasts 260 members. "Our goal is to partner with the board (of education) and central office in improving Wake County. We don't want to set policy."

As president, Hill sits in on expanded cabinet meeting with Superintendent Bill McNeal and serves on the board's Policy Advisory Committee. He's especially proud that on his watch the division donated $5,000 to the Red Cross 9-11 Fund and adopted a professional code of ethics.

He's also spent some time recruiting new teachers in upstate New York and worries about the looming teacher and administrator shortage.

"I can't imagine there's any person who spends more time at school or is any more dedicated," Lancaster says of Hill, who is known for arriving at school well before dawn and staying until dark.

Lancaster calls Hill "the world's worst joke teller," but says he's a leader with a sense of humor who knows how to keep things in perspective.

When the principal gets too stressed, Hill will often help in the cafeteria serving lunch to students, Lancaster said, smiling. "He's a principal whose willing to roll up his sleeves and get dirty."