Thursday, August 31, 2000 Older Editions

Meet the new boss

By Neil Fater

Close-cropped, deep-voiced Peter Anderson may have made a command decision to link parking spaces to tardiness during his first days in Andover, but the new Andover High principal doesn't want to be seen as a drill sergeant.

"This is what really bothers me. I feel like I'm coming across as Attilla the Hun," he says. "If you talk to people in my old school, they'll tell you I'm extremely approachable. The parents would tell you that; the students would tell you that.

Village, not pillage -- Peter Anderson worries that his summer decision to assign parking spaces has him "coming across as Attila the Hun."

"I really dislike that I have to come in here and deal with issues like parking and tardiness that I feel should have been dealt with long ago," he says.

But when Anderson saw that Andover had more cars than parking spaces, and learned that, on average, about 200 students are tardy every day, he decided to take action. So Anderson had the parking spaces numbered. Next Tuesday, he'll assign the spaces to specific seniors, and then, if any are left, to juniors on a first-come, first-served basis. During the year, students that get into trouble or are tardy to school five times will lose their spaces.

Spaces will be assigned Tuesday, Sept. 5, beginning at 5 p.m. in the High School parking lot.

"This isn't a perfect solution, or the best solution, but given the time, it has to be done," Anderson says. "I am very bothered that I have to do something that is not the way I typically operate."

Although Anderson says the majority of people he's talked with have been supportive of his plan, there are some who believe a different system should be implemented.

Hal Macomber, of Kirkland Drive, suggests issuing permits to students for every other day, to force students to pair up with a friend and car pool. He says this will essentially double the number of spaces available.

"The students would go for it. I know they would," he says. "The main thing is get two kids in every car."

"I don't think there's any question we have to do better with car pooling," says Anderson. "Granted, car pooling has not been a successful endeavor in this country. I'm well aware that when I'm driving on the highway there's one person in every car.

"I don't know why we should expect students to be any different," he says.

Anderson is not for any plan that involves unassigned spaces because he believes that leads to more cars arriving on campus than there are available spaces. When that happens, kids will either park illegally, or park on surrounding streets and potentially add to the tardiness problem, he says.

During the coming school year, Anderson says he will have students themselves create a parking system for the 2001-2002 school year. He says spaces will be assigned before students leave school for the summer.

Anderson plans to meet with all four student-body classes on the third day of school.

"I'm a big believer that this generation of kids responds best when you share information with them," he says.

Coming back to Andover

Although Anderson had worked in Andover before as an English teacher, he says he's returned by coincidence rather than design.

"I had spent 10 years in my last job (as a middle school principal). That's the longest I've ever been in one job," he says.

"It was just a time in my profession to do something else. I have been a harsh critic of American high schools in the past. I said, 'It's not fair to be a critic if you're not willing to be part of the solution,' " he says.

He believes Andover High already has much of what it needs:

o people who take pride in their school;

o an educated citizenry;

o the capability to have high-level discussions about what the community wants to do; and

o a community that can form goals beyond the short term.

Anderson has met twice with the High School's parent organization and plans to meet with them again this week.

"I met with them the night of the first day I was in Andover this summer," he says. "I see a parents group as being an important part of what's in school."

Reaching capacity

While the parking issue has been the one claiming Anderson's time, the new principal indicates he's more driven to discuss and address other areas of Andover education.

One thing he will need to begin considering is how the AHS will handle its growing population. The school is approaching the numbers it was built to accommodate.

The School Committee sets goals for class size, and "that's not going to be achieved this year certainly," says Anderson.

"For the most part, what you're going to see is there are more kids in classes than you'd like to see," he says. "(But) the larger issue has been, if you have a school of 1,700 kids, how do you personalize that institution?"

Anderson says the administration will begin looking at ideas such as creating "a school within a school."

Studies have shown that 600-900 is supposedly the optimum size for a high school in terms of making kids feel like they belong, he says.

"How do you make them not feel like a number?" he asks. "I don't think students should have to accept that. I think a school works better when everyone knows each other, and acts like they know each other."

State testing

While Anderson says "I don't have any problem with schools being held accountable for producing a student with basic skills," he says he does have some problems with the ranking system and emphasis placed on the MCAS.

He says the test should not be used to rank how well schools are performing because factors such as overcrowding and parental expectations also have an effect on student performance.

He also says such tests do not give "the defining picture of a student's academic ability."

Businesses are looking for people who can work together.

"I don't know of a job that doesn't require verbal skills. Where is that tested in MCAS?" he asks rhetorically.

Anderson says the tests do not show whether a person can express themselves orally, work in a team, or be a good listener.

"It can only focus on certain things," he says. "Some of the things it can't get a handle on are clearly important skills for an Andover High School grad."