Among the many morning announcements, a new voice is heard wishing a happy birthday to staff members across the school. These announcements are one of the many ways Ashley Morgan is hoping to foster a greater sense of community at WHHS as interim principal for the 2024-2025 school year.
Morgan previously taught health, p.e., and professional athletic studies before becoming an administrator at WHHS, and taught at numerous schools, including Oyler Community Learning Center (OCLC). At OCLC, Morgan became particularly interested in the science of reading, sparking her interest in learning more broadly about education.
“A lot of the students had a hard time reading… so I started to become very interested in the mechanics of the educational system, and I went back to school and got a master’s in reading science,” Morgan said. “That was my first step away from health and p.e…. because I was just very interested in that foundational part of education.”
Soon after, Morgan returned to school to get an additional degree in educational leadership and administration. While she did not always plan to become an administrator, her experiences teaching, advising student organizations, coaching various sports and coordinating committees inspired her to take on a larger role within WHHS.
“I just kept getting more and more involved, which turned into an evolution… that I’m super grateful for,” Morgan said. “I love this school, and I am very invested in all of the inner workings of it.”
Morgan eventually became an assistant principal for WHHS, a role she has held for the last six years. When former principal John Chambers became interim assistant superintendent for the CPS district, Morgan was selected to become interim principal.
“I was nervous to ‘sit in the seat’ because I kept feeling like I wasn’t ready,” Morgan said. “But Mr. Chambers did an amazing job giving all of the assistant principals opportunities to lead so many initiatives and many things in the building… that I didn’t realize the transition would be a lot more comfortable than I thought.”
Morgan’s transition into leadership has been marked by many changes as a result of various shifts made at the school, district and state levels. One such change has been a renewed emphasis on school security, including limitations on where students may go before school and during lunch.
“We’ve had policies in the handbook and things… but I don’t know that the follow through was always there,” Morgan said. “We just wanted to start fresh this year and make sure we have things locked down, and then we can explore reinstating things… like the outside lunch situation.”
CPS also changed digital learning platforms this year, replacing Schoology and PowerSchool with Canvas and Focus, respectively. While students, parents and staff encountered many initial setbacks, Morgan is hopeful the shift will prove useful to students as they navigate the transition from high school to college.
“I’m interested in Canvas, I think so many colleges are using it now, so I think it’s great for a college preparatory school to have access to that versus Schoology,” Morgan said. “It’s tricky anytime that you change a platform… but I appreciate everybody who’s worked really hard [during the transition].”
Starting on Sept. 30, WHHS will also be enforcing a new cell phone usage policy, as the result of state legislation passed last spring requiring all school districts to develop a device policy. While WHHS did not originally plan to use “Yondr” phone pouches, they are now being implemented district-wide after a pilot program at Hughes STEM High School.
“I hope the message that comes across is that this is not because we’re not doing well with our cell phone policy; it’s because the state wants to do something [regarding cell phone usage] and the district sees huge value in all of the benefits that they saw when they did this with Hughes,” Morgan said. “I hope everybody understands that the spirit of this is not to be punitive.”
Despite these changes, Morgan hopes to preserve and continue emphasizing many of the foundational elements of WHHS as a community.
“I want to get back to looking at our mission statement… and [highlighting] things like ‘mutual respect’ and certain things that we want to focus on and implement through the students, the staff, and the community… to remember we’re here for this mission, and we’re all going to the same goal,” Morgan said.
Morgan has also taken inspiration from pop icon Taylor Swift to foster a sense of community and school pride, such as by making “The Rise to the Highest Tour” shirts for staff members, a nod to Swift’s “The Eras Tour.”
“I don’t think I’m a true Swiftie by any means, but I’ve just been so intrigued by the Eras Tour and how everybody knows what it is and [how] people buy into it,” Morgan said. “[As a staff] we talked about how it’s just positive… everyone seems to have positive vibes about the tour. And that’s truly something that we as a school can reflect on.”
Morgan also highlighted elements of Swift’s songwriting style that she feels reflect elements of WHHS’ culture.
“[For example,] her songs are very autobiographical,” Morgan said. “I feel like our mission statement is like the ‘school song’ and that it should apply to everybody and something that [they] feel about the school.”
As Morgan continues to embrace her role as principal, she hopes to maintain focus on WHHS’ strengths and achievements.
“I truly love this place,” Morgan said. “I think it’s really easy to get hung up on just a few negatives here and there, but at the end of the day, the end result and holistic picture of what this school does is truly phenomenal.”
