The 2018-2019 school year brought a myriad of changes with it. Chromebooks were rolled out for all four grades, school began at a different time each day and the building was filled to the brim with new faculty members.

One such new staff member is Associate Principal Michael Franklin. Franklin came to Lafayette from Lindbergh High School, where he served as a grade level principal. Before his administrative career, Franklin taught language arts at a El Camino High School in Oceanside, California.

Franklin’s interest in the administrative level came from his desire to help other educators.

“[I became a principal] because I wanted to influence teaching,” he said. “I want to help teachers get better at what they do.”

With this value in mind, Franklin wants to connect with not only the students of Lafayette, but the staff and faculty as well.

“There’s a lot of parts to this position, like the disciplinary aspect and staying late for events, but what I’m interested in at the end of the day is going into classrooms and working with teachers,” Franklin said. “Helping teachers improve is my number one goal.”

So far, Franklin has already been instrumental in the day-to-day general operations of the school. As associate principal, he works with all four grade levels.

“[Dr. Franklin] has been learning more about our master schedule because as associate principal, that will be one of his responsibilities,” Principal Karen Calcaterra said.

Shortly after assuming his new role at Lafayette, Franklin assisted in solving some of them problems that arose with the start of the new school year. All German courses are now taken remotely due to the relocation of German teacher Christopher Paladin to Rockwood Summit.

“Our director of curriculum, Dr. Shelly Willott, worked with Dr. Franklin to access online options for students that wished to continue with German,” Calcaterra said.

Franklin desires a sense of community in Lafayette, and he aims to become a greater part of the school as a whole.

“He has done a fantastic job immersing himself in the Lancer community,” Calcaterra said. “He’s learning something new every day, and we are glad that he’s here.”