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h former Assistant Superintedent Ritchie Bowling accepting the superintendent position at Maypearl ISD recently, it created an opening and Howe ISD chose to remain loyal and fill the position by promoting a qualified administrator from within. That role swap created another administration opening and it also was filled by a qualified administrator already employed by the ISD. And for the record, this is the second time that Bowling’s progress has affected these same two administrators.
Darla Williams has been the elementary principal for the past five years and she was promoted to fill the position of assistant superintendent. To fill the elementary school principal role is Clarissia Doty, who has been the assistant elementary principal for the past five years.
Five years ago, Bowling was promoted to assistant superintendent from elementary principal. That moved Williams to elementary principal and Doty into Dean of Students.
If all of this happens again, in five years, Williams will be the superintendent at Maypearl and Doty will be assistant superintendent here.
Doty, the former Clarissia Farrer, attended Howe ISD from kindergarten through graduation. Her fondest memories of being a student in the same building that she’s now the principal was square dancing in Mrs. Wormsbaker’s kindergarten class. Between Wormsbaker, Texanna Norman and Gayle Skipworth, she said that something about those ladies stood out and inspired her. Doty graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1994 and was asked to substitute teach immediately that fall.
“After about a week of subbing, the teacher was going to have a baby and was put on bed-rest. I finished out the year.” said Doty. “The following fall, I started as a kindergarten teacher.”
Doty stayed as a kindergarten teacher for several years. She taught third grade, but as she stated, she liked to bake the cake instead of putting icing on it.
Doty went back to Southeastern and finished her masters degree which was the same year that Williams was promoted to elementary principal. That qualified Doty to replace her as Dean of Students in which she remained in that role for five years. Now that Williams has been named the assistant superintendent, that made the natural progression of Doty to fill the role of elementary principal.
“There are certain aspects of the assistant principal role that I will miss.” said Doty. “I think you distance yourself from the students another step. When you’re a teacher, you know those kids inside and out. When you become an assistant, you don’t know as much about them. When you come here, you’re a step closer to knowing the parents more than the students.”
Howe ISD has the reputation of being an extremely quality school and a special place for kids to get the proper education needed. Doty says the difference in Howe and other schools is that the teachers make it a priority to know the kids one-on-one.
“Sometimes in bigger schools, you lose that personal attention because they’re too worried about bureaucracy said Doty. “I think we’re still small enough and I think our administration recognizes that it’s important to have that relationship with kids. If you take the time to let them know you care, they’re willing to jump through hoops for you.”
Doty says Williams has provided tremendous leadership at Howe Elementary and has the ship sailing smoothly and no major changes will be made because of that.
“She had very high expectations and we worked side-by-side for the past five years.” said Doty. “The teachers know what to expect and I don’t forsee that changing.”
Growth will play a major role in the future of Howe ISD and Doty sees it as an exciting, yet challenging situation. With Abbington Meadows apartments due to open for lease in the fall, that could have an impact on the school as early as the November.
“I’ve already sat down and pictured where we could move things and turn one classroom into two.” said Doty. “We currently have room for growth, but if we double our population, we don’t have room for that kind of growth. At that point, it would be time for a new facility.”
The thought of having two separate elementary schools would sadden Doty, being a life-long Bulldog because she says that the teacher-student relationships needs to remain close.
Williams, in her 22nd year in education is now the assistant superintendent. She was looking at doing something different and had gone back to school to do the coursework required for the superintendent certification andwas hoping that it would open up doors for her.
A Pecan Gap, Texas native and Fannindel High School graduate, Williams received her bachelors degree from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M Commerce). Her first teaching job was at her dear own Fannindel ISD where she taught junior high reading and science while also coaching.
Upon meeting her husband Brett, also in the teaching field, they both took positions with Dodd City. With Brett Williams going back to school to obtain his administration certificate, the both relocated back to the Commerce area at Campbell ISD, then Farmersville ISD.
“In the life of coaching and administration, you land in a lot of places.” said Williams. After spending a few years at Anna ISD and obtaining her masters degree for administration, in 2005, a position opened up at Howe ISD for dean of students. It was the same year that Bowling was hired as the elementary principal position. She spent five years as dean of students and then was promoted and spent five years as the elementary school principal after Bowling moved to the assistant superintendent position.
“With every step that I’ve taken, there’s some things that I do miss.” said Williams. “I went from the classroom to an administrative role and you still have the interaction with the students, but it’s a campuswide role. When you’re in the classroom, you get to really know each and every student and make those personal connections. When I moved into an administration role, I got to not just learn my group of kids, I got to have that same relationship with an entire campus.”
Williams says that the assistant superintendent role is completely different. As elementary principal, she worked with teachers and the leadership that goes on there along with the instruction of the students. As assistant superintendent, her role changes to working now with the campus principals on a districtwide instructional approach.
Williams says that Howe ISD is different from other school districts. The small town feel and community support is something that she attributes to making Howe special. “This is a place, I can honestly say that you don’t go out searching to leave.” said Williams. “You get a spot over here in this school district and it’s one where you want to call it home and make a career out of it. I’ve worked at some really good places, but Howe remains at the top.”
Williams, much like Doty, commented that the district is prepared for the growth that is set to come upon Howe, which will affect the school district.
“You just have to keep your calculations of the growth that you can anticipate and look at the accomodations on the three different campuses and space you have available.” said Williams.
Williams says that the most challenging part of her new role has been the acclamation of the position itself. She says that luckily she has speed dial and email support from Bowling, who has helped her with the transition.
Williams’ husband Brett is a high school teacher at Whitewright and they have a 15-year-old son named Seth who will be a sophomore and a 13-year-old daughter named Hannah who will be in 8th grade at Whitewright. Both of their children are heavily involved in athletics.
Doty is married to Michael Doty of Howe and they have three girls. Jessica is a senior at Howe High and is a cheerleader and softball player. Mikayla is a freshman and is a basketball player. The youngest girl is 5th grader Jentrie.
The fact that Howe ISD looks to promote from within speaks of the leadership at the top of the chain. Maybe that interconnection is why so many former Howe students are bringing their own kids to Howe. There seems to be an element of comfort within the walls.
