Climbing the Leader Ladder

Carmen Conner, the principal at Pineview Elementary School, arrives in a smart black blouse and slacks, gold jewelry flashing at her ears, her hair in a stylish cloche. She positively beams as she invites a visitor into her office.

Exuding executive charisma from her desk, addressing staff and making decisions as we talk, it is obvious that her word goes, and that staff and students love her.

Conner, a FAMU grad whose career in education has spanned more than 25 years, explained that when she arrived at Pineview in 2019, the Title I school had slumped to an “F” rating. Now, it is rated a strong “B.”

“I am right where I am supposed to be,” Conner said. “Right where I can make the most difference in these children’s lives.”

Reflecting on the challenges and the delightful aspects of her job, Conner, a mother of two grown daughters, talked about what it takes to make a classroom “alive with the desire to learn.”

“For 14 years, I was a third-grade teacher at Hawks Rise Elementary. I began each and every day as if it were a birthday party — one where we get to learn things,” Conner said. “The first day of school, I would select a theme, and then I might dress up accordingly. I approached each classroom day as if it were a show.”

At Roberts Elementary, where Conner became the assistant principal, she liked to incorporate “experiences” into learning.

Pineview Elementary School principal Carmen Conner engages De’Anthony, Harmony and R’Mahni Chavers in conversation in the school’s library. Conner strives to make classrooms “come alive with the desire to learn.” Photo by Dave Barfield

“I might draw something from a book of literature we were reading and turn it into an activity,” she said. “Or during Black History Month, have the students put on their own TV show accurately presenting African American themes.”

The lives of many Pineview students have not been rich in experiences, and Connor tries to make up for that.

“We do lots of field trips, and in winter, I will purchase snow so that these children, who may not have traveled far, can experience it.”

Title I schools like Pineview receive extra federal support and offer programs tailored to children from low-income neighborhoods. Still, Conner said, absenteeism runs high and parental involvement is limited. Caregivers often work multiple jobs, transportation may be a problem and sometimes children are without clean clothes.

To address the latter problem, Conner established a laundry room on the campus of her school. Working with the Food Bank of Second Harvest, she established a food pantry where hungry children and community members can visit.

Since 2019, other programs have arrived: music in the form of 25 grant-provided keyboards and a bi-monthly barbershop for children with cuts courtesy of Lively Technical School. On its way is a violin program taught by members of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra.

Many Pineview children entering kindergarten have never visited a school or been outside their homes.

“One little girl didn’t know her full name — only a nickname,” Conner said.

To address such deficiencies in experience and understanding, Conner and assistant principal Oronde McKhan started Saturday School, picking up children from home, teaching them for five hours and returning them.

The results of Conner’s innovation and energy are remarkable. But she is worried that funding for public schools may falter due to a proliferation of charter schools and other non-public operations.

IN THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE: Carmen Conner shares a laugh with De’Anthony, Harmony and R’Mahni Chavers. Among beginning students, she finds that many never visit a school until they arrive for their first day of kindergarten. Photo by Dave Barfield

She hopes legislators will not forget the public education foundation of America.

“Academically, we set expectations very high,” Conner said of Pineview. “Not all charter schools do.”

Learning, nutrition, hygiene and attendance all present challenges for students, parents and teachers, but there is an additional pressing concern.

“Safety needs have changed since I began teaching,” Conner said. “Now our perimeter is secured every morning with a fence, we have state-of-the-art security cameras and we have an armed guard on campus. When I began teaching, our classroom doors were unlocked. Now they are not. Children are schooled in the location of the safe place in the classroom should the need to hide arrive.”

And yet school is fun, for no one more than Carmen Conner.

She has established a work/life balance. She traveled to Egypt and the pyramids, fulfilling a lifetime dream. She builds in treasured time with her husband and daughters. She was a member of Leadership Tallahassee Class 34. And she has become a respected pillar of the community around her school.

It was Conner who was called to mediate when neighbors quarreled in the street. She was asked to advocate for a child whose mother was going to jail. Frequently, she is sought out by parents and caregivers seeking advice on how to improve the lives of children.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she said.