By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON
Soon after starting work last month with a mandate to turn around the struggling North Beach School District, Supt. Andrew Kelly began assembling his leadership team. Among them are a couple who helped him revitalize the small Lyle School District and middle/high school in south-central Washington.
Vernon and Rettai Bruni, and their 15-month-old son, Maxton James Bear Bruni, moved to a house that “has plenty of projects” off Ocean Beach Road, just two weeks ago, after starting their jobs at North Beach Jr./Sr. High School.
Forty-one-year-old Vernon has taken a newly created vice-principal position, focused on grades 7-9. An NBHS alumnus who returned years later, Wendy McCoy will continue as vice-principal for grades 10-12.
Bruni will also serve as athletic director for grades 7-12. Larry Moore, who has taught and coached at North Beach for 31 years, stepped down as AD earlier this year, and will continue teaching and coaching.
With a BS degree in sociology and an MS in counseling, 34-year-old Rettai (pronounced reh-tie) will wear multiple hats at the home of the Hyaks. She will be a counselor, director of the Student Central Learning Lab, which replaces the school library, and coordinate GEAR-UP, a program that helps students prepare for college and gain access to financial aid.
She will also directly oversee the Running Start program and its expanded, on-line availability that is designed to keep academically strong kids on the North Beach campus and active participants in the Hyaks culture and community.
Both Brunis are ardent supporters of Kelly’s turnaround mission. “That’s what he does and that’s why we’re here,” Vernon said. He explained that his boss is working to “find staff that are willing to put kids first. It’s when adults get their own stuff in the way, their egos and ideas, what they think, that stuff may get mucked up.
“If you just answer every question that you’re asked in school with ‘What’s best for the kids?’ then you can never go wrong. That’s his style”
The new VP/AD said the tiny Lyle school district and North Beach have similar socio-economic characteristics, and both areas face similar challenges. “We’ve both found, time after time, the hardest thing is to help kids who have faced so much trauma in their lives. It affects everything in their lives.”
Rettai said many students in impoverished districts need help with basics just to be ready for school. She described her approach in Lyle:
“I created a community clothing closet for our school. I held a spot in my office for hygiene products. I always had snacks on hand and cup-of-soup that might be their only warm meal. I found different ways to lure them into my office and bring them out, just get to know them better. By the end, I couldn’t get kids out of my office! When we moved, we had all of the students who loved us there helping us pack boxes!”
“The answer,” Vernon added, “is to have a relationship with the kid and to know the kid well enough to be able to pull them aside and say, ‘Hey is everything okay?’”
Vice-principals are sometimes known as the school sheriff, but Vernon said both he and his wife try to work with kids differently. “When I finish with any kids, I tell them, ‘I love you guys; I respect you; now go out and make good decisions.’”
