New but familiar leadership at Hillside Middle

New principal Jane Berntson is already well known to the Hillside Middle School community. She was the school’s acting principal last year, and an assistant principal there for three years prior.

“It’s a great school, a great community,” she said.

Berntson also knows about a quarter of the school’s population from her four years as principal of Whittier Elementary. It’s great to have all that knowledge of her current students’ backgrounds, because she can help them more effectively, she said.

She also brings to the school a great deal of skill with the Spanish language -- she started out as a Spanish and ESL teacher at Clayton Middle School and in Jordan District -- which she now uses daily with Hillside parents.

Berntson believes that middle school is one of the best times in a child’s life to connect with them - not one of the worst, as many people see it, she said. Berntson has enjoyed spending time with students and helping them learn ever since she was first exposed to the teaching world while helping in her mother’s classroom.

As Hillside’s new principal, Berntson plans to focus on building more of a sense of community among the school’s diverse student body, raising student awareness of their own responsibilities in their education, and expanding the school’s existing performing arts programs. The school’s motto this year is “Change your words, change your world.” Berntson is hoping the motto will encourage students to focus on maintaining positive attitudes.

Berntson is also working on improving Hillside’s after school program, especially in the areas of math and reading.

“Reading comprehension is one of the biggest problems in the U.S.,” she said.

After school improvements will include a program to help struggling readers, to be implemented by November. The program will work on vocabulary and spelling at the students’ age group level.

The math segment of the after school program will get a boost as well, as the school is now working with the Kahn Academy, a free online library of math instruction videos. Hillside’s teachers already stay late after school to help students raise their grades, Berntson said.

Hillside’s after school program costs $50 per student for the year, and some scholarships are available.

“We’re hoping to get as many students who want to, to participate,” Berntson said.

Despite all these new changes, a lot is staying the same at Hillside.

“It’s nice to have some consistency now, with [Assistant Principal Logan Hall] and myself,” Berntson said.

A lot of the same teachers are still at Hillside this year and the school’s welcoming atmosphere and culture of excellence and understanding of people is undiminished, she said.