On the Record with GMHS Principal Tyrone Byrd

With his twinkling eyes and energetic, engaging manner, Tyrone Byrd, the new principal at George Mason High School, quickly captivated the Falls Church Times staff — George Bromley, Stan Fendley, and Annette Hennessey — interviewing him on a Saturday afternoon at Panera Bread.

Spouting poetry and acknowledging the many people who helped him get where he is, Ty shared his background, his philosophy of teaching, and plans for his work with City students and teachers.

Tell us about your background.

I was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in the Hudson Valley, where my mother attended Vassar.  She now has her doctorate in African American Studies and works for DOE.  Her name is Linda Byrd Johnson — kind of a cool name — and she’s my hero.  I never knew my dad.  One of my earliest memories is attending graduate classes with my mom.  I was expected to sit in the back of the classroom and finish my homework.  I think maybe that early exposure to all those committed students had something to do with why I’m in education.

I grew up primarily in Arlington.  Attended Barcroft Elementary, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and Yorktown High School.  I graduated from Hampton University in 1990 with a degree in Art.  My big dream was to go work for Nike in advertising — it was very big when I was in school.  But when that didn’t turn out, I worked at a radio station in Arlington — doing promotions at WAVA.

When WAVA was sold, I joined the Marine Corps.  While at boot camp, I was injured twice because of pes planus — flat feet — and they suggested that perhaps the USMC wasn’t my future.  That how I discovered that the Marine Corps life is hard on feet.

So I ended up back in Arlington substitute teaching.  One of my first assignments was as a long-term substitute teacher in a STEP class at Yorktown High, a program which deals with children who have severe emotional disabilities.  I covered the class for a teacher on his honeymoon, and I’ll never forget getting the teacher’s call the week after my assignment ended.  He told me he thought I had a future in education and suggested I talk with the principal, Mike Durso.

Mr. Durso hired me as a classroom assistant in the STEP program and suggested I get my degree in special education.  So I maxed out every credit card I had to pay for school (even borrowing money from a friend) and got my degree in two years from UVA Extension (next to George Mason).

Once I completed the program, Mr. Durso gave me a job in Special Education.  I taught there eight years — English, math, history, a number of subjects — and also became the varsity football defensive coordinator for my old high school football coach, Bruce Hanson.

I would say Hanson and Durso saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.  They pushed me to be more than I thought I could be.  I went on to get a Masters in Educational Leadership from GMU, and obtained an assistant principal position at Williamsburg Middle School for four years.  I really enjoyed the hours of middle school — all of the activities are right after school — but when a position for assistant principal at Washington-Lee High School became available, I felt like I belonged at the high school level.

The hours are tough for someone with a family — late night events, early morning starts, but Kim — my wife — has always supported me.

I’ve been a fan of the FC school system for years — its size, scope, and intimacy are very appealing.  I’d applied for the MEH principal position while I was at Williamsburg and was very disappointed to not get it.  So when I heard about the opening at [George] Mason [High School] I was very determined to land the job.

The schools are so large in Arlington that kids can be there four years without your ever knowing them  — at times, during graduation, I would realize that I had never met the graduate walking across the stage.

Your interviewing process in Falls Church is very taxing, I must say, but when Dr. Berlin called with the good news that I had been selected, I was very happy.

How are the challenges of GMHS different from Washington-Lee?

The main challenge for George Mason are resources.  In the Arlington system, if you need something, there is someone there, somewhere within the system, to supply it.  In Falls Church, the system is much smaller so you don’t have all the specialists there waiting for you to call.

But what Falls Church has is a lot of very talented people who know how to wear different hats.  So when a challenge arises, there may be someone who takes it on who is not an expert in that area, and they find a way to make it work.  The attitude is, “So how can I do it?  Not someone else, but me?”  And I think that is healthy, in a way.  It breeds creativity and leadership.

How does GMHS differ from W-L?

A big difference is the sense of intimacy at Mason.  The kids have been together so long, whereas at Washington-Lee they’ve come from many different schools in Arlington.  You have a real communal feel at Mason, but kids from out of town are quickly accepted.  The kids act like a family — they really pull for each other.  They may be competitive, but they truly want all of their classmates to do well, too.  That’s unique.

Though Mason is not nearly as diverse as some area schools, the community itself seems very diverse.

You are now a part of that diversity, right?  Do you have any thoughts on that?

Oh, yeah.  I’m very aware that there are not a great number of African-Americans in the school system.  But George Mason is what George Mason is.  You show students that the whole world doesn’t look like George Mason, and that they will meet people who have faced different challenges, lived in different environments, had different experiences.  You show them how to respect those differences.  And you have the students engage in outreach to meet other people outside their environment.

Actually, GMHS is not so different in that regard than Yorktown was when I was a student there.  There were probably 20-30 black students in the whole high school at that time, and I think half of those were there because of busing.  People were really surprised when I chose to go to Hampton University, a historically black college.  But I wanted to explore all parts of my life.  And I can say that I’m not black enough for the blacks, nor white enough for the whites.  So I’m familiar with this kind of situation.

My wife is Caucasion, by the way, so my daughter is mixed.  There are challenges associated with that, and there are opportunities.

How did you meet your wife?

In high school.  She was a freshman and I was a sophomore.  I asked her out, but I think she thought I was too cocky so she said no.  We became friends, but didn’t date in school.  I bumped into her in the Harrison Street Safeway when I moved back from Marine Corps boot camp.

We dated for six years before getting married, and I proposed to her at Little Round Top at Gettysburg.  I’m a Civil War buff, and Killer Angels really resonated with me as a kid — you know, Kilrain’s speech about how men should be measured by what they do and not what their fathers had done.

We have a daughter named Sam who turns six in May.  We live in Falls Church (Fairfax County) with our three dogs, and our two newest family members — Swimmy (goldfish) and Froggy.

(Ty had just returned from the store where he and Sam picked up these new family members.)

How have you spent your first weeks at Mason?  What are your impressions and objectives?

Having arrived after mid-year I’m still finding my way, getting to know the students and staff, sitting in classrooms and observing.  The staff are really sharp.  I’ve been very impressed with the complexity and rigor of the courses I’ve observed.  The kids seem very engaged, both at school and in the community.

On one hand, it’s hard to start in the middle of a school year — I’ll miss watching the W-L seniors graduate.  But it gives me time to spend the rest of the year at Mason observing before starting a new school year.

I believe that everyone has the capacity to lead, from the youngest 8^th grader to the oldest faculty member.  I want to build an environment where everyone is respectful of each person’s ideas and everyone feels free to speak up.  From what I’ve seen of the faculty and students, there is great potential at Mason.

(As if on cue, two GMHS students walked by, and Byrd turned his attention to them.)

“Hey, fellas.  Did you get it written?”

“Yes, sir.  It’s coming.”

“All right, see you Monday.”

Who are those guys?

“Two seniors.  They’re working on an IB paper.  Good guys.”

How have kids changed since you were a student at Yorktown in the ’80s?

I think that kids today feel that the teachers owe them something more than they did when I was a student.  What I mean is that they want to be sold on education — they don’t want to learn something just because they are told to.  They want to know how what they’re learning connects to their life.  And I think parents allow their kids those expectations.

Kids don’t seem to conform or follow the rules unless they understand them.  And with so many more kinds of media available, I think kids also tend to be more expressive.

So I build trust and respect with students.  Of course kids still have to learn how to follow rules.  A good example is that when students come into my office, I expect them to remove their hats.  I think men should be gentlemen and remove their hats indoors.  But I think that by developing a relationship with them, I can explain it in a way they will understand.

I always tell them that instructional time is sacred to me, so we need to get rid of distractions.  When you’re in the classroom, you need to be able to make eye contact, and hats get in the way of that.  THAT’S why it’s important to remove your hat.

Some kid’s got an iPod earbud in his ear, I say, Hey, what’s that?  He says, it’s not on.  Then why is it in your ear?  Come on, take it out so you can hear what’s going on.  It’s not just because I say so, it’s because there are reasons for the rules.

Young people have to learn accountability.  If you can’t control your behavior now, how are you going to control a budget later on?  How are you going to meet deadlines?  So they have to understand that accountability is important.

But I also believe if you’re willing to give kids some voice in making the rules then they’ll be more likely to follow them.  I plan to use principal advisory committees — and include everyone from 8^th graders to faculty members in these forums.

Teachers are receiving a pay increase, while some City government positions are being terminated. Some people say that’s unfair. The School Board says our teachers are falling behind other jurisdictions in pay.

Well, we can’t afford to lose good teachers over pay.  The cost of living in this area is very challenging.  Some of our teachers can’t afford to live around here, so they have a long commute.   Some teachers need part-time jobs.

Teaching requires so much energy and focus that it’s unfortunate that any of them have to take on part-time jobs or long commutes.  When that energy is drained, teachers spend less time thinking about how to teach.

Teachers are constantly thinking about how to present material.  You think about it in the evenings, weekends, in the shower, all the time.  But if you have to work a second job to make ends meet, you don’t have that time to be creative.

That said, I don’t know if you’ll find any teacher who says they got into teaching for the money.  Teachers stay in the classroom for years because they are devoted to kids and higher learning.  And it’s my job as principal to make those teachers want to stay at Mason — by building trusting relationships, a learning environment, giving everyone capacity to lead, and keeping teachers satisfied in their work.

Thanks so much for spending part of your Saturday afternoon with us.