Administrator aims to keep students involved, informed in schooling
By LAURA CARROLL
VIEW STAFF WRITER
DALE DOMBROWSKI/VIEWDanielle Miller, principal of White Middle School in Green Valley, stands next to the monument that greets the school?s visitors. Miller is in her second year as the school?s principal.
F. ANDREW TAYLOR/VIEWWhite Middle School is at 1661 Galleria Drive.
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White Middle School Principal Danielle Miller wants students to come to her office. In fact, she requires that new sixth-graders come to her office on the first day of school in an effort to ease any uneasiness they might have toward the often-feared principal's lair.
"It should not be this scary place," she said.
Upon meeting Miller, it's clear how she feels about her job. Her face lights up when she talks about education, and her eyes seem to glow when she describes her students. Miller is in her second year as principal of White Middle School, located at 1661 Galleria Drive, but she has worked with the Clark County School District for 18 years.
"I think Danielle is fantastic," said Bud Cranor, special assistant to Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson and the Henderson City Council. "I have seen her interact with the kids, and she just has a fantastic rapport with them."
"I always wanted to be a teacher," said Miller, a native Las Vegan.
As a teacher on special assignment, she saw "amazing things" that principals were doing to affect change in their schools and as a result got the administration bug.
"I absolutely love my job. I'm excited and happy all the time," Miller said.
The principal said she has "the best group of children" that ask questions, and that they make her want to be a better principal. McDonald said White Middle School does a lot of goal-setting, and students are actively involved by setting expectations and constantly being told what their grades are in their courses.
"You have to know where you stand," Miller said.
White is a needs-improvement school because it did not make adequate yearly progress this year. However, if you look at the school's test score percentages, all of them improved over last year's percentages, and only one category did not meet AYP standards.
"These are great numbers; we even exceeded next year's target with our numbers," Miller said. "You can be labeled without even knowing what the label means."
Miller has implemented communications and leadership classes to give students more ways to test their writing skills.
"I always think, 'What's best for the students?' " Miller said. "If I can do that, I'm confident I'm making the right choice."
White Middle School is home to 1,272 students this year.
"(Community members) are very fortunate to live where they do with a principal that cares enough to be involved," Cranor said.
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