Laura Abbey admits she’s still getting used to the feeling of sitting in her principal’s chair, looking out of the “fish bowl” in the middle of Hahnville High School and at the teachers and students relying on her to lead them.
But while she admits that thought is a bit nerve-wracking, the new Hahnville principal wouldn’t trade her position.
“It’s great to be home,” Abbey mused. “I think anything you feel a connection to, you can always return to. You can always go home. This is familiar. It feels comfortable.”
Abbey, who taught at Hahnville and served as assistant principal before accepting a position at the St. Charles Parish School System’s central office in 2014, has returned to that “home” as the successor to former Hahnville principal Ken Oertling, who was recently promoted to Executive Director of Secondary Schools in St. Charles Parish.
Abbey’s new office is affectionately known as the “fish bowl” because it resides in the school’s main hub surrounded by glass and allows those inside to look out at Hahnville’s main hall and locker area. She said she and her staff are ready to kick off the school year — even as she admits having to overcome a few first-year jitters.
“I don’t think I’ve slept in about two weeks, or at least it feels like it,” she said with a smile. “It’s one of those surreal things. I was named in January, but wouldn’t start until June 1. You think that’s a long time, but it came very quickly. Then from June 1 to August 1, the same thing. And that emotion kind of rushes over you, that this is really true, this is something I’ve wanted and now I have it. And now it’s about what I do with it.”
Abbey steps in for Oertling, who was principal at HHS for six years and was named the 2014 Louisiana High School Principal of the Year.
She is no stranger to Oertling, nor the area. Abbey began teaching gifted and honors English at Hahnville in 2003. In January of 2007, she became an administrator at the school, and that summer she was named assistant principal, a position in which she served under Oertling. She stayed in that role until 2014, when she moved to work at the St. Charles Parish School System’s central office, taking on the role of Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction. Before joining the St. Charles Parish School System, Abbey taught in Ouachita Parish from 1994 to 2003.
She said her familiarity with Oertling and many members of her staff have made her on the job learning-curve a bit easier and more comfortable. She said she considers Oertling a mentor, and the shared vision the two have had dating back to their time working together has also made for an easier transition.
At the same time, she added dynamics have changed and that Abbey and her staff will have to develop a strong sense of trust in one another, with Abbey now serving in a primary leadership role as principal.
“I feel I left here two years and now come back as a different person … a little more knowledgeable, more mature and a little older,” Abbey said. “But just like they have to understand I’ve grown, I have to understand they’ve grown over that same time. The unique thing about this is a lot of us worked together fairly early in our careers together, so we’ve really grown up on the same teething ring, learning this whole process.”
While becoming a principal has been a longtime goal of hers, Abbey notes she was not always en route for a career in education. She earned an accounting degree and was working as a bookkeeper before she found her calling in the early 90s. That was when she began helping her cousins with their coursework and realized she might just have a knack for teaching.
“It was one of those life-changing moments,” Abbey said. “I realized there were people out there that needed help. I was trying to find my purpose at 27 years of age and I turned to education. Once I got there, I still had that business mindset of moving up the ladder. I saw where the natural progression was and (the role of) principal was always in the back of my mind, even when I went to the central office.”
Having worked as a teacher and a central office administrator, she believes those experiences have given her a very well-rounded perspective of school system operations, allowing her to see school operations through both the administrative lens and that of in the classroom.
But, ultimately, she wanted to be back on a school campus. She said she didn’t wrestle much with the decision to accept her newest position.
“You don’t really think about it when you get that call. You just say, ‘ok,’” Abbey said. “I missed the kids. I really want to be around kids, so this puts me back in the school.”She said the focus this year will be less on making any kind of sweeping changes and more on refining the programs and ideas already in place. Above all, ensuring Hahnville students can reach their fullest potential is the paramount goal.
“All students can learn,” she added. “Our job is to bridge that gap between what they think they can learn and how far they can go. We’re looking at a growth mindset, making sure these kids can reach their full potential and ensuring they put forth the effort. Sometimes a struggle, even though it seems negative at the time, is really part of learning.”Her enthusiasm hasn’t waned in the least since the day she was hired, and if anything, it appeared to be reaching a peak as she readied herself for students to arrive.
“These buildings have to have people in them to be alive,” she said. “Last Saturday, we had our freshmen in here. The energy in this building was just magnificent. I’m ready for the kids to get here because I feel like that’s our purpose. Without it, I feel like we’re twiddling our thumbs. We’re not, but feels like we are all the same. I’m just waiting for it to come.”
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