After completing his first successful term as principal of Howitt Middle School, Luis Pena is busy planning for September. Pena officially took the reins as Howitt principal in February (he shadowed the former principal since December), following the retirement of longtime principal Arleen Besner. With half a school year under his belt at Howitt, Pena is confident that the upcoming school year will be equally successful, even though it may present a few challenges, particularly the addition of the sixth-grade class.

Originally scheduled to occur last year, the entire sixth-grade class from all four elementary schools in the Farmingdale School District will move up to the middle school this September. A new wing was constructed for the students, on which construction is about complete.

Pena said that it was difficult to come to Howitt in the middle of the school year for him personally, because he is the type of person who likes to have time to plan. "The way I like to do things is that I like to have time to prepare myself mentally for that particular aspect of the job," he said, adding that other challenges, such as the transition of the sixth-grade and the ongoing construction at the school, have come up as well. Nevertheless, Pena said he feels the year was a success.

"It's difficult for anyone to come in mid-stream and really reflect upon it," he said. "I think I did the best I possibly could." Pena admitted, however, that he feels some things could have been done differently. "I saw some situations where I thought there could be improvement and others were successful ventures," he said.

He noted that there were some changes implemented right at the beginning of his term, as well as some throughout the course of the school year that he would like to continue. One area in which changes were implemented was traffic flow and bus dismissals.

"We changed the way we dismissed our students and how we addressed traffic situations at Howitt East and Howitt West," he said. Pena added that staff members and visitors used to be allowed to park in the circle, a privilege that was eliminated for the safety of students, employees and visitors alike. He noted that bus dismissals were altered for a similar reason.

"I didn't want students crossing in between buses and there were situations where that was happening," he said, adding that he especially didn't want situations where buses were moving while students were walking near or around them. Pena said he believes that those implementations have been very successful.

Another problem the principal saw at the school that needed change was the amount of disruptions that took place throughout the day, including homeroom announcements. To help students take more ownership of things such as announcements, the school went from administrators making announcements in homerooms to students making announcements.

"I felt that students would listen to other students while they were talking," he said, noting that it's important that students have as much involvement as possible. "[We also decided to] let students make some other decisions [such as] sharing in the interviewing process of a new administrator. [They] also share in making other decisions through different committees."

In an effort to make the sixth-grade transition as smooth as possible, Pena and other administrators at Howitt are continuing to use the summer months to prepare for the classes arrival. Pena said that the biggest piece of the puzzle is trying to formulate the schedule for the sixth-grade, which has never before been done in the district.

Pena also noted that school administrators have been busy finalizing preparations for the upcoming two-day orientation for both sixth-and seventh-graders coming to the middle school in September. He said that maps are being put together and construction and renovation is under way throughout the school to update the existing facilities.

"It's going to be a busy summer. We're still doing a lot of construction ... and updating existing structures to make sure that they are ready to receive classrooms," Pena said. "We're putting all the pieces into place to make sure we can answer questions from parents and students when they come [for orientation]. We want to make sure that we can give our students the best type of program they should receive at Howitt."

Pena said that the sixth-grade wing is pretty much complete, describing the facility as "spectacular."

"I truly have to compliment the people who were involved in the planning and preparation of that facility because it really is a state-of-the-art facility," he said, adding that some odds and ends just have to be put into place, such as some furniture. "For the most part, we could probably open tomorrow and run a sixth-grade program."

With most of the preparation complete, Pena is confident that the 2003-2004 school year will be a success.

"I think that we've taken the time to really look at different situations and scenarios; we've discussed staffing, security issues, program presentation and preparation. We've run the gamut of evaluation and preparation and we're pretty confident that we're going to put the best educational program together for our incoming students," Pena said, adding that at the end of the year, administrators will be able to self-reflect and look at what changes may need to be made. The principal said that he thinks having three grade levels at a middle school is very important.

"What's good about having the sixth-grade in the building is that when you only have two years to evaluate a child, sometimes they're leaving you as you get to know them," he said. "I think that by having them here that additional year, it will allow not only us to feel comfortable in getting to know all of their needs both educationally and emotionally, but it also allows the students to start to feel comfortable within the building and to start to delve into self-expression and all of those intricate pieces that make that middle-level child. The middle-level child is very interesting in all of the changes that they go through."

Despite the successes of the past few months, Howitt's new principal remains modest, noting that no accomplishments of the past year would have been possible without the tremendous support he has received. He further stated that he expected some challenges when he started, but has no regrets about coming to the district.

"It has been a complex job but the amount of support that I've received from teachers, students, administrators [and] parents has been phenomenal. This is a very giving and very caring community," he said. Pena added that when he first came to this community, he was very excited about the journey that lay ahead of him. That enthusiasm, if anything, has only gotten stronger.

"I stated when I first came that I felt fortunate to be given the opportunity to serve this community," he said. "I have not swayed at all from that statement. I am fortunate and thankful to be here, I absolutely love Farmingdale. It's just a great place."