October 2009
Lamar CISD Principal Ken Davis guides schools to paths of exemplary success
By Melissa Gaskill

Ken D. Davis clearly loves a challenge. He took his first teaching job in 1991 at a brand-new Alief ISD elementary school with a predominantly minority and at-risk population.

“I fell in love with the kids who struggled,” says Davis. “I felt that was where I was needed most.”

He served in Alief ISD for five years as a teacher, an elementary mathematics specialist and an assistant principal. Then Lamar CISD hired him to lead Pink Elementary, where 97 percent of the mostly minority students qualified for the free lunch program.

In 10 years at Pink, Davis built strong relationships with staff and promoted his philosophy that kids can learn no matter their backgrounds.

“Where you come from doesn’t matter; it’s where you’re going,” he says. “Expectations for the school were low when I went there, but I worked with staff and got the support they needed to not only educate the kids, but involve their families. We were ‘recognized’ for three years and then became an ‘exemplary’ campus. It is wonderful for a community to see that their kids are smart and can be successful.”

Davis came on board as principal of Hillman Forest McNeill Elementary School in 2008 when it first opened. The expected enrollment was 518 students, but Davis ended up with 704 kids. McNeill students represent 15 countries and 22 languages, and the school achieved an “exemplary” rating in its first year.

In June, the Texas Elementary Principal and Supervisors Association named Davis the 2009 Elementary Level National Distinguished Principal. This month he will represent Texas at a national conference in Washington D.C. He is quick to share credit for the honor with his staff.

“I wouldn’t have this award if not for them,” Davis says. “For me, it exemplifies that I try really hard to help people — kids or adults — to be successful.”

When it comes to helping kids who are struggling academically, Davis says 
“we don’t wait until they fail before we 
provide intervention. Teachers notify me right away.”

He strives to make teachers comfortable with small group instruction.

“It’s OK to do whole group instruction once in a while, but it has never been a practice of mine as teacher or principal. 
You can’t reach all the children that way,” he says.

Davis also says he believes in allowing teachers to be risk takers, to teach to their strengths, and to focus on each student’s strengths and weaknesses. At McNeill, teachers regularly step outside their comfort zones in deciding who will work with each child who struggles.

“Anyone can grab that kid and help them,” Davis says. “Everybody works with every child. Everybody is responsible for every child.”

The youngest of seven children and now a single father to two boys, Davis knows what a difference it makes for a child to come to school and see that someone cares. Building community is paramount at McNeill.

“We try to do that for them, so they have a sense of being and belonging to the community in which they’ll serve someday,” he says.

School-sponsored activities for parents reinforce and extend that sense of community; events include career days, parents nights, math and science nights, TAKS nights, and grandparents week, when grandparents have lunch with and read to the students.

Davis views discipline as another teaching tool, but it’s not just any type of discipline.

“We need to focus on teaching and not on the ‘gotcha’ kind of discipline, where we wait for a child to do something and then pounce on them,” he says. “Everything is a teaching opportunity, a moment when we can regroup and refocus kids on what they need to be functional in our society, and on what is acceptable. Sometimes we give consequences first then try to teach, but we need to teach first.”

For example, children may think cursing is common practice because they hear it at home. Rather than sending a child who curses out of the classroom, Davis encourages teachers to embrace the opportunity to teach the errant child more appropriate words.

“Kids look for options to what they did wrong, and we don’t always give them options,” he says. “As adults we can teach ‘better,’ and kids respect those who will teach them better.”

Davis has inherent leadership qualities, says Eva Reed, Ph.D., executive director of elementary education for Lamar CISD.

“He seems to be able to put a collaborative team together so everyone is focused and moving in the same direction — and that focus, of course, is on the students,” Reed says. “He’s very nurturing with students and likes to work with diverse populations. Those who strive to be successful should emulate his practices.”

MELISSA GASKILL is an Austin-based freelance writer.