In the past four years Boston College High School has had a tumultuous run of Deans; Mr. Brooks, Mr. Carty, and finally, Mr. Steven, each lasting only one year as Dean of Students. This trend is in part due to many factors, as being a dean gives the opportunity to be extremely close with the student populus, in both positive and negative ways.
Mr. Pool is the newest Dean at Boston College High and he is extremely excited to be on campus. However, many students are still not familiar with the new dean. Being the fourth dean in four years, Mr. Pool is hoping to, “Bring some stability to all the faculty shifting…around here.” Coming from a Jesuit background himself, he described working at BC High as a “homecoming” of sorts. Further in his Jesuit education background, Mr. Pool is currently studying at Boston College to obtain his doctorate in educational leadership.
Subduing many students’ stress about another swift dean change Mr. Pool said he is, “Interested in growing in different leadership roles, but I do not know what that looks like—especially as I just started here less than a year ago.” He continued by saying, “I am certainly not planning on getting out of the position before I have even really gotten the feel for it.”
His plans to stay at the school and importantly in the position of dean, solidify and strengthen a lot of the changes and policy alterations we have seen over the school year. After the post-COVID crackdown on locking lockers and minor dress code violations, many students were unsure about how strict and punishing this new era might be. Discipline, or community standards, is vital to every administrator and is guided outwardly by the dean.
Mr. Pool, however, hopes he can find the balance between discipline and fun, “Sometimes work is difficult and sometimes working with students and families in a very challenging point in their education can be extremely positive in the long as painful as it may be in the moment.”
Mr. Pool also mentioned that he wants to bring Jesuit ideals into community standards saying he is always trying to get kids to ask, “How can I grow, how can I be better, how can I look to make the world a better place?” With this “discipline philosophy,” Mr. Pool hopes he can turn the dean position into one with friendships, not enemies. The effects of his agenda in office haven’t fully taken effect yet, and so the school looks on to the year with anticipation.