Guinn Energized By New Leadership Role at Hart Middle School

Rachel Guinn is preparing this year for an adventure.

The longtime educator took over this summer as principal of .

The adventure will be hers to lead: with an enrollment of about 1,000 students, Hart is the district's largest middle school.

And the word adventure has meaning for students, too.

The school year will kick off this year with the Hart Adventure Program, a series of team-building exercises that pull groups of students out of the classroom for an outdoor obstacle course.

"They learn problem-solving skills and how to work together as a team," said Guinn. "The hope is that the students will then transfer these lessons into the classroom and into life."

The role of principal

Guinn started her career in education 18 years ago at , where she taught German and English.

Since then, she has worked as a teacher and also as an assistant principal, most recently as assistant principal of Hart for three years. She was chosen for the principal job after principal Dave Hurst announced his retirement.

Guinn describes her leadership style as high-energy, passionate and child-centered.

Most important, she said she is flexible and compassionate.

"My job as a principal is to help the teachers, the parents and the people in the community help our students be successful," she said.

Middle school is a tough time, she acknowledged. A sixth grader just leaving elementary school is very different from an eighth grader getting ready for high school.

Guinn remembers her own middle school years when she attended Forsythe Middle School in Ann Arbor.

What helped her through those years?

The teachers, Guinn said.

"I remember the individual teachers who took the time to get to know me and let me know they were there," she said. "The teachers went out of their way to make things special."

'I love what I do'

Guinn said Hart's greatest strengths are the quality of its teachers and the parent participation. She also said the school is lucky to have such a great relationship with nearby , where her own son, Devon, is a junior, as well as the surrounding middle schools that feed into Hart (they are , , and .)

This summer, Guinn married , who began his new job as principal of .

Like her husband, Guinn said she considers education her calling.

"I love what I do, and I'm energized by it," she said. "I'm paid for doing what I love to do."

This is part of a series of stories profiling new leaders in the Rochester Community Schools district. Rochester Patch previously wrote about and Rochester High School Principal