Patrick Mackin brings some first-hand knowledge of Slidell Junior High School to his role as the school’s new principal.

“I live in the Slidell Junior High district, and both my daughters went to school here,” said Mackin, the former assistant principal at Carolyn Park Middle School.

Mackin took over as head administrator there after the school’s former principal, Brennan McCurley, was named principal of the new high school currently under construction in Mandeville.

Patrick Mackin

The announcement came during the December meeting of the St. Tammany Parish School Board, and Mackin began his new job when classes resumed Jan. 5, after the holiday break.

Any concerns Mackin had about starting in the middle of the school term were quickly dispelled, as his predecessor has made himself readily available.

“Mr. McCurley has really done a great job here, as well as the faculty and staff, so it’s really been a smooth transition,” he said.

Mackin comes to his new post with 11 years of experience in education. He has worked as a fourth- and sixth-grade teacher at Bayou Lacombe Middle School, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at Boyet Junior High School, and a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Alton Elementary School.

The new principal said he is looking forward to working with junior high school students once again and hopes to bring some successful Carolyn Park programs to his new school. One program he would most like to replicate is the Decentralized Arts Fund grant, which led to the creation of “Making a Living Through Art,” a six-week course led by artist Phil Galatas that combined art technique with lessons on business and promotion.

Mackin is also looking forward to increasing the use of technology in the classroom.

“We want to use it as much as possible, but it has to be meaningful,” said Mackin. “It has to support the curriculum and also make their learning authentic.”

One of the ways that can be accomplished, he said, is by publishing student work on the Internet.

Teachers have published their students’ work for decades, but the advent of online technology will enable their work to be accessible to a wider audience. This will help challenge the students to do good work, he added, when they know it will be online for thousands to see.

There are currently about 800 students at SJHS, roughly 200 more than at Carolyn Park, which presents a particular kind of challenge for the new principal.

“More students mean the school is more spread out, and there are more places I have to be,” he said. “It’s really important to be a visible presence for the students and not spend the whole day in the office doing paperwork.”