Amy Ellis still finds it hard to find her way around the labyrinth of Central High School. The numbered sides are, like all newcomers, something she had to figure out in order to traverse the halls. Ellis succeeds Danielle Brandt as Assistant Principal, a position Brandt held for three years before leaving to become the principal of Lewis and Clark Middle School.
Ellis’s love for teaching began with her siblings. As the oldest of six, teaching came naturally to her. “Not only the natural leadership piece but the love of learning and the love of teaching,” Ellis said. She grew up a Nebraska native in the Field Club area of Omaha and attended the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, where she received her bachelor’s degree in family consumer science.
As the new assistant principal and 12-month data administrator, she is in charge of attendance, grading, scheduling, teacher support and student support. A big, short-term goal is to help improve attendance. “I am just looking at processes, like how can we tighten up some processes … like attendance; let’s make sure kids are getting to class.”
She is anxious about parent-teacher conferences, and she wants to see how many parents come. Ellis said that Central’s administration is trying to figure out how the school can be more inviting and how Central can increase parental involvement in the school.
Principal Dionne Kirksey sent out an email to all parents and students informing them of the attendance policies. “We wanted to make sure they understood the expectations of when they need to be here,” Ellis said. She understands not everyone is in control of how they get to school and explained she is willing to help with these special situations.
Ellis wants to make sure Central’s academic programs are benefiting students, including the school’s academies and pathways. “Looking at our pathways … is that something that is working for our community is working for our kids?” If Central needs to fix an internal issue or offer an alternative class to benefit students, Ellis wants to make sure those concerns are heard by district administration.
She began her career 28 years ago at Burke High School, teaching family and consumer sciences while completing her master’s degree in educational administration. In 1998, she applied for a teaching job at The American School in England, a boarding school in London, and was offered the position, which she accepted. She worked with 15 boarding students, taught technology and ran a community service organization.
“I got to see a different system, got to meet kids from all over the world, teachers from all over the world,” she said.
She then landed back in OPS in 2001 as a school support liaison at the Teacher Administration Center, using her master’s for the first time. Ellis explained she “helped families connect with their schools, those families that had some high needs.” She became the athletic director at Bryan Middle in 2004 before transitioning into the role of data administrator in 2009.
After nine years at Bryan, she helped to open Davis Middle School in 2013 as a data administrator. “There was an opportunity when Davis opened that I wanted to open a new school and build some new culture and community,” she said.
After a 10-year stint there, she decided it was time to come back to high school.
Ellis explained she enjoyed middle school because it is the formative years of a person’s life, where students are still trying to figure out who they are. “I wanted to see the end … like what is going on with high school students now [and] what did middle school do for them,” she said.
She particularly enjoys working with the ninth graders and seeing their transition into high school. “I love the freshman seminar piece and the teaming pieces … the transitioning is the hardest part.”
Ellis enjoys watching students participate in extracurriculars. “In middle school, you don’t have the band playing [the events], so I loved going to the football game.”
She enjoys the atmosphere of the sporting events, but said she is just as excited to see Central students participate in the performing arts. “All the fun stuff the kids put so much of their pride and joy into,” Ellis said. “I love seeing kids shine.”
She is a wife and mother of three kids: a junior in college at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and a senior and freshman in high school, who are enrolled in a Catholic high school. She also enjoys sports, anything Husker, and cooking. “When I have a stressful day, I go home and cook,” she said, laughing, “and my family loves those days.”
Ellis feels strongly about the importance of students voicing their needs to teachers and administrators. “When [you] feel like they need something, rather than avoid it, advocate for yourself.”
